I've got mine housed in a well ventilated enclosure with a couple inches of coco fiber and coco coir chunks as the substrate, topped with eggcrates. I'm keeping a quarter of the substrate moist, the rest dry, and have them at around 80-85F°. I'm feeding them dog food and fruits as their staple diet.
Here are some photos of a couple adults:
They have been breeding quite well for me so far, definitely seems to be a relatively hardy species. Unfortunately as with many Blaberus spp., finding pure stock of these can be difficult on account of their ability to hybridize with other members of the atropos species group (atropos, discoidalis, etc.), so be wary of where you source your Blaberus!
The Parcoblatta divisa "Park Crossing, AL" I received from Alan Jeon have been absolutely thriving in my care, I may need to start using them as feeders here soon. 🤣 They really just seem to need good ventilation and a 50/50 humidity gradient, and they thrive!
Here are a couple pics of em:
A very attractive strain with lots of high red individuals, definitely can't recommend these enough to the avid roach hobbyist!
Last year I got Armadillidium frontetriangulum "Corfu" from Laura at Smugbug. This is the more common of the two frontetriangulum localities in culture, the other less common one being from Albania. These are relatively large for an Armadillidium, and seem to do well with good ventilation and a 50/50 humidity gradient. If things get too stagnant then they can start having issues with die offs and lack of reproduction.
I have mine in a well ventilated shoebox with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate topped in coco coir chunks, leaf litter, and bark hides. I am keeping half the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and have them at around 80-85F. I am feeding them dog food as their supplemental diet.
A lovely species, I know there is an orange morph of this locality available now, but I honestly just prefer the wild type. They have some really nice contrast between the dark grey base coloration and the white and yellow spots on their backs, and I feel like that contrast is lost in the orange morph. Though I am sure I will get them one day anyways... 😅
Back in Summer I got some Lobopterella dimidiatipes from my buddy Brandon Maines, a small species that's been in culture for a while now, but that I never bothered to keep before, until now. They are quite similar to Loboptera decipiens, but they seem a little faster to start breeding. They also are brachypterous, with short but quite visible wings, whereas L.decipiens are micropterous.
I have them set up in a deli cup with a mesh lid, and a thin layer of coco fiber substrate topped in cardboard hides. I am keeping them humid, but not very moist, and have their enclosure at around 80-85F. I am feeding them dog food and fruits.
Here are some pics of an adult female:
Definitely a cute little species, and they seem rather hardy and prolific as well! I am surprised I never kept them before, but hey, better late than never!
Speaking of species that have been around in the hobby for a while that I've never kept before (unless you count a single stowaway nymph), I got some Rhyparobia maderae from Brandon last year! They are seriously cool, and while they took a little bit to get established, are absolutely popping off now! These used to be a hobby staple, but alas they have fallen to the wayside in favor of more colorful and unusual species that have entered culture since. Which is truly a shame, since they are a nice medium-large roach species, that's easy to culture and while not super colorful, are unique in their own right!
I have mine set up in a well ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate, topped with lots of cardboard rolls and eggcrates for hides. I keep them pretty dry, and at around 75-80F. I feed them dog food and fruits as their staple diet (the latter is their main source of moisture as well, though I occasionally spray one corner of their setup). I have Alphitobius diaperinus in their enclosure as a CUC, which they don't seem to mind at all.
I hope to see these more commonly cultured one day, they are a neat pet species and have use as feeders too, especially for other invertebrates (adults can produce a nasty smelling defensive fluid that I suspect would taste bad to vertebrates, nymphs would probably be fine to feed to verts though).
Anyways, that does it for this post! Thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉
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