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Concern for Roaches

rich_123 Jul 08, 2004 10:40 PM

I have discoids. Is it normal for roaches to abort their egg cases once in while? I'm worried since I've had these roaches for more than a month and there's still no babies.

I have 27 adults, and have them on 2 inches of peat moss in a container about 3 feet by 1 foot. I feed them dog food, fish flakes, and carrots. I also provide a dish of water. There are toilet paper rolls and egg flats for hiding.

I used to have a lot of abortions a month ago, but that was when I kept them in a much much smaller container. Yesterday was the first abortion in three weeks and was the first time there's been an aborted egg case since they were moved to the new, bigger setup. The night before I found the last aborted egg case, I was getting water for my leo geckos, which are near where I keep the roaches. Was the last aborted egg case I found just a fluke, something that just happens once in a while? Thanks to all those who reply.

Replies (3)

louiejames Jul 09, 2004 01:16 PM

You didn't mention heat in your post. These roaches need plenty of heat. High 80's to mid 90's works for my colony (discoids). Make sure they can escape the heat if needed. My understanding is that roaches have no way to lower their body temperature, and if they cannot escape high temps, they'll just drop dead. Anyway...other then that, your set-up sounds great. You might want to try misting, but that's up to you. I think everybody who starts a tropical roach colony becomes discouraged in the beginning (I did!), but that all changes when you see your first baby roach chowing down in the food dish.

Good luck,
Lou~

rich_123 Jul 09, 2004 05:07 PM

The room temp. is in the high 80's and there is heat tape under half of the container. The heat tape is around 100 degrees so the substrate should be at least in the 90's.

xelda Jul 10, 2004 03:55 AM

I'm getting a lobster colony started myself. I found an egg case when I was cleaning the tank a few weeks ago but there was nothing in it. I'm still baffled over what it was doing just laying there. It was the only one I've ever found, but I'm having more and more babies showing up recently.
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5.8 leopard geckos

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