They're heeee-eeerrre! :-)

[Augie]

Here is my setup, complete with 75 nymphs, 12 males, and 12 females. As you can see, they are quite bashful in the light... hehehe.

Got the adults from Doodlebug Critters and nymphs from Small Pet Feeders. All are really active. The adults I got from Doodlebugs seem to be eating more, but I'm sure everyone will be ravenous all in good time.

And yes, you are seeing that correctly. I have exclusively used mustache duct tape.

Doodle gave me 4 extra adults and Small Pet Feeders gave me some free butterworms! I gave a butterworm to Reggie and he went nuts! Probably going to give the rest to my pacman Jimmy.

Definitely puts me in a good mood! Tell me what you think!

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Looks good! Only thing I would probably suggest is that your roaches may have a hard time getting to the food and water crystals since they are in tall slick plastic containers. I would use the lids to those containers instead of the containers themselves.

 

[Augie]

Ah... I forgot to mention in this post I have holes carved out on two sides of each bin so they can climb in. Initially I was using the tops to the tubs (meaning I put the tops on them) but noticed nymphs climbing the walls of the sterilite, falling on top, and getting stuck in the creases. So far they seem to be getting in and out of the tubs no problem. I'll keep an eye on them tho, thanks for the advice!

 

[Silkmoth]

I love using lids! Why buy dishes when things like sour cream give you a free dish? They are low so Pendragon just steps into it to eat. I put his salad in it. I caught him playing in it earlier.

 

[Augie]

Couple updates (huge update so bear with me).

My males went gladiator on me. The ratio of 1:1 was not a good idea. Three dead, one with his head completely removed! A female died too, but I don't know if it was related (doubt it, I think some of the females are kinda old, which is fine because I got a good over count). I looked around a lot online and actually found someone that lives 5 minutes away from me. Bought 26 more females for only $40 and she also gave me about a dozen nymphs of different sizes. Now my ratio is about 4:1, which is awesome. I think at least one of the females was gravid because I saw some really tiny ones in there when I checked in on their food.

That brings me to my next update. Been using this roach chow I made that they are going nuts over. Three parts dog food, one part Cheerios, one part soy flour, one part raisin bran (minus the raisins), and a sliver of a Nilla wafer for super sweetness. Seems to be working well, but that brings me to my NEXT and last update, which is also a question.

The lids I am using really stink for the nymphs I think. I have been putting some of my chow on the floor and some in one of the lids that I have resting on the floor. The floor chow gets destroyed, but there is always chow left in the lids, which leads me to believe only the adults have access to it. This is bad, because adults and nymphs are eating the floor food, but when it runs out I think only the adults have access to the lid chow. I sanded the lids down, with the assumption the nymphs could climb in there. I even cut holes on every side with a Stanley knife so nymphs can access it from the floor. But I don't think that is happening.

Any advice on lids that work? I am open to buying foodstuffs from containers that I can use. I of course have no issue with eating those foodstuffs myself.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

I use lids off of large Country Crock Butter tubs, flip them upside down and cut a couple small notches out of the small lip...works great for my colony and they are all fat and happy it appears Oh and I wouldn't suggest that you eat an entire tub of butter to get the lid..lol

Enjoy!

 

[Augie]

You underestimate what I would do for my roaches! Haha!

Actually I think we have a tub in the fridge. I know what to do with it when it's empty. Christmas is around the corner, I'm confident it will be empty by then! Thanks for the awesome advice!

On a side note what do you think of my chow? Am I missing anything?

 

[Silkmoth]

I like lids from yogurt or sour cream containers. The edges are low and waterproof. If you need them lower just cut the edges off. My bugs do very well eating out of them. I put leaves on the floor like collards and mustard but the powdered stuff goes on the lids. And I put the water gel on the lids too.

 

[Noella]

I used to use a double cat bowl. The adults can use it, but the baby crickets I got can't. So I use a paper plate. They've got enough room so that each cricket isn't standing or lying on each other. I even don't know why they cluster together in one hole in an egg crate. Crickets are silly creatures, but Allie loves them! I wonder if she'd like something different other than roaches. (I used to work in a house filled with them and it made me wish I could wash myself for hours. It was that bad! They 'wild' ones breed and breed.

 

[Augie]

Wife just finished off a tub of fake butter when she made us some venison stew today. Jackpot!

When it comes to crickets I use a cricket keeper with torn up egg flats. I throw in what I find at Walmart, usually mustard and collard greens. They had some turnip greens today, so I picked up a bunch. All of those are only 88 cents each and last about 2 weeks! I want to try them to see if Reggie will take to them, as he has no interest in the others I have tried.

Back to the tub... I plan on using the lid for roach chow and the actual tub for water crystals. Just need to cut little openings in both of them. I should be all set! We'll see if it works out!