# Post your breeder enclosures



## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

Hi all, I recently acquired a B. Dubia colony. The person that gave it to me really messed it up and had all sorts of nonsense going on. a water crystal dish too high for them to climb out of, a large dish of water for humidity, nastsy substrate, no food variety etc etc. 

I took it off her hands for free and redid the bin and everything. I will post pics as soon as I get home tonight or early tomorrow morning. But in the mean time, I want to see your enclosures. Roaches, crickets whatever. How do you house them? How do you heat them? What do you feed them and how do you place the food? Any tips anything.

Thanks RFUk, I know its rude to ask for pics and not provide any of my own setup, but I promise I'll get them up. I'm excited for how well i did and am looking for some criticism!


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

well like I promised, here's my pics:

I like to tell a story when I post stuff, so let me start at the beginning.

A lady was nice enough to give me a colony of B. Dubia that she ordered online. She ordered 250 juveniles back in August and basically neglected them. Kept them filled with food and water crystals, but really didn't do much else. She cut a hole in her lid and taped some sort of screen door type thing onto the top.








I really dont know what she was thinking. Obviously the opening is too big and allows for too much heat/humidity loss. The chance of escapees is greatly increased (even with b. dubia) when you just drop a screened apparatus on top of a lid and tape it down with carpentry tape. And plumbing tape.









Here's the underside of the lid:








Kinda hard to see there, but there's HUGE gaps between the bottom of the screen and the top of the lid. 

These pics are from after I transferred them to a new enclosure with a better (IMO) setup.

She put substrate in there, which isn't a big no no, but certainly makes it harder to clean and catch babies and all that. Really a pain. 
Here you can see the substrate and the dish that she used for their food. (A rabbit food I believe)








Keep in mind, this is after I was fooling around and trying to catch all the loners and get them transferred, so the bowls are all emptied. 
Anyway, in that pic you can see a large dead adult male. He died in the food dish, so I imagine he couldn't escape due to the slippy sides of the dish. Obviously that's not what killed him, as he had plenty of food 

sigh. This was their water dish, filled about halfway w/ crystals.








"Hey Loogie, being that the dish is deep and slippy plastic, how could they get into the water dish, and if they did manage to, how could they get out?" Is that what you're thinking? well, you're right. There was about 75 roaches stuck in this little bin, even babies. They had burrowed down into the bottom of the crystals and were probably miserable. They're just roaches and all, but seriously, come on!









Here's the crystals (transferred to another bowl in the process of removing all the roaches from the crystals. 








You can see they're stained yellow and filled w/ all sorts of nasty stuff.

I'm keeping her bin in the state it's in (complete with food and water crystals stewn about) until I can be sure i've gotten majority of the babies out. I still see several every time I open the top and can only catch em when they're in the crystals or something similar. I even left the dead adult in there, just cuz it gives me the willies.









Now onto my enclosure. This is my first time keeping any type of insect, feeder or similar. Not my thing at all. I dont understand how anyone could like these enough to keep as a show pet, but I will admit, they are fascinating to watch. Through a screen anyway.

Here is my "outer bin". I'll explain more on it in a sec.









Here is the "housing bin" sitting inside the outer bin. 








I used some girly blankets someone gave us to insulate the housing bin. It's about 50 degrees in my garage, and was getting down to 30s a few nights ago, so I knew I had to keep them warm somehow.

The purpose of the outer bin is two fold. 1) to allow an insulating barrier to keep heat in the housing bin. 2) if a roach gets out, he'll just find his way into the outer bin and probably make his way down into the blankets. (in summer time, no blankets and he'll certainly fall down into the outer bin) An escapee is NOT AN OPTION for me. MY wife would seriously, without joking, end my life. I would be on the news as a missing person. She's very wonderful and super tolerant of my quirks and hobbies, and obsessions as they change. Even letting me keep roaches in the garage. One escape and it's me buried in the woods somewhere. I even had to tell her they're not roaches, but in fact a special breed of cricket that can't climb, fly or chirp. For some reason, a bin of crickets is less gross than a bin of cockroaches.

I have a reptile under tank heater, and a heating pad under the housing bin (inside the outer bin). Here is the control for the heating pad.








I dont leave it on much, as I dont believe heating pads were made to run 24x7 and a fire would be pretty possible.
Even with just the reptile heater i'm constantly worried about the heater shorting and overheating and melting the bin and me becoming infested with roaches.







I can only hope divorce is all she'd go for.

Pretty poof balls on the blanket


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

With the lid of the outer bin on, the blankets push out the sides a bit and this is the amount of air that makes it out of the outer bin








Good enough for air exchange but also keep the humidity up...thanks to:








This is a big ziplock bag of water crystals I keep on top of the blankets in the outer bin. This was sort of an accident as apparently you dont need many crystals to soak up tons of water. I WAYYYYY overdid it.









For perspective: 









The lid is a DIY job I did. I just heated a kitchen knife and cut through the top easily, and then I found a sun screen in my backyard and cut that up and hot glued it to the underside.

















the glue job isn't nearly as bad as it looks here. I promise! 

Down inside the cavern:








Note the pretty clear crystals? There's too much in there too, but oh well. 

The bins I used for the crystals are just cheapo tin foil pans from Wal Mart ($1.57 for 4 i think.) 








I like them because they can bend and I can create easy access to and from the dishes.

The food is dry Kellogs oat bran with dehydrated strawberries mixed with dog food. The cereal gives the bin a nice sweet smell and theres no smell from the roaches to mention! :2thumb:

Just a quick shot down between the cartons:








I have too many cartons in there and I didn't want to pull one out and have to resituate it. Soon I'm going to remove one of the cartons. Then soon after that I'm going to build a new type of motel.









Oh no! it's only 16 degrees with only 16% humidity! Nah, it's just a cheap ass biscuit and the top lines dont show. it's actually 76 and 76! In a garage that's about 40 degrees and in a desert where the humidity is non existant! Also the thermometer is on the opposite side of where the reptile heater is, and the heating pad was off! I'm stoked about that!









This is a design of my own. It's a pretty small metal tube where I flattened one end of it so that way it could let medium and small roaches in, but i could dump the small ones out of the bottom and keep the mediums for feeders. I'm hoping the cold, smooth metal wont deter them from going inside it. I had just put it in about 10 minutes before these pics, so no roaches yet.

















The whole thing sits on the plastic bag that the girly blankets came in. 








That is to keep it off the cold concrete and also there's air trapped in the bag to act as even more of an insulator.

So what do you think of my setup? Any thoughts?

In the summer, i'm going to take out the blankets, and put fly paper on the bottom of the outer bin, so if any escape from the housing bin, they'll be stuck down there and i'll know about it. I'm also going to cover the inside bottom of the outer bin w/ foil, so if the heater ever does short out, it'll only melt the housing bin, and the foil will protect the outer bin so still no escapees!

On a side note, does anyone know if I can just rinse the water crystals when they get dirty? Is it dangerous (to me especially, but to the roaches too) to keep reusing crystals? Do the roaches have diseases that will rear their ugly head if I dont just throw out the used crystals or anything? 
Does not cleaning the bin for certain amounts of time generate health risks to myself or my family? 

Anyone know about keeping these guys with a pregnant wife in the house?


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

In the summer, i'm going to take out the blankets, and put fly paper on the bottom of the outer bin, so if any escape from the housing bin, they'll be stuck down there and i'll know about it. I'm also going to cover the inside bottom of the outer bin w/ foil, so if the heater ever does short out, it'll only melt the housing bin, and the foil will protect the outer bin so still no escapees!

On a side note, does anyone know if I can just rinse the water crystals when they get dirty? Is it dangerous (to me especially, but to the roaches too) to keep reusing crystals? Do the roaches have diseases that will rear their ugly head if I dont just throw out the used crystals or anything? 
Does not cleaning the bin for certain amounts of time generate health risks to myself or my family? 

Anyone know about keeping these guys with a pregnant wife in the house?


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## Reptilover (Jan 15, 2007)

This is my small setup for my new dubia coloney untill it grows.. Gets heat from the bearded dragon vivarium below which believe me does heat it up. I feed on a seeds, pellets, dried stuff for rodents all mixed that i make. I give vedge once a week, or will be doing. I soak the vedge in water and that why i dont use water bowls .. Gotalot in and its cramped but its staying that way untill i get some more numbers... they like it small and cramped anyway.


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

can you get a shot with your hand over the top of the container for perspective? i'm just curious of the size.


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## Reptilover (Jan 15, 2007)

loogielv said:


> can you get a shot with your hand over the top of the container for perspective? i'm just curious of the size.


 









you can sortoff see it here, my origional setup was a realy usefull box but heating it and keeping it sorted, e.g food was a pain in a*** quite frankly. So i've made the decision to keep them in the smaller tub untill i get more/breed more. I already have some babies though


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## CTI_Perrin (Mar 17, 2008)

This is a really goof thread! really interesting to see how people create colonies!

You look like your doing fine and very cautious etc, good on ya lol:2thumb:

- Aimee


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

CTI_Perrin said:


> This is a really *goof* thread! really interesting to see how people create colonies!
> 
> You look like your doing fine and very cautious etc, good on ya lol:2thumb:
> 
> - Aimee


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## johne.ev (Sep 14, 2008)

Reptilelover, get a bigger deeper tub with no lid. With that much food in a tub with a lid on you will end up with mould, a smelly tub and most probably dead roaches. They do better in tubs with no lids. They don't require water or gel/crystals as long as you provide FRESH veg a couple of times per week. I feed my colony fresh fruit & veg etc every evening, & remove anything not eaten the next morning (important with a large colony).


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## johne.ev (Sep 14, 2008)

@ loogielv, blankets? all you will end up with once they excrete their waste on your blankets (and a large colony make quite alot) is a stinking mess. This will only affect your wife in the way that she might throw you out lol.
All you need in your bins is cardboard egg crate/screwed up news paper for them to hide under hide. Fresh food (removed/replaced daily too keep them healthy and more importantly almost odourless.


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

johne.ev said:


> @ loogielv, blankets? all you will end up with once they excrete their waste on your blankets (and a large colony make quite alot) is a stinking mess. This will only affect your wife in the way that she might throw you out lol.
> All you need in your bins is cardboard egg crate/screwed up news paper for them to hide under hide. Fresh food (removed/replaced daily too keep them healthy and more importantly almost odourless.


guess you just reply without reading threads. no worries. it's not what you think


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## johne.ev (Sep 14, 2008)

Hey mate, i'm not trying to tell you how to keep them. Just looking at your set up personally (and from experience) you don't have enough ventilation . Fine, in the winter with a small colony. Wait till the warm weather and you have a thousand plus roaches.


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

my point is that i dont have roaches on the blankets. it surrounds their bin. I also said twice that i was going to remove the blankets in summer time, and i also said i have plenty of air flow out of the housing bin, into the outer bin and out of the outer bin.


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

here mine..

mealies
cockroaches
crickets


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

freekygeeky said:


> here mine..
> 
> mealies
> cockroaches
> crickets


whoa! nice setup. are the feeders just in the bins up top? anyway to see inside em?


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

loogielv said:


> whoa! nice setup. are the feeders just in the bins up top? anyway to see inside em?


yea just in the top rub like things..

roaches have egg crates
crickets have toiket rol tubes
mealies have a mix of rolls tubes egg boxes and cereals.


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

okay, slight update. I couldn't take the worrying anymore. I know that the chance of these under tank heaters melting the plastic is very slim. I also know that anything running 24/7 is bound to fail eventually. I can only hope that when these fail, they simply turn off, as opposed to shorting out and heating up to ridiculous temperatures. 

If that happens, the BEST CASE scenario is the bins melting and my house being infested with roaches. Sure they're tropical and all that, and there's a chance they can't breed w/o higher humidity than what we have here (Las Vegas NV, desert basically) but I just can't risk it. (Worst case is my house burning down)

So i started thinking that if I was to lace my outer bin with foil, it would reflect more heat into the housing bin, and also protect the outer bin in case of overheating. A pic is worth a thousand roaches....

This is what i had before under the housing bin. 








A UTH on the right, and a run of the mill, older human heating pad that I rarely would run for fear of overheating, on the left. 

I pulled those out and lined the bottom w/ foil









Here it is w/ the two heaters in place:


















Here it is w/ the housing bin back in place and the blankets folded alot neater and placed perfectly around the housing bin to insulate









I can see a few possible issues though...
One being, placing the heating pads on foil I know foil can take extreme heat, but will it retain heat and heat up the plastic too much? Or even worse, would it reflect heat back onto the heaters causing them to short or overheat? 
Is placing the heaters on foil a bad idea for any other reasons?


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

My guess is in time it will short it out across the element. Why not take a look on craigslist and try to find a cheap fish tank (one that is cracked or broken will usually go between free-$20, beyond repair they are usually free but they work for roaches), put the roaches in that with a heat mat underneath then get a plywood sheet, water proof it and put that underneath the heat mats and aquarium? or make a plywood box, put the roaches in that then the heatmats underneath and another sheet of plywood under it all. As long as the wood is varnished nothing will soak into it nor will they be able to climb it. I wouldnt want to use heat mats under plastic tubs anyway as I would always be scared of it melting and as the fumes of burning plastic are toxic I wouldnt be as worried of the house burning down as I would of passing (or worse lol!) out from the fumes :lol2:


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

i know alot of people use the heaters on plastic bins, so i'm not totally insane. I believe I'm going to find a cheapo thermostat and hook it up to the heaters too, just to be safe.


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## johne.ev (Sep 14, 2008)

loogie, another way of heating them (without having to use mats, stats etc) is to place your bin directly on top of one of your reptile vivs. Place it at the hot end, hopefully the end you have a spot bulb. Their should be more than enough heat too keep them happy. Mine are on top of ackies viv in the hot end of roach bin it reaches 90f +.


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

not really an option johne. the beardies are in the house, roaches must stay in the garage... 
i'm doomed no matter what.









i think a thermostat is really the safest way to get everything ok. I could also invest in a ceramic bulb heater..but those are costly and cost a bit to run


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## Grond (Jun 17, 2008)

freekygeeky said:


> yea just in the top rub like things..
> 
> roaches have egg crates
> crickets have toiket rol tubes
> mealies have a mix of rolls tubes egg boxes and cereals.


I'm intrigued......

Why do you have egg boxes/roll tubes in with your mealies?

I understand for roaches and crickets but never keep anything in with my mealies other than oats(and I breed a lot!)

Is there a benefit to it? I'm just interested in the reason, not criticising in any way. If it works better for some reason I might start doing it myself!


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## johne.ev (Sep 14, 2008)

Yeah i agree go with the stat option.
I have the same problem as you all my animals are in the garage, & no way will the mrs have roaches in the house.


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## grumpyoldtrout (May 19, 2008)

Mine is a £15, 4 drawer unit from Instore.










No supplemental heating, it's in the living room!!! :2thumb::2thumb:

We have a Morso Cast Iron stove, wood and coal burning, at its lowest setting the room feels like a blast furnace, :lol2:, We had a power cut from 12:05 am until 17:45 today, all the room doors were opened and the Royals viv in the next room was a lovely 78 degrees. We even had water boiling on it and used a frying pan to make bacon butties. :2thumb:
My darling wife pointed out my obvious mistake, thank you love, :notworthy:, and I have now corrected it, I now have the supplies on the bottom and the large roaches on top, medium large in the middle and small at the bottom.

Blended Grains, pond pellets, dog biscuits and dry Exo-Terra Bearded Dragon food put into a double bag of the type your bulk locusts come in, and attacked with a rolling pin until it is quite fine granules. they are given greens and fruit most nights and a sloppy paste of cricket gutload/feed mix on others.

There is sticky hooked velcro along the top and a fine pollen mesh stretched over the top of the drawers.

Phew..................... :lol2:

Anyone used poultry chick crumb? might be a good dry diet for them.


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

if i may ask, why crush the food up? I haven't seen them having any issues eating whole dog food etc?


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

grumpyoldtrout said:


> Anyone used poultry chick crumb? might be a good dry diet for them.


Chick starter crumb is a good PART of a staple diet, ideally mixed with bran and I have heard alot of insects refuse to eat it, but definetly worth looking into as it is very inexpensive. 



loogielv said:


> if i may ask, why crush the food up? I haven't seen them having any issues eating whole dog food etc?


Thats what I was thinking, for roaches it is more likely to get spread about in the enclosure and soiled in. Although it may be a good idea for nymps.


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## shane.tucker.royal08 (Dec 8, 2008)

Here's mine! Got the roaches today and seem to have settled in (how i know that i have no idea!!)


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## loogielv (Dec 7, 2008)

shane.tucker.royal08 said:


> Here's mine! Got the roaches today and seem to have settled in (how i know that i have no idea!!)


how many did ya get?


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## shane.tucker.royal08 (Dec 8, 2008)

loogielv said:


> how many did ya get?


Um i think about 230 in total. I got a mixture of adults, medium and large nymphs and some xs. I'm planning on feeding out the xs but leavin the others to grow and reproduce! - hopefully have a steady stream of feeders in a couple of months!! I got them from blatta on here - highly recommended by the way!!!


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## grumpyoldtrout (May 19, 2008)

LoveForLizards said:


> Thats what I was thinking, for roaches it is more likely to get spread about in the enclosure and soiled in. Although it may be a good idea for nymps.


Not sure why, I just like to break it down a bit.

:lol2: Good exercise and a stress buster. :lol2:

It might be the Coccidiostat in the crumb that they do not like, this is cycled by the feed companies through different ones to lower the chance of resistance. Maybe one renders the crumb unpalatable to them.


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