Red Racers - Breeding (BUT THEY SMELL!)

[schtickl]

ok, so I got into roaches b/c I was told about a ton of positives they have. But one thing I was told, that doesnt seem to be true for me, is that they STINK to high heaven! Maybe even worse than crickets! I clean out their bucket every 3-6 weeks or so, so it cant be the container. They are breeding really well but SMELL sooooo bad!!

They are Red Racers/Turkistans/Lateralis

 

[clear]

How much ventilation does the tub have?

 

[schtickl]

It had an open top when it started stinking but now it has a lid with screen -- they got so bad I had to put them outside.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

I never had turks or dubia stink on me.
Is your food getting wet?

 

[schtickl]

It shouldnt be :S Idk what the deal is! It smells so bad!

Is there a better way to clean it? How do you guys keep the roaches? Id love to see pics! The egg crates seem a bit moist.

 

[GemstoneDragons]

Yeah my egg crates get soggy from the humidity but i wouldnt say mine smell just the food i put in lol

I am saving up my plastic egg cartons to see if i can solve the soggy egg crate problem by changing to that - we will see how that works!

 

[romanfj]

Since red runners drop their egg cases, how can you clean the bin, without throwing away an entire unborn generation?

Thanks,
Frank

 

[schtickl]

Yah... I agree. How? I Just switched all of the roaches into a single bin (they were seperated into 2 bins-- one for feeders one for breeders-- but now they are all in 1 bin.

They smell SOOO bad, too! HELP!


Anyone have any idea how I can keep them outside?

 

[GemstoneDragons]

I throw my egg cases away, mine dont smell (maybe due to diff weather/temp here in england?) so i only have to clean them out 2-3 times a year and they are breeding so fast losing 1 generation doesnt hurt.

 

[nenders]

Different people rate smells differently. Some people rate a bad smell as minor, or terrible. At my job we occasionally do odor panels and I always note how people rate the smells differently.

I just started a colony of Dubias and had read about how they do not smell. They do smell, if I stick my head right over their open container. They are kept in a garage and occasionally I can almost smell them if I am walking by. To me they practically have no smell. But I have smelt their smell before in places of cockroach infestations. So it has a negative connotation to me.

Mine are in a 35 gal tote with about half the top cut out and screened in. I have only had them since Memorial day when I bought 200.

 

[moose9]

In my experience with B. lateralis, they do have a slight odor by themselves, usually not overwhelming. The one time mine had smelt really bad was when I had tried cat food. I took out the cat food and the smell was normal again. The only other time they would smell is if I had many die offs at once.

I pull egg cases once a week so they don't hatch with the breeders. I remove the roaches in a second container and just pick the egg cases out of the original with a pair of tongs. I put the egg cases in a deli container or shoe box size container with plenty of moisture to get them to hatch. If you decide to throw away your egg cases away, be sure to freeze them for awhile to prevent hatching later.

-Greg

 

[schtickl]

I seem to have all of the above lol - massive die off, using cat food, etc lol.

 

[ajkry2]

get rid of the wet (and possibly moldy) egg crates, and make sure there are no corpses. besides that ya got me stumped