What's up with my roach colony?

[Allthingsterrarium]

So to start a breeding colony I ordered 40 orange-head roaches last week and they arrived yesterday. More will be on the way come September. I tried raising dubias before and that didn't go so now that I no more about what I ordered orange heads which seem to have a lot of advantages over dubias. Thing is they aren't coming out or doing anything. It's not they're unhealthy, they arrived in good shape and you can hear them crawling around in there. They have a pretty great setup too. It's an old 20 gallon long tank in a warm room with plenty of hiding places ranging from paper towel rolls and an egg crate top to a small plastic hamster hutch I had on hand to caves I made with rocks. I've given them mashed up dog food and some fruit bits to start them off plus plenty of water gel for hydration and humidity and both a 100 watt heat emitter and a heating pad stuck to the side. They need at least 80 degrees to breed and it ranges from 80-95 in there depending on outside temperature so they are fine. You would think they would be going nuts in there scurrying around and chewing on stuff but they've just been hiding. Apparently they're nocturnal but when I switched on the light to check at 1:00 am last night some were only half out and only one large nymph was exploring for a few seconds. What's going on? Any ideas?

 

[andrewed1]

Sounds normal to me. Mine always hide.. i only check on my breeding boxes once a month or 2 other than to feed and add water. To actually see them, I need to shake the egg cartons.

Dont worry keep plenty of food and water (moisture) and heat on them, and they will do their stuff..

Got a photo of your setup.?

Remember humidity is not good for them.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Allthingsterrarium]

Sounds normal to me. Mine always hide.. i only check on my breeding boxes once a month or 2 other than to feed and add water. To actually see them, I need to shake the egg cartons.

Dont worry keep plenty of food and water (moisture) and heat on them, and they will do their stuff..

Got a photo of your setup.?

Remember humidity is not good for them.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

That's good to hear! I can get a picture of the tank tonight. I know too much humidity can lead to mold but don't they need some humidity in order to breed?

 

[Allthingsterrarium]

So to start a breeding colony I ordered 40 orange-head roaches last week and they arrived yesterday. More will be on the way come September. I tried raising dubias before and that didn't go so well. Now that I know more about what I need to do I ordered orange heads which seem to have a lot of advantages over dubias. Thing is they aren't coming out or doing anything. It's not that they're unhealthy, they arrived in good shape and you can hear them crawling around in there. They have a pretty great setup too. It's an old 20 gallon long tank in a warm room with plenty of hiding places ranging from paper towel and toilet paper rolls and an egg crate top to a small plastic hamster hutch I had on hand to caves I made with rocks. I've given them mashed up dog food and some fruit bits to start them off plus plenty of water gel for hydration and humidity and both a 100 watt heat emitter and a heating pad stuck to the side. They need at least 80 degrees to breed and it ranges from 80-95 in there depending on outside temperature so they are fine. You would think they would be going nuts in there scurrying around and chewing on stuff but they've just been hiding. Apparently they're nocturnal but when I switched on the light to check at 1:00 am last night some were only half out and only one large nymph was exploring for a few seconds. What's going on? Any ideas?

Sorry, corrected some grammar errors. I'm a grammar freak lol.

 

[andrewed1]

I have 3 52litre storage tubs with the lids cut around the sides with fly screen/mesh over it. Works a treat.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[andrewed1]

Similar to this

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Allthingsterrarium]

I have 3 52litre storage tubs with the lids cut around the sides with fly screen/mesh over it. Works a treat.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

I do have a rubbermaid tub on hand with a lid but it would take too much modifying and I'm afraid the heat emitter and heat mat would melt the plastic. Here's what I currently have. half of the roaches have retreated under the egg crate lid and the other half are among the rocks on the far right and left. I certainly would like to move the colony eventually though because I want to put a snake in that tank.

 

[andrewed1]

No wonder their in luxury..[emoji16]

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[andrewed1]

Mine tubs sit ontop of a 14watt heat mat with the temp at 30dc.

Never any melting.. and do not need a addional heat element

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Allthingsterrarium]

Mine tubs sit ontop of a 14watt heat mat with the temp at 30dc.

Never any melting.. and do not need a addional heat element

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Excellent! I'll be sure to remember that for future. Thanks so much!

 

[Hdrydr31]

I'm surprised your Dubia didn't go well I find them super easy..
Here are my suggestions:
I would cover the sides of your tank with black construction paper as even in the dark they LOVE/NEED dark...
Make sure you only go into that tank to change out foods/water crystals and leave the egg flats etc alone so no peeking.. Remember what you feed them goes into your dragon I wouldn't feed dog food. I make my own dry roach chow, any veggie stems leftover from salad making, any chunks of veggies, and oranges are really good to get those males going...
I know Orange Heads are quicker to produce but I'm sure it's recommended to leave them be 6-8 weeks (dubia timeline)
I would get egg cartons, egg flats and stand them on their side on one side of the tank and leave the other side that would be the cooler side to put the food/water items.
For humidity I put glasses of water next to my heat lamps that way it's not in my tubs but around them..You'll know if it's good or not by if they get stuck in their molt, or they look like they didn't molt well.
I'm almost positive the issue here is not having the sides covered. Make it look like a dark, warm cubby..

I have a small tub up in 1 of my rooms it's just my weekly feeders and it's a 5gal covered, with the smallest UTH stuck to the side and room temp at 73 and they've produced nymphs...

 

[Allthingsterrarium]

I'm surprised your Dubia didn't go well I find them super easy..
Here are my suggestions:
I would cover the sides of your tank with black construction paper as even in the dark they LOVE/NEED dark...
Make sure you only go into that tank to change out foods/water crystals and leave the egg flats etc alone so no peeking.. Remember what you feed them goes into your dragon I wouldn't feed dog food. I make my own dry roach chow, any veggie stems leftover from salad making, any chunks of veggies, and oranges are really good to get those males going...
I know Orange Heads are quicker to produce but I'm sure it's recommended to leave them be 6-8 weeks (dubia timeline)
I would get egg cartons, egg flats and stand them on their side on one side of the tank and leave the other side that would be the cooler side to put the food/water items.
For humidity I put glasses of water next to my heat lamps that way it's not in my tubs but around them..You'll know if it's good or not by if they get stuck in their molt, or they look like they didn't molt well.
I'm almost positive the issue here is not having the sides covered. Make it look like a dark, warm cubby..

I have a small tub up in 1 of my rooms it's just my weekly feeders and it's a 5gal covered, with the smallest UTH stuck to the side and room temp at 73 and they've produced nymphs...

Thanks so much Hdrydr31! Those are all fantastic ideas and I'm going to try every single one of them. These little guys are going to be thriving sooner or later. I only gave them dog food because apparently they are slightly more carnivorous than the dubias so I figured I would give them plenty of protein as a base in addition to fruits and veggies. I've heard dry cat food might be better since it's pure meat but then again it might not be good for the my lizards, frogs and tarantulas in the long run. They can go quite a while without food so if they aren't eating now it should be okay. They'll come around so long as a I keep at it. Especially when I add more I think that will perk them up. I hear they're a cave species so no wonder they prefer it very dark.