This is my first time keeping any of the Blaberus species and I must say, I am a fan! At first I thought this genus was a bit overrated, they did not look too interesting to me so I never got around to buying any. Now that I have them, I love them! They are just so big and passive, and are great for handling! I am really glad I got some of these.
I am keeping them in a medium sized plastic container with moist coconut fiber as the substrate and a layer of dead leaves on top just because. They are burrowers, so I gave them a deep substrate and no hides. I am feeding them cat food, fruits and veggies, the usual roach fare.
This species in particular is one of the more interesting species, seeing as they have variable pronotum markings in different individuals. Here are some pictures of two individuals with different pronotum markings. Both are female.
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| The more circular marking |
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| And the typical Blaberus square |
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| And here are both of them together |
And now lets talk about my Chorisoneura texensis. This species is extremely hard to breed, even Kyle Kandillian and Alan Jeon, two of the most experienced Blatticulturists out there, have not been able to breed them successfully, so I expect not to do well with them. However if everyone gave up on something when other people had failed, then nothing would get done. I am going to try my best to rear these, and even if I fail, hopefully we will have learned something new that can help the next person who tries to keep them.
In a personal conversation, Alan Jeon said that these guys were better kept separate, because it seems like the nymphs like to nibble on each others antenna. I have six nymphs, so I am keeping three of them in separate deli cups, and three together in a medium sized container with plenty of hides and will compare the growth and overall health of both groups. If one does better than the other, I will move the other group into the appropriate setup(s).
I am keeping them moist, the substrate is coconut fiber mixed with a little sawdust, and I am using dead leaves and bits of cardboard eggcartons and toilet paper rolls as hides. I am feeding them cat food, so far it is hard to tell if they are eating because they are just so small, and probably have small appetites.
Here are some pictures of the nymphs:
Hopefully I can successfully breed them, it would be quite a surprise if I did. The Blaberus on the other hand are relatively easy to breed, and I should have no problem breeding them, just got to wait for some of my small nymphs to grow up, all the large nymphs and adults are females.
Hope you guys enjoyed, and I will see you next time! :)
Hmm... I thought Alan Jeon succeeded in breeding Chorisoneura texensis... He had problems with them dying after becoming adults for unknown reasons. The same thing happened to me with one female. I haven't successfully bred them either. I was doing well with the nymphs after giving them a lot of ventilation (keeping them in a fabric lid 32oz container), but became mentally ill and went to the hospital a couple times so that I forgot about them (along with other species I had) and died from drying out, and couldn't see if that setup would work to keep the adults from dying (I had hopes it would, since other species of roaches I have had had a similar problem that when moved to a fabric 32oz container somehow they would not get sick and die).
ReplyDeleteAbout the P. lata. It might be good to put several pieces and sawdust of dry wood in one spot. They like to lay eggs there, and I wonder if it helps with their diet, but not sure about the diet thing.
I thought Alan Jeon successfully bred them. He had a setup with cardboard and a blob of tissue for moisture, instead of having a substrate. I tried using a 32oz container with a fabric lid, and thought that would work since it worked for other kinds of roaches with a problem of dying out. The nymphs were doing fine in that 32oz container, but couldn't see how it would work with the adults because I had to go to the hospital a couple times, and couldn't care for my animals, and these were one of the first ones to die probably, drying out because that 32oz fabric lid container has a lot of ventilation (maybe the ventilation is the reason the roaches do better?).
ReplyDeleteNo, I messaged him on the Roach forum and apparently he has not had much luck in breeding them, the nymphs were really fragile and his would nip each other's legs and antenna off.
DeleteI am keeping them very well ventilated, I poked a TON of tiny holes in all their cages, which took a long time. They are being kept on a substrate, and are doing well so far, one even matured! Others are subadults, so I will soon be able to attempt to breed this species, fingers crossed it goes well!
Thank you very much for the tips! :)