Call It a Comeback! (Pt. 2)

Well ladies and gents, time to address the other new roach species I got from "Santa Roach" last week! I am excited to introduce the highly coveted, and slightly infamous, Gyna capucina! 😃 These beauties are known as the "Pink roach" in the hobby, due to the pinkish coloration of the adults, (kinda comes out more of a orange-pink in photos though).
They are one of the "Holy Grail" species in the US, due to their beautiful adult coloration and rareness, however they have proven to be a challenging species to breed over multiple generations. There are many theories floating around as to why that may be, some say specific fruits like peaches are needed in their diet, others insist that a chunky, coarse substrate is key to the health of the colony. However, after talking with people who have successfully bred this species in decent quantities for more than a couple generations, it seems like they may just need to be kept drier than most people would think for good reproduction.

I received about 10 individuals, ranging from nearly newborn nymphs, to half grown nymphs, and even one mature male! Apparently females take quite a bit longer to mature than males, so I'm hoping this mix will ensure I'll have at least one male and female mature at the same time, I'd really like to get at least a few babies from these cuties, especially since they can be rather difficult to source...

Anyways, I've put mine in a 2 gallon Tupperware, with a lot of ventilation, and a substrate mix of coconut fiber, Zilla jungle mix, and some rotten oak wood, about an inch deep. On top of the substrate is a layer of decaying oak leaves, and I've placed some vertically slanted bark slabs in the enclosure for the adults to climb and rest on if need be. I've also made and glued a little corkboard hide to the lid of the enclosure, which has already been used by my adult male.
Apparently the adults of this species appreciate a bit of height to their enclosures, (particularly the males), unfortunately the enclosure I gave mine is a bit shallow, but it was the best I could do for now, and should be more than adequate for this first generation, (my G.lurida, caffrorum and centurio bred in similar enclosures, so these capucina should be OK too). If/when they breed, I'll be sure to move the offspring to a five gallon tub like what my Bantua are in, which will give the following generation of adults all the height they could want.

I'm keeping one corner of the enclosure moist, and the rest of the substrate bone dry. Apparently this is just how they like it, and most of the people I know of who have had great success breeding this species are keeping them with similar humidity levels. Seeing as this is a South African species, I shouldn't be too surprised. I'm keeping them pretty warm as well, via a heat cable under part of the enclosure.
I'll be feeding them chick feed, fresh fruits and veggies, (no peaches though!), and the nymphs will also nibble on decaying leaf litter, and possibly rotten hardwood as well. Apparently they have big appetites compared to other Gyna, so I must keep an eye on them and make sure they always have food available. As for cleaner crews, I'm using the same mix of red orabatid mites, booklice, and cotton springtails that my Bantua sp. "Namibia" have, seeing as they are dry hardy cleaners.

Unfortunately, the substrate Seb shipped the Gyna in had grain mites and some isopod mancae in it, which have now been introduced to the Gyna enclosure. However, seeing as most of the enclosure is being kept bone dry, with a single moist corner and LOTS of ventilation, and there are more dry hardy cleaners already in the enclosure, I can't imagine either the grain mites or isopods breeding well or reaching plague populations in this setup, and I'm hoping the cleaners will virtually wipe them out over time, (same goes for the grain mites that were introduced to my Bantua enclosure via the leaf litter they were shipped in, don't why I added it to their enclosure in the first place...).

Now, here are some pictures of the beauties! 😁 First, one of the nymphs:

Now the adult male: 😍

Lastly, their current enclosure and the special hide on the lid I made:

Hopefully they do well in this setup, apparently it's the second generation that normally fails on people if they aren't keeping them right, the adults just stop breeding for some reason. I'll be sure to update you on any important developments, would be amazing to get some babies from this rarely kept species! 😊

Anyway, that's gonna do it for this post, hope you all enjoyed, thanks for reading, I'll see ya'll soon! 😉