Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recieving a 100 of these next week what would be a suitable sized rubbermaid container for these. Any other advice would also be appreciated. Thanx Clint

Hey there,

I no longer keep hissers, but did for a while, and their care and housing is similar to the other roach species I keep. I used 66qt rubbermaids for all of my roaches. You will find that within a few months, your colony will have multiplied, and they will have filled up your container rather fast! However, I have experienced from experimenting with my own groups, that most roaches breed better when kept in close proximity to one another. Males of this species are territorial, and each establish their own teritories, but as long as you give them plenty of hiding spots(egg crates) they should do great for you.

I don't know how big of a colony you are looking at establishing for your captives to eat, but if you are going for the several hundred/thousand, I would go with something around 66qts or so. Just remember that they can climb the sides!! YOu can use vaseline(which I am starting to dislike because it will begin to wear off in a month or so), or that bug stop stuff. I hear it works really well, and you don't have to worry about getting globs of vaseline all over your clothes and other places.

I hope this helps a little, roaches can be very rewarding; they'll cut down your monthly feeding expenses, without a doubt!! Take care,

bob
Roach Info

-----
www.geocities.com/odatriad

Thanx for the info. Clint by the way do you still have those black trees??? If so would you consider shipping in warmer weather. Thanx Clint

Hey clint,

I stopped breeding them because I just didn't need any roaches that got that big, although feeding nymphs out wouldn't be a problem. I decided to stick with my non glass climbers, for they get big enough for my tree monitors, and cannot climb glass or escape too easily. For my odatria, I choose to feed lobsters and nymphs of the non climbers. I just didn't have a need for anymore hissers, since my production of other species was coming along quite nicely. Besides, I got a reasonable offer for the entire colony, minus a few that I donated to a local wildlife center for outreaches and education.

As for the becarri, I have decided to keep them. With my limited space for my animals, I have become quite the space management expert. You would never believe the amount of cages and rubbermaids I have neatly crammed into my tiny monitor room. I was originally going to sell them to make room for a separate cage for my male blue tree(the one that's with my female at the moment), but they have been getting along nicely, so I have decided not to separate them. I would've regretted selling the blacks, especially the male; he's got such a great inquisitive personality, and is probably the biggest, chunkiest black tree monitor you'll ever see.

Let me know if you've got any more roach q's, I'm always here to chat.. take care,

bob
The Odatriad

-----
www.geocities.com/odatriad