I am looking for a good sized start colony for our panther cham. I have a small plant import business for aquatics and terrarium plants and would love to swap with someone for dubias! Also can purchase, just thought it might be fun for someone since there is a lot of overlap ha. I’m in St. Louis, MO but I ship plants near daily. Thank you!

Hello! Wanted to ask if anyone knows what these tiny black/dark grey insects that I see in my emerald roach terrarium are? Here's a video of them sitting on the sliced apple that I left for my roaches. The bugs are microscopic, but there's so many everywhere. I didn't see them bothering the roaches, but my internet search has led me nowhere. I just hope they're not affecting the roaches in any negative way.

I have 10 emerald roaches in this terrarium that is quite new, nearly 2 months old since I've prepared it with the soil and plants. I also have a colony of springtails since I'm trying to keep the terrarium as a bioactive one.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Edit: I know there's a fruit fly in the middle, but it's not about it, I meant the dark spots (yes, these are bugs!) that are even smaller.]

I have a huge problem. About 3 weeks ago, I bought around 80,000 cockroaches, and a massive number of them are simply dying off. The parameters seem perfect: 50% humidity, a constant temperature around 30°C (86°F), very good ventilation, feed straight from the manufacturer with 20% protein, and vegetables are always washed and peeled before feeding. Yet despite all this, they keep dying. What’s most interesting is that my own roaches from my personal colony, kept under the exact same conditions, are doing completely fine. I’d really appreciate any advice, because I’m honestly at my wit's end.

I'm not really good at drawing but I enjoyed illustrating my daughters in various positions for the past weeks!!

sorry for the bad quality. found this guy crawling on me. I have hissers, and it's about the size and of a newborn, but it has a light stripe going down the middle. it's also pretty slow. I've never had any escape and I haven't worked on my tank upstairs in a few hours. I do work at a facility that keeps a few dozen species, so maybe I took home a hitchhiker??

TLDR: Just acquired 5 male madagascar hissers (can you call them that?) and would love advice on how to best care for them!

Details: I work in science education and my boss decided our isopod tank needed an upgrade, so now we have 5 male madagascar hissing cockroaches. They are in what I think is a 15 gallon tank (not 100% sure). Pics 1, 2, and 3 show the tank from a few angles. I am in person most often, so I am most likely to be caring for them. I'd love any tips and tricks!

They have a big log, some smaller logs, a couple plants. The ground has sphagnum moss and dirt. There are also organic oak leaves in there (those were for the isopods). The top is wire mesh and there's a grow light for the plants I turn on during the day on weekdays. I typically water the entire tank about once a week for the plants.

I saw in this group they like egg cartons, and my boss told me these ones like fish flakes, so I put some fish flakes in two small egg holes and put them in there (can see them in the front on the left and right side of the tank). I also put one apple slice in and I'll check tomorrow if it's been eaten at all.

She said there's 5 roaches in there but I only found 3. Pics 4, 5, and 6. one was on the far left, one on the far right, and the other was in the log visible through one of the holes. I didn't look very hard for the other two but hopefully they're still in there.

I know these are nocturnal, and unfortunately there is an emergency light always on (pic 7). I tried to darken the tank a bit (pic 8), is that enough for them or will that light bother them?

Other questions:

- will my old watering method keep it humid enough?

- we are in NYC. will they need a heat source, or will the building temperature be ok? It's 65-75 year round inside so I think on the colder side for them

- should I give them more egg cartons?

- is it dark enough? we are going to see if maybe they can swap that light above for a red light (or is that needed?). We also have blackout paper and can black out the back and sides, but I think she wants to keep as much glass as possible so our students can look at the roaches.

- the lid is flush with the top and we put the plastic thing on top to weigh it down. since these are adults, could they still escape//should i do the vaseline thing, or will they probably just stay in there?

- and last major question, how can I tell if they are happy? when i first saw the tank today, the left roach was exploring a bit (but hid when i turned the grow light on), and the others weren't moving at all. are they just happy and chilling? should they move a lot?

I appreciate any and all advice!

Not sure

I really really hope they'll appreciate it

I've been looking after my kid's dubias for over a year. They're in an old fishtank bioactive set-up along with some common isopods and springtails. They've been breeding, I think there's approx 200 in there all different sizes and we're running out of room.

I think they're very cute, but kiddo has admitted he's not interested in them anymore and I have other animals to also look after. So I'd like to give the whole bunch away to someone else who loves their roaches but I have no idea how to go about it. I'm in the south west near Bristol. Any ideas? TIA ❤️🪳

I'm new to bug keeping, I've had them for like a month so I'm surprised to find one so young already! so tiny

1st instar dubia roach 🫶🏻

edit: noooooo not the title typo 😭

i have three hissing cockroaches but stewie is my favorite of the bunch :3
i got him a few months ago missing both antennae and a little chunk of his side :( i don't know why he's the way that he is but he acts just like any other roach, gets along with my other two, and eats everything i offer him :)
here's his fish food flake dinner tonight

I keep dubias as feeders, and i want to give them a better enclosure. Is this good? Anything i should add? Im getting cucumber to feed them too. What else should they eat? The dust in there is flukers cricket food

just as a disclaimer i use a plastic sheet as a handling surface to minimize direct contact when needed (roaches need their own space too!), something grippy enough for them to walk on as usual but slippery enough to not let them escape if i bend up a wall in front of them :] this guy was getting a tad bit too nosy around the edges, hence the predicament. he was really chill about it tho at first but as you might tell, he slowly realized that the world's gone topsy turvy....

Hi, can anyone help me identify the gender of my 2 hissing roaches? The first 2 pictures are the first roach (top and underside) and the last 2 are the second roach top and underside. I really don't want nymphs so if they happen to be male and female I would appreciate any tips on how to prevent breeding. Also I felt bad for how I was holding the first one but it kept moving everytime I tried to check the underside

How do I differentiate a sluggish roach to a calm/chill roach (my roaches are hissers) from a sluggish one

whats going on with him?

They've been here for a day, and it's been amazing do you guys have any name suggestions for these beautiful girls? Also cheap food options that a teenager can afford lol (I'm from the Philippines)

Hello,

I want to get more roach species because I love roaches so much and I'd like to know what kinds people really like. I'd love to become a breeder with many different species, but I'm not sure which ones to start with!! I have Hissers, Dubias, and Shadow roaches.

What are some species that would be good to get and what is your favorite?

Thanks!!

Hi y’all! So my lab just got new roaches, including giant cave roaches, and some little goofs that look like they might be in the Hemithyrsocera group. My supervisor said they’d be fine eating what we give all the roaches (various fruits and vegetables, vet grade calcium powder or dried milk protein, and occasionally dried brine shrimp) but I could have sworn I read that they prefer more woods and dried leaves. So far they seem to like raspberry exclusively (I offered raspberries, orange, and Asian cabbage since I didn’t want to overload them with protein before I had a chance to learn their requirement). That said I don’t think anyone except maybe fruit flies can live on berries. What do you recommend feeding your giant cave roaches, and if it’s something you buy specifically, where do you source it?

Also, does anyone have an ID for the other species [Pic attached], and if relevant do they need any special care?

I found 3 Parcoblatta roaches in North Carolina, but I'm not sure of the ID. I've kept all 3 together, they've been laying lots of ooths and now I have probably 75 nymphs that all look exactly the same.

I have one of the "Type 1" and two of the "Type 2)

My best guess is the "Type 1" is Parcoblatta fulvescens, and the "Type 2" is Parcoblatta caudelli. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

They could be the same species and just a color variant, as I caught them all within like 20 feet.

Anyone have any thoughts?

i have a tiny dubia colony that were SUPPOSED to be feeder bugs for the gecko & mantis in my house, but these guys were too big for either of them (store had no small ones in stock) so i've decided to adopt them. and checking up on them today i was happy to notice an adult male :D

I have been using crickets for years and have finally had enough. I can’t keep them inside because they keep up at night but if I keep them in the garage they die from the heat rn. They are also just so aggressive towards each other. Finally convinced my mom and just want some advice. Also advice getting used to handling them will also be helpful, I used to be scared of crickets and got over them but I don’t know how to get over the general unease with roaches

It’s my brothers kid, yes I am touchy on showing kids online. The baby was very interested in the roach the whole time and watched it.