Cleaning the Roach bin. . .

[h0ndap0w3r]

Just thought I'd share some pics of the cleaning of my roach colony. I was presently surprised when i started to actually clean everything out at the number of tiny nymphs i have running around.

I received my shipment of egg crates and started to clean and sort out all my roaches, since the rubbermaid was starting to smell a little ripe. Yes, roaches have significantly less smell then crickets, its been about 3-4 months since i cleaned out the colony and the wall paper is still on my room. would you try this with crickets?! I think not!!! This is the 1st time i've actually cleaned out the entire tank, since i started with 125+ from bestroach.com in mid sept so come 4 months later and this is what it has become.

I also ordered 30 adult pairs from sunshineroaches about 2 weeks ago, so the numbers may seem a tiny bit higher then usual.

This was my colony about 3 months ago

my current numbers, Males far left, female nymphs in the mid, adult females on the far right.

about half the males in my colony. . . i've been feeding them off to and i still have alot.

adult males

Female Nymphs

These are the baby makers

BABIES!!!!!!! its always nice to see little ones roaming around.

also whoever originally posted this idea is a freaken genius!!! it made it so much easier to stack the egg crates without them falling inside of each other etc.

i actually sat there and counted out my females, i currently have 95 adult females, 75 large female nymphs, and i didn't bother to count my males but i have about 30 of them in the bin now, which would give me a current ratio of 3-1, and a future ratio of about 5-1.

im thinking its going to be about another month before i can get rid of crickets all together. . . For those who are thinking of starting a colony, get it going soon, if possible before you even get your dragon, it takes forever to get going with a smaller number. . .

big thanks to calientdragons.com and bestroach.com for some high quality roaches

 

[BaronTheBD]

Awesome pics! Stupid question, but are those Dubias? I thought they didnt climb

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

yeah they are dubia, but the container has a slight texture on it, so the little ones have a tendency to climb. I'm thinking this is because they have a lower body mass.

 

[Anglwngss]

Can you tell which of the nymphs are females without having to flip them over? I'd like to be able to tell what I've got, but I don't touch the bugs..

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

Uhhhhh no, i dont think there is a way to visually tell from above when there nymphs. Handling them isn't that bad u can just gently pick them up at their side, flip them over and there you go. Otherwise you might be able to grab them with those big feeding tongs.

 

[BaronTheBD]

Can you tell which of the nymphs are females without having to flip them over? I'd like to be able to tell what I've got, but I don't touch the bugs..

I didnt even know it was possible to sex nymphs? How do you sex them by flipping them over?

 

[Anglwngss]

I don't, but I'll see if I can find the thread that explains it.

 

[Anglwngss]

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=78729&p=614051&hilit=sexing+roaches#p614044


That link, about 1/2 way down.




viewtopic.php?f=76&t=95491&p=743816&hilit=sex+dubia+nymph#p743816

That one says you can do it without flipping them over, but I'm more a visually inclined person, and don't have a clue what he's talking about without some photos to go with the explanation!

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=78729&p=614051&hilit=sexing+roaches#p614044

 

[BaronTheBD]

awesome thanks guys

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

i kinda know what hes talking about, but it isnt as apparent until right before the last molt. . . or at least i think so

 

[BestRoach]

Boy do I wish I could sort my roaches by sex like that! They don't make enough of those little plastic containers though

Nice looking colony, pretty soon you'll be overrun!

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

lol. . . .they were 99 cents at home depot and i usually use them for my super worms. It took me to long to sort through everything tho, but i wanted to get the ratio right because i had to many males. I cant wait to get rid of the nasty crickets, its so close my beardies can taste it.

 

[diggerdrake]

also whoever originally posted this idea is a freaken genius!!! it made it so much easier to stack the egg crates without them falling inside of each other etc.

GUILTY as charged
I saw that and thought " I don't remember having egg flats like that and when did I take that pic"
I tried gluing some flats together at first and didnt really like that as well.
glad to see that I helped

 

[gregorydragon]

also whoever originally posted this idea is a freaken genius!!! it made it so much easier to stack the egg crates without them falling inside of each other etc.

GUILTY as charged
I saw that and thought " I don't remember having egg flats like that and when did I take that pic"
I tried gluing some flats together at first and didnt really like that as well.
glad to see that I helped

This is a great idea. I might need to try it. right now, my egg crates are cut in half and glued together by 3s. This means I can't get them all out without shaking the life out of them.