Blaptica dubia and allergy

[goblinsly]

Hey everyone,

I have been breeding blaptica dubias for about 3 years now. Also i have been having this bad cough for about as much time ( or more ? ). I never thought of them being the problem since i was at the doctor for similar problem about 8 years ago ( weak voice, cough ).
I tried everything for this cough. Taking acid meds and sleeping on lifted bed, taking anti asthma meds, taking claritine , bought anti mites thingys for my bed...

I never blamed roaches for a simple reason..i dont have the same symptoms as i have when in contact for, lets say, cats. They make my eyes watery, my nose full, my mouth itchy, ikeep sneezing. Its not same when i do work around roaches, i barely feel anything...exept 24/7 coughing ( i cought soo i can speak normaly, hoarse voice and all, feeling of something being on my vocal chords ).

Well yesterday i did a test for roach alergy. Pinched my hand, mixed some of roach droppings with water and put it on. Also did the same with mealworm bedding and another pinch for a test. Test was no reaction ( as intended ). Mealworm bedding was also no reaction ( surprised me though, i have a strong allergy to mites and i was pretty sure i have at least some in mealworm bedding... ). Roach poo was different, there was a reaction. It was not huge as for instance when i tested for mites at the doctors but it was quite clearly an allergy reaction, indeed very very clear. Now, 1 day later its still itchy from time to time.

Now the reason for all this writing....i dont want to sell my roaches. They save me lots of money and as i student, i also sell them to make a few extra bucks a month. I have roaches, mealies and supers in a closet that is tightly shut with 1 fan blowing air in and 1 fan blowing it directly out of my apartment. Soo basicly the only contact i have with them is when i handle them ( lets say i can limit this to once a week ). What if i use some googles and face mask ( what kind of mask btw ) while dealing with them, and maybe plastic gloves ? Also i heard that most of the allergens are in the poo. What if i put a mesh under the box in which i have them and make a tunel that would put all the poo directly into a bucket under it. And then after it is full i just take it out into the toilete. I am a handy man and can make it pretty good i think...

The only other option is to move them somewhere else which could complicate things a bit.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Well it is not uncommon for someone to have an allergic reaction from the frass. I to cough when cleaning the bins out. Just use rubber gloves and a dust mask. If you still cough then you can get the masks with the filter cartridges. I would just leave everything in the bottom until you are ready to empty it. You should be fine then. Hope this helps...

 

[goblinsly]

I might, stress might, be able to put my roaches into a place that is seperated from my apartment, basicly just outside my door. There i would create in and out fan controlled environment and those tubes i was telling you about. Basicly a mesh under the roaches that would take all frass out and drop it into a bucket full of water. Then i simply throw it into toilete once a week. Also like i said i would use googles, face mask ( with FFP3D standard ) and gloves. I think that would do some difference.

Also i cleaned everything roach related in my apartment. Because as stupid as it sounds, since my roaches are in closet that is insulated, i was sure i am not getting in contact with their frass. But i kept all equipment outside, like boxes in which i had them, different sifters, etc. Offcourse i didnt clean them soo i had frass flying all around the place. Now i cleaned it all. Also i am getting some anti alergic medication tomorrow, this time not pills but nose spray, since that is probably where my cough comes from ( particles going into my throat and causing alergic reaction ).

Also i am thinking whether i should get read of dirt i have my plants in. They are on my window shelfs and there is some roach frass in there ( home made fertilizer ). I hope i can keep it, since i hope rain did its job at drawing alergens on the bottom of the box....soo hopefully its not flying around the air.

 

[goblinsly]

Good news everyone, i managed to fight my way to a new place for my animals ! It will solve my space problem, my allergy problem, also gives me a satisfaction of victory ! This place is not connected with my small apartment yet it is mere meters away from it.

A new place is 2.2 x 1.2 x2.5 m ( 86 x 47 x 98 inches ). This gives me enough room for all the insects i own + room for plenty more. I am going to insulate this little "room" or shall i say, closet, soo no air can escape ( therefore no smell or allergens will escape the room ). Then i will put 1 big fan to blow air into the "room" and 1 big fan blowing out of the room but DIRECTLY into the hole leading to chimney. Soo theoreticly all the smell and alergens will remain in the closet and/or leave the house and go out of the chimney to stink the birds nests ( what are the doing there anyway -.- ).

I will arange things inside the closet ( if possible ) soo that i can come in and close the door behind me. And then i can fix things concerning roaches ( give them food, water, seperate them, play with them, lurk on them, etc. ) while the doors are shut, meaning no smell or alergens will leave the room. For this job i will get me a mask ( to prevent too many alergens enter my nose/mouth ), googles ( to prevent them from giving a hard time to my eyes ) and maybe some special robe i will wear while dealing with roaches ( to make sure i dont bring alergens inside my place on my clothes. Also here i will have enough space to do my poo seperator idea ( leading all the poo from roach boxes into a container filled with water and maybe some antibacteria stuff, therefor eliminating bacteria and making sure alergens wont fly around - because they will be traped in the water ).

Wohoo i am happy and this is a good day. Now i just have a lot of work to do with all the preparations.

 

[goblinsly]

I managed to fix the place quite well and fixed a 120mm fan taking air ( smelly air ) out of the little room and directly out of the apartment. Still there will be some smell coming out of the room, if nothing else, when i open the door to enter the room. Can you recomend me something to mask the smell ? Something as neutral as possible....