Cleaning up after crickets

[DragonMomSandy]

Send a PM to one of the following members (they are roach vendors), and maybe they can ship to you or may know someone there you can get them from.

AFexotics (Marcus- http://www.afexotics.weebly.com)
Ihaggerty1313 (Ian- http://www.theroachranch.com)
theroachguy (Jason- http://www.theroachguy.com)

These guys can help you out. Check out their websites for pics and info on the dubias. Lot's of info there.

 

[iwysss]

A human heating pad, set on med to high (depending on ambient room temps). Most roach colony keepers use the sterilite or rubbermaid totes. Many use heat tape, I've seen pics of set-ups with tubs sitting on wood slats or bricks and the heat tape run underneath, others use ceramic heat emitters, low watt, mounted above the screen on bricks. I know Jane (zebraflavencs) uses these bins, and the way her vivs are built, she can set the bins on top of them, close to the heat lamps and hers breed fine (she has over 10,000 of them-talk about a lot of bugs! Thats why we call her the Roach Queen!). I chose to avoid the heat tape as I've never used the stuff before and wasn't comfortable with that idea. I've had the human heating pad on one end of the bins (the egg crates are verticle and pushed to this side, the food/gel on the other to prevent the heat from drying it out) and haven't had a problem. The first couple days after setting this up (especially that first day) I monitored the heat pad constantly, checking the bottom of the bins to make sure nothing was being damaged or melting. The heat not only provides them with that 85 to 90 F temp range, but, with the bowl of water gel and the sliced oranges I put in on small bowls, it also creates some moderate humidty (which they also need, just not high humidity). I originally considered an under tank heater, but was warned that they could get too hot and damage the plastic-and no way in Hell was I going to take a chance of burning a nice little escape route! From my understanding, if you use heat tape it needs to be a certain size and type, I've seen some mention flexwatt. For me though, the heating pad seems to be working great, I already have a ton of little, tiny babies, and noticed another batch of new, tiny, white babies yesterday, probably around 30 of those and theres already over a hundred others that are about 1/8th of an inch.

Hi Sandy,

You've mentioned you use a human heating pad. I am trying to set up a roach enclosure and I'm looking for the right heat source. I shopped around and all the human heating pads have auto shut-off.. The longest was a 10-hour time period. What kind of human heat pad do you use?.. Like a specific brand and type.

Thx

 

[isabelleandpaul]

I use a car batterie warmer pad, and it works well (I think, because I have so many baby roaches!) Maybe this could be easier for you to find, if you live in an area that gets cold in winter!

 

[DragonMomSandy]

Iwyss

I got mine a few years ago at the Walgreens store I work at and it is the Walgreens brand made by Sunbeam. I had it stashed away in the closet to use for the occasional back ache or whatever. This one does not shut off on its own. I would have to look at the versions we have now, still made by Sunbeam, and see if there are any with out the auto shut off-I'm almost positive there is as I don't think the auto shut of is a legal requirement.

 

[iwysss]

Thanks, the both of you. I'll have to stop by Walgreens and Walmart to see if they have either a Sunbeam one like your's or a car battery warmer pad.

 

[DragonMomSandy]

Just remember, the one at Walgreens will be labeled as Walgreens brand, but it's made by sunbeam-cheaper than the regular Sunbeam brand and the same thing.

 

[iwysss]

I found and bought the heat pad!! I went to Walgreens, but the ones that gives you the option of no auto shutoff are so expensive ($25-40), so I went to CVS and found one cheaper ($15.99).

Do I just place it directly underneath the plastic rubbermaid? Or is there a special way to do it?

 

[DragonMomSandy]

You'll want it under one end of the bin. Set your egg crates on the heating pad end and the food/water gel bowls on the other end (this keeps the watergel from drying out too fast and keeps the fresh veg/fruits from going bad quicker). I also have my bins on the bottom shelf of the shelving unit that holds my big vivs, this gets the bins about 6 inches off the floor(where it's coldest) and the heat pad sits on the shelf, bin on top of it, and I don't have to worry about the floor/carpet getting too warm. Glad you found one cheap enough, Yeah, Walgreens isn't always the cheapest, but I was pretty sure you could get one their if not from somewhere else.