I feel like i cant keep the roaches in good habitat

[cxerphax]

Ok I have a undertank heater and I mist the bin every morning and occasionally when I come home from school. The only area where I truly feel as if it feels like it is 90 degress is directly on top of the heating pad which is where I find some of the roaches just sitting on top of it. Other then directly on top of the pad I feal absolutely no heat and when i come home from school all the wetness from the misting the bin is gone. Do I not know what Im talking about and thats how it supposed to feel :?

 

[diggerdrake]

as long as you follow the guide lines here http://www.theroachguy.com/caresheet.htm everything should be fine. misting isn't necessary if you have a water source along with proper temps. I have a human heat pad and water crystals and run between 40-60 % humidity in my roach bins

 

[WAFisherman]

Yeah, don't mist. Just use water crystals and provide some fresh veggies and fruit now and then (don't let it stay too long and rot).

Be sure to use a screen like roach guy recommends. I tried just adding holes with a soldering iron, but I was still getting too much condensation (leads to mold and bacteria). When I added the screen, problem solved.

They will tend to hang out in the warm spot during the day, but I bet if you could see them at night, they would be spread out and very active. If you can't peak in, try listening to them around 10 or 11pm. Should sound like quite the roach party in there.

 

[cxerphax]

Well I do have a screen, thing is I feel like there is no heat at all in there unless i put my hand directly on top of it. Will they just go down to where the most heat is and get bizay :wink: and then it will be fine?

 

[BestRoach]

If your having issues controlling humidity, add some substrate. I like coconut husk substrate, but other things will work. Dubia like to burrow...and a damp substrate (on one side) will provide all the humidity they need.
Does this make cleaning the bins harder? Yes it does...but you can go longer between cleanings when using a substrate. A trick I use is to have whats called a "rearing" bin. When I clean out a bin full of roaches, usually the really tiny roaches are left behind...along with all the waste and the substrate. I take all of this, and put it in its own bin...the rearing bin. I then wait a couple months for the small roaches to mature, and sort them out. You can now dispose of the waste....I recommend a compost heap.

The process then starts all over again.


Another option is what classic guitar owners use to control humidity inside stored guitars. Take a ziploc bag, and using a hole punch, put numerous holes all over the bag. Then take a large damp sponge and place it in the bag. You then hang this bag on the inside of the roach bin, either pinned to the lid of the side. Re-wet the spong as needed...this should help raise the ambient humidity a tad.
For heat, simple add an overhead heat source such as an infrared bulb, or CHE. Stick to the 40-50 watt range. More information can be found at my website.


Cheers

 

[augsburg1530]

Don't trust your hand to check for heat, use a probe thermomoter. Put the prob at the bottom of your egg crates and check the temp also in the middle and top. That way you know what your temps are. If you are using a uth then I bet your temps are fine.

Eric

 

[cxerphax]

Will they start getting bizay with each other on top of the heat pad though? Or do you think they can feel the heat through the eggcrates

 

[diggerdrake]

the heat will rise up thru the egg flats and as there are more and more roaches the heat will be retained more

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

Where are you keeping this roach bin? Reason being is that I deal w/ a lot of people who are keeping their bins in a garage, or cellar. In order to maintain a constant temp I find that Tropical roaches should be in a temperature at least that makes you comfortable. This means somewhere that's heated especially in the winter months. If you are keeping them in a garage where it only gets to 50 degrees than good luck trying to raise the temps of your enclosure anywhere close to what you need.

If at all possible keep the tub in a reptile room. Or a room that's getting some sort of heat. If you keep it in a room that gets to about 68-70 degrees than you'll have much better success gaining that extra 10-15 degrees w/ proper heating apps.

Oh yeah... I'm with everyone else. No need to mist. Once you get that tub to about 80-85 degrees and keep a full dish of crystals in there it'll bump the humidity up to 40-50 % pretty quickly.

-Ian