Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How much lose is normal in a colony? I'm losing 2 or 2 a day. I started with about 50 and placed them in a 15 gallon rubbermaid container. I smeared the rim with vasoline. My temps are at 90 and humidity at 65%. I didn't use any substrate, but plane to put done some pine tonight. I've placed my drink holders in verticle position to add floor space. Any ideas why they may be dropping dead or is this a normal mortality rate. Can roaches breath on their back? I have an are on both side of the container that is lower than the middle. I've found most to be upside down in the "trench". Any help would be appreciated.

i have a large number of roaches so i don't pay attention to loss, but here is an idea, are you sure that you are finding dead ones and not just the "shed skin" ? i have noticed that before and they do look alot like the roaches and do always seem to be on their back.

First make sure you have plenty of ventilation in your container. I use spaghnum moss in my containers. Its cheap at home depot. You should be feeding them some high protien dog food and then some apples, carrots, oranges or other fruits and veggies. If its to wet or moist them food will mold which is bad. My containers are pretty dry and I spray them every other day. The also get water from the food. If what your seeing is britle them it probably exoskelaton, otherwise if it hard and heavy its a dead roach. This can happen for lots of reasons. This is the main reason I sell mainly nymphs so people know the ages. Make sure to have 2-3 egg crates and the darker the area the better. Good Luck,
James

Thanks for the info. Venilation may be the culprit. The cage doesn't have much.... I'll move them to a 10 gal with a sceen cover and see how it goes.

Thanks again for the info