Reptile & Amphibian Forums

One of my roaches has a thing protruding out it's rear. Is that an eggsack? The person who gave them to me said they are viviporous. Could that be true? Will they eat their young?

Roger

It is possible you are seeing the egg case. In some stressfull situations they will abort the egg case and abandon it. In these cases the other roaches may eat the young partially developed babies from the case. However, it is also not uncommon to see the females partially eject the egg case and then later pull it back in. I can't tell you why they do this, just that I have seen it!

Regardless of which is going on there is nothing you can do once it happens. If you find that your females are aborting cases try to reduce stress. some simple things that help are covering the sides of the tub with paper if they are in a clear tub or an aquarium. Don't disturb them other than feeding or cleaning the tubs. Keep cleaning to a minimum. I change the egg crates when they start to look dirty and tattered. As for the frass that accumulates on the bottom you can simply tilt the tub so it slides to one end, scoop it out and remove the babies that will undoubtedly be hiding in it, and then toss out the remaining debries. This helps to keep stress to a minimum. The less you handle the more they reproduce.

Once your colony is larger you can disturb a little more without noticing a loss here and there.
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html