However, my young adult female is showing black coloration where her internal ootheca is/was. I'm not sure if she's the one who gave birth or not, or what is up with the black insides, but I'm willing to bet this doesn't bode well for her... 🙁
Anyway, here are some pictures of an adult male and the new enclosure:
The adults and even the nymphs really like hiding in this "roach hut" I constructed for them out of corkboard. The newborn nymphs of this species seem to have long thin legs, and prefer seeking pre-existing cavities in which to hide, rather than construct burrows themselves like the larger nymphs do.
Anyway, my colony's numbers seem to be on the rise, so hopefully the next couple generations will prove to be very prolific!
Now, last month another litter of Lanxoblatta rudis nymphs was born, despite me moving them to a colder area of the room to prevent any reproduction until I had some more hides for them. Sadly, a decent portion of those nymphs have died off, and it seems like all suitable resting areas in the enclosure have been claimed.
Finally though, a light at the end of the tunnel! I made a trade with Leo Dutkewych, (owner of Leo's Invertebrate Blog and a long time supporter of this one), and received a box full of Birch bark, which should work very nicely for this species! 😃
Here are a few pictures of their enclosure, pimped out with some of the Birch bark:
I will be placing their cage next to my heat cable again, so reproduction may commence at a quickened pace! Hopefully I'll be swimming in nymphs soon! In the meantime, me and another buddy will be working on coming up with a more permanent hide option for this species, (as they will chew through the bark and render it useless after a few months).
Well, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, I hope everyone enjoyed, will see you all next time! 😉
This entry in particular catches my interest. I'm planning to start an _Oxyhaloa duesta_ colony in a while, and I want to give them vertical hides that are nicer to look at than egg cartons, but less bulky than slabs of cork bark. I considered corkboard but I'm wary of whatever glue they use to stick all those crumbs together. How have your roaches fared on it?
ReplyDeleteMy other option was a local floristry supplier who sells bundles of birch bark, among other things. My concern there, is that I guess Leo is more attentive to sourcing from pesticide-free areas! Again, I'm curious about how your roaches reacted to this, though I guess I should keep reading to find out.
The cork board works great, I have used it long term for several different roach and other invert species, whatever they use to keep all the cork together is apparently non-toxic, (the cork I use from walmart does say "All natural" on it).
DeleteYeah when getting bark you have to be really careful not to get stuff treated with pesticides. Leo got the birch bark from the woods, so I knew it was good to use.
Excellent, thanks! I'm a little outside Walmart's jurisdiction, but I'll have a look around here. Barring a visit to a local forest, that might give up some good bits.
DeleteBirch bark still tempts me. I was looking at bags of birch log firewood in a local shop, from a Latvian business. No idea if they spray their timber (shot off an email) but if they do, it's likely the EU's last permissable neonicotinoid, acetamiprid. (There's been a stink about it in Scotland https://theferret.scot/pesticide-scotlands-woodlands/) Surprisingly, it apparently breaks down very quickly in a solution of vinegar and salt. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10942912.2016.1250099) I wonder if it could be a safeguard against iffy wood, but that's NOT an experiment I'm going to try with a fresh new starter colony.
Oh, and I did read on, and saw more of what you did with the cork mats - including the brooding chambers. Great stuff!
No problem, hope you can source some cork board if you can't find bark in your local forest!
DeleteBirch bark is really only needed for species that need a super flat hide source like Zetoborinae roaches, your Oxyhaloa will use pretty much any kind of bark stacked against each other I think. :) Honestly eggcrates will probably work just fine!