I might try another DIY roach colony soon, product question

[Starforce2]

Firstly I am thingking of going to dry food such as cat or puppy chow this time. Less slime.


I want to know if anyone has managed to use zilla UTH heat pads with the rheostats such as http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752611 and if you can tone them down enough to be safe on a plastic tote.

I may also employ this if I get a pyxie frog, as it will be less annoying than a bulb that needs to sit on top of the cage and be in my way when I want to feed it.

Also curious to know if a reusable product called "water pillows" can be used by roaches.
http://www.petco.com/product/12128/Zilla-Cricket-Water-Pillows.aspx For instance. These could be hung by clothes pin so as to touch the bottom allowing roach to climb and suck on it while not gathering excessive fecal matter.

 

[Starforce2]

nobody has used water pillows or the rheostat?

 

[BlueDevil]

Sorry I haven't.

 

[jon21388]

i use carrots never have tried the water pillows.

 

[Trogdorpheus]

People have tried the water pillows, and they're good for a while, however they'll eventually get pretty nasty and need replacing. Far more expensive than buying water crystals in bulk, $6 at a Sears type store will get you much much farther.

The problem with using the UTH with a plastic tote is that the UTH's are designed for animals, and as such they have far fewer safety mechanisms built in to prevent a short in the circuitry thus leading to unintentional excessive heating that can melt through the plastic and most likely kill your entire colony. A friend of mine had a reptile UTH for his ball python, it shorted and burned a hole into his carpet. Luckly his snake was unharmed. The human heating pads however are much less likely to short and overheat (and the one I have even costs less) than the UTH's because they're designed for people. That's a much larger lawsuit if they screw up, so they take safety more into account.