The hissers. Males are to the far left and right |
They are the easiest pets. They really are. They need water every few days (in the form of a damp sponge), and food just as often. They don't need any special food, and get whatever scraps we have (fruit, vegetables, bread, and dog food). They especially love apple and stale bread. Their terrarium needs cleaning only every week or two. They don't need a heat lamp or anything like that (you can provide one for them, but it will shorten their lives considerably).
Frankie eating bread. Today they got stale bread and spinach |
I've had them for some time now, and I suspect most of them are heading toward the ends of their lives. I got the girls as adults, and Frankie is not much younger. Walter is the youngest and I expect him to molt once more, if that. They don't molt again after they reach maturity. I had the males and females separated at one point, but I decided to house them together because I doubt the oldest will live more that six more months or so. At least two of them are around two to three years old already, and that's fairly old for them (they can live to five, but that's not super common). At least one of the females is pregnant, so I'm expecting little baby roaches any time now.
Two of the girls in their "house" hiding under the egg crate. The one on the right is the one I believe to be pregnant. |
Today was terrarium cleaning day, and I took the pictures while I was doing that.
I was raising discoid roaches. They really are cool. Just needed a heating pad, a bit of water, frass and some vegetables. Easy-peasy. They multiplied like crazy after a certain population level.
ReplyDeleteIt was cool to get a girlfriend who was okay with them too.
Don't I know it. I watched as my professor's population went from four to about one hundred. It was crazy.
ReplyDeleteDiscoids are nifty, but I think I prefer them without the wings. Even if they can't fly, it still bothers me. I blame living in a house with a lot of cockroaches and palmetto bugs when I was little. They're scary when you're five!