Roach colony - temps to low - need help!

[Tarbuckle]

Hey all,

So i decided to start a discoid roach colony (florida) currently have 100 nymphs but hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday getting 80 female and 20 male adults plus couple hundred more nymphs.

Ive got the tub, egg crates, water crystals, cricket food (for now until i get roach chow) and oranges every other day. House temp is between 78 - 80 all day and all night. Problem im having is ive tried zoo med and other brand heat mats on the outside bottom, side, inside bottom, side and cant for the life of me get a steady 92 or even above 90 in the tub!! I've tried all sizes ranging from the smallest to right now a 50 gallon size mat stuck to the outside bottom. Also tried a human heat pad which barely changed the temp.

So my question is what am i doing wrong?? ive read allot of posts who say 'yeah, i use zoo med heat pad (for example) on bottom of my tub and hit 90+ no probs' lol so why am i having such trouble hitting that temp?? i have no clue cause as i said ive tried all size zoo med heat mats and am barely hitting 90. Seems really strange to me as thought it would be quite simple to hit this temp with house temp being at 80.

Any advice would be much appreciated as this is getting frustrating lol!!!

Im using a 20 gallon sterilite tub btw

 

[imcallumwbu]

You could try getting a cheap desk lamp and then outting in a spot bulb?

 

[Tarbuckle]

Yeah thought about that but roaches hate light u know so wouldnt want to affect their activity in any way

 

[imcallumwbu]

Hmm, you could try ceramic heater? Its a bit more expensive since you need the reflector, bulb and thermostat, but that should be good controllable temps

 

[rdoyle225]

but out side there many ppl keeping then in their sheds

 

[Sita]

Where and how are you measuring the temperature? Heat mats are not supposed to heat the air inside the tub, they warm the bottom, creating a "hotspot". If the roaches are too cool, they'll move to the bottom; too warm and they'll move up.

 

[Tarbuckle]

Measuring the air prob mid way between floor and top of tub with a digital thermometer over the heat mat side, was hoping to get around 92 on egg crate side to speed up breeding. Is that not how I should be doing it? Is a hotspot enough to increase the activity and breeding speed?

 

[TheGuvnor]

Strange. I use Habistat Heat Strip's (much longer than standard mats) on a habi mat stat and have it on the inside wrapped around the sides. It covers about half of the tub. And I stick the stat probe on the mat directly and set it to 32c and I have 1000's of the things. Been doing it that way for about 2 years. Now have 4 large tubs all set this way. I don't even bother with a thermometer in them now, just set the stat and let them do their thing :roll: .

You must have something cooling it down. Is the tub on a cold floor? (concrete). Is there to much hot air escaping through the lid of the tub? (venting hole maybe to big).
As you are wanting the tub's ambient temp to be around 30/32c. So you need to keep that warmed up air in there but still provide ventilation.

 

[DorkiTimmy]

I keep my roaches in the garage during the summer its perfectly hot 90-100 like a heatwave in them and they go nuts for food and grow realy fast during he winter i use a under mat heating that i got and that helps them go crazy too

 

[Tarbuckle]

Thanks for the help everyone. Think I'm just going to keep them in my garage at night will get down to about 78-80 but during the day will be 90+ but sometimes even 100+ you think these temps will be ok for them or better off trying to get the right temp with heat source and keep in closet?

Thanks

 

[rachearoo456]

Where did you get Discoids? I've been searching for a place to buy them forever! I'm in South Florida.

 

[unkempt1]

Measuring the air prob mid way between floor and top of tub with a digital thermometer over the heat mat side, was hoping to get around 92 on egg crate side to speed up breeding. Is that not how I should be doing it? Is a hotspot enough to increase the activity and breeding speed?

Put the probe on the tub floor, not in the air. This is what's getting your reading off. Do that, and I bet you will see your temps are closer to what you want!

 

[Tarbuckle]

So finally got my discoid roaches in the mail! 80 females and 20 male adults, 300 nymphs. A load of babies to which is a good sign!

Put them all in the tub together but then thought, well how am I going to be able to tell when they start breeding lol any suggestions? Only way I can think of is to separate all my adults out into a separate tub and keep nymphs in another, what do you think? Also another question which I'm not sure of is when to start feeding off of them? I don't want to deplete the colony. Any advice would be much appreciated. I have a baby dragon about 3 1/2 months old and 10 inches long.

 

[Tarbuckle]

Also as a side note just thought I'd mention I was watching them for a little bit tonight as you do if this is your first time breeding roaches and a pair hooked up right in front of me lol only moved them to tub couple hours ago so guess they must be happy!

 

[thelonelyzombie]

I made it hotter in my roach tub but dangling the heat mats between the egg flats. Couple draw backs to this though. I could never figure out the cord situation and some nymphs climbed the cord right out of the tub. Adults never did this. I don't think they could fit. I had just closed the lid with the cord hanging out of the top, so there was a little space there that the cord made between the lid and tub. Also, the roaches love it between the egg flats and were breeding like crazy so I had to move the heat mats to the bottom again because I was getting too many roaches!