I've had to say goodbye to my Periplaneta colony as they were too "roachy" for the apartment I was going to be staying at. So they are now running free again.

However I think I maybe able to keep some exotic species since I'm in a state that allows it.

So hopefully soon.

Babies galore.

Well it looks like the americana colony is a total loss, I will still wait until the new year, maybe some will hatch.

In happier news the Australian roaches are finally experiencing a baby boom, I have lots of nymphs.

Cute babies everywhere.

Picking up the pieces.

The Periplaneta americana colony is a total loss, but hopefully the ooth are more resilient, I used said room mates strainer to sit throughout the substrate to gather the other, I'm sure some slipped through but no biggie.

Here is all that's left, I've counted around 28 or so, with one that had already hatched. I've placed them on moist paper towels rather than substrate to make it easier to catch the nymphs if they hatch and I need to move, or ship them. Hopefully these are still viable.

Disaster.

Well while I was gone a right bastard of a room mate moved my roach colonies outside, and they got hit by direct sun and the Periplaneta americana colony is destroyed. I will attempt to salvage the ooths, but I'm not hopeful. And considering I was trying to breed a giant strain, the individuals lost were irreplaceable, and I'm unable to get more.

The giant one is on the right, but the other two were still larger than many other Periplaneta adults I've seen. The Surinames have been wiped out as well.

The Australian roaches are thankfully ok, I will do a more detailed check for casualties later but initial inspection seems promising.

Love, hurricanes and babies...

Well interesting things are occurring, along with Hurricane Irma, moving and not much to report until now. We finally have progress. I've been able to witness mating and brooding behavior of my roaches, and finally after waiting more than a month I have the first babies/nymphs.

It's not often a roach keeper will see mating since roaches often only mate once, unless the male was infertile.

Egg laying roaches like Periplaneta often carry around their ooths until they find a suitable location, if they can't they will either simply drop them, or more dedicated females will painstakingly bury and disguise them. The next series of photos will show a female Periplaneta americana disguising her ooth, by gluing grains of sand to it, and then trying to hide it.

These are in order, as you can see she buried her ooth quite deeply, after disguising it as a lump of sand, and then covering the site with objects she found.

And now for the ooth.

These were found some time before July 16, at incubating at 80 to 90 degrees one finally hatched on September 7th. Such high temps are generally unnecessary, with 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit being adequate for most roaches, along with a moist substrate. Periplaneta are not a fussy species.

Two remain unhatched, but I'm sure they will hatch soon. And finally here are the sadly blurry pics of the newly hatched Periplaneta australasiae. There were around six or so.

Now all this is going on with Hurricane Irma barrelling down on my location, so I will be evacuating along with these guys, so I may be gone for awhile, the roaches can handle dog food and water rations with no issue for a few weeks. Well I'm out.

The great white roach.

I figured I would briefly cover this, I have seen numerous people fooled into thinking they have a rare albino invertebrate, however this white color is due to recent shedding and not genetic factors, while there are naturally white roaches they do not count as being albino, and the "albino" will return to normal coloration within a day or so as the exoskeleton hardens.

So if you see this don't be fooled, you managed to catch your roach right after it's shed and you sadly don't have an albino.

Updates, and feeding the buggers.

First of all updates, several of the Australian roaches have matured and are starting to lay eggs, kind of bitter sweet since the clock is ticking, and find replacements is not feasible anymore.

Dog food and orange slices make a great staple roach diet.

These are teneral roaches, they have just recently molted.

Now on to the main topic. Feeding your roaches. You will find that feeding your roach colony to be one of the easiest things to accomplish. A high quality dog or cat food will work as the main diet. Then make sure to supplement the diet with fruit and vegetables to ensure that your roaches will breed readily. I've found citrus fruits tend to be especially liked and work well for inducing breeding and egg laying. While withholding said fruits and vegetables will slow it down or stop it completely.

I will note that if your roaches are feeders for something else, that it may be advised to do further research on your specific animals diet, and choose your roaches diet accordingly. For example feeding reptile or fish pellets in place of dog food, for roaches destined for reptiles or fish. I've also heard claims that animals that eat roaches fed on dog or cat food cause gout in their reptiles. I will admit I have not seriously looked into those claims and it is my OPINION that the gout was likely caused by simply not feeding a variety of things and instead relying on a single feeder insect for their reptiles needs.

Using and raising roaches for the express purposes of feeding other animals is beyond the purview of this blog but I felt it pertinent to mention a possible although in my opinion, an easily avoided risk, of using roaches as a SOLE feeding source.

A note on Periplaneta as feeders, Periplaneta do make excellent feeders for many animals, however they do have one serious drawback, they can be very fast when they are trying to escape a predator, and as a result the chances of escape are increased when moving them from one enclosure to another. If you are using Periplaneta as feeders, do any capture of them outdoors, or in a room where if they escape the can easily be caught, or killed, before they can hide. Now as I have stated previously Periplaneta have some difficulties in infesting homes outside ba tropical climate, and even in a tropical climate find houses not to their liking, but in my opinion, why take chances?

I don't feel like listing a huge list of what fruits roaches can eat, but generally you will find out what your roaches prefer through offering different types of fruit. Mine prefer oranges, peaches, nectarines, kiwis, and watermelon, and they dislike banana, strawberries, Raspberries, blackberries. As for veggies, bell pepper seems to be a hit, but in short if it's safe for feeding to parrots, or vegetarian reptiles it's safe for roaches as well.

That chunk of kiwi is too much for a colony of that size, but since I change fruit out every 24 hours it's no issue. They don't need a lot. Generally changing fresh food every 24 to 48 hours is perfect for preventing mold and smell, as an added bonus it also helps reduce pest infestation, since that's not enough time for fruit or phorid flies to complete their metamorphosis, but enough time for them to lay eggs on it. ;)

Next time, we may discuss breeding, as of now I have some ooth cooking, but they have yet to hatch.