So, lets talk about a couple of my new roach species, my polymorphic roaches,
Blaberus atropos "Florida", and my small yellow Texas roaches,
Chorisoneura texensis.
This is my first time keeping any of the Blaberus species and I must say, I am a fan! At first I thought this genus was a bit overrated, they did not look too interesting to me so I never got around to buying any. Now that I have them, I love them! They are just so big and passive, and are great for handling! I am really glad I got some of these.
I am keeping them in a medium sized plastic container with moist coconut fiber as the substrate and a layer of dead leaves on top just because. They are burrowers, so I gave them a deep substrate and no hides. I am feeding them cat food, fruits and veggies, the usual roach fare.
This species in particular is one of the more interesting species, seeing as they have variable pronotum markings in different individuals. Here are some pictures of two individuals with different pronotum markings. Both are female.
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| The more circular marking |
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| And the typical Blaberus square |
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| And here are both of them together |
And now lets talk about my Chorisoneura texensis. This species is extremely hard to breed, even Kyle Kandillian and Alan Jeon, two of the most experienced Blatticulturists out there, have not been able to breed them successfully, so I expect not to do well with them. However if everyone gave up on something when other people had failed, then nothing would get done. I am going to try my best to rear these, and even if I fail, hopefully we will have learned something new that can help the next person who tries to keep them.
In a personal conversation, Alan Jeon said that these guys were better kept separate, because it seems like the nymphs like to nibble on each others antenna. I have six nymphs, so I am keeping three of them in separate deli cups, and three together in a medium sized container with plenty of hides and will compare the growth and overall health of both groups. If one does better than the other, I will move the other group into the appropriate setup(s).
I am keeping them moist, the substrate is coconut fiber mixed with a little sawdust, and I am using dead leaves and bits of cardboard eggcartons and toilet paper rolls as hides. I am feeding them cat food, so far it is hard to tell if they are eating because they are just so small, and probably have small appetites.
Here are some pictures of the nymphs:
Hopefully I can successfully breed them, it would be quite a surprise if I did. The
Blaberus on the other hand are relatively easy to breed, and I should have no problem breeding them, just got to wait for some of my small nymphs to grow up, all the large nymphs and adults are females.
Hope you guys enjoyed, and I will see you next time! :)
