Enclosure for red runners

[Gizalba]

Hi,

I am getting some red runner roaches next week which I am hoping to breed for the Ts and I have a few questions about keeping them:

- Is the box below suitable? I have read some of them have wings - does that mean they can fly out?
- If I put ventilation holes in the lid so I can put it on properly, is it best to melt the holes in or drill them? (crickets are in there at the moment and I have just been placing the lid on like this, slightly ajar.)
- What is the best temperature to keep them at? And is a heat pad stuck to the side suitable?

Thanks if you can help!

 

[ilovebrachys]

Hi,

I am getting some red runner roaches next week which I am hoping to breed for the Ts and I have a few questions about keeping them:

- Is the box below suitable? I have read some of them have wings - does that mean they can fly out?
- If I put ventilation holes in the lid so I can put it on properly, is it best to melt the holes in or drill them? (crickets are in there at the moment and I have just been placing the lid on like this, slightly ajar.)
- What is the best temperature to keep them at? And is a heat pad stuck to the side suitable?

Thanks if you can help!


View attachment 49112

View attachment 49113

Can I ask how many Ts you have? You may end up with absolutely loads of them lol...
The box looks suitable to me and I've always drilled holes in anything plastic - @Arachnoclown is your best bet to ask for advice regarding breeding roaches,
We've got a small colony of dubia roaches that we've only just started as I'm not really wanting loads of them as we don't feed roaches too often - we buy livefoods fresh every week and just feed them all off
Sorry I can't be of more help

 

[Gizalba]

Can I ask how many Ts you have? You may end up with absolutely loads of them lol...
The box looks suitable to me and I've always drilled holes in anything plastic - @Arachnoclown is your best bet to ask for advice regarding breeding roaches,
We've got a small colony of dubia roaches that we've only just started as I'm not really wanting loads of them as we don't feed roaches too often - we buy livefoods fresh every week and just feed them all off
Sorry I can't be of more help

Haha, I only have 5 Ts currently, although am planning to get a few more soon. So the chance of ending up with loads of roaches I am accepting as... just keeping them as pets too lol. Basically I am in a tricky situation regarding buying livefoods fresh, as my local pet shop doesn't sell them and the nearest one that does is about 3 bus rides away. So to avoid having to do that or pay for post and packaging to get them online every week, is the reason I was planning to breed the roaches. Or at least try to mildly do it haha by only getting a small quantity and hoping they then breed less manically. I might end up opening a roach shop...

 

[ilovebrachys]

Haha, I only have 5 Ts currently, although am planning to get a few more soon. So the chance of ending up with loads of roaches I am accepting as... just keeping them as pets too lol. Basically I am in a tricky situation regarding buying livefoods fresh, as my local pet shop doesn't sell them and the nearest one that does is about 3 bus rides away. So to avoid having to do that or pay for post and packaging to get them online every week, is the reason I was planning to breed the roaches. Or at least try to mildly do it haha by only getting a small quantity and hoping they then breed less manically. I might end up opening a roach shop...

If I only had 5 Ts I'd just get a tub of mealworms and keep them somewhere really cool they will last forever and it will cost you next to nothing - but the choice is yours if you are happy to keep roaches as pets fair enough

 

[Gizalba]

If I only had 5 Ts I'd just get a tub of mealworms and keep them somewhere really cool they will last forever and it will cost you next to nothing - but the choice is yours if you are happy to keep roaches as pets fair enough

Thanks very much for the suggestion. I have read that mealworms are much lower in nutritional value than roaches which is why I had avoided them. Is that true or a myth?

 

[ilovebrachys]

Thanks very much for the suggestion. I have read that mealworms are much lower in nutritional value than roaches which is why I had avoided them. Is that true or a myth?

I'd agree and say that is probably true but feeding mealworms will not in anyway hinder the growth of your Ts.. They don't really need super nutritious high calorie feeders just to sustain thereselves due to there sedentary lifestyle and low activity
In the wild I don't think a tarantula would turn down a meal due to it not being the most nutritious..
We feed many of our slings on mealworms but we also mix it up from time to time using bean weevils, woodlice,waxworms, crickets and locusts for all our Ts and on the odd occasion dubias too

 

[G300]

Hi in your situation you should definitely start a runner colony and if you dont use any extra heat (ie heat mat etc) providing its at least 70' they will still breed just slower but if you go up to 85/90 they will explode in growth (but i would consider using heat and selling your excess runners) not sure how big your Ts are so dont know if you need nymphs or adults but if possible i would feed off any excess males as you only need a 1 to 5 male to female ratio (they are usually sold 50/50 males females) and you can use substrate or not i personally use a layer of bran with vertically stacked egg crates on top and a space at one end for dishes of dry food which i always have available and water crystals also always available and i use mostly oranges and butternut squash or sometimes apples every other day and i never spray as i find the fruit/veg and water crystals maintain suitable humidity for shedding and hatching they are very easy to keep/breed and i find mine have no smell tho none of my colonies smell and i have large colonies of Dubias/Runners/Lobsters/Nivea/sp Giant (the bigger nivea) so good luck with your colony and remember when your deciding how many to start with they have to lay the ootheca then they have to hatch so your looking at possible 3 months before seeing nymphs especially without heat (consider using heat till established then remove it to slow the breeding) personally id go with at least 10m/50f to start

 

[Gizalba]

Hi in your situation you should definitely start a runner colony and if you dont use any extra heat (ie heat mat etc) providing its at least 70' they will still breed just slower but if you go up to 85/90 they will explode in growth (but i would consider using heat and selling your excess runners) not sure how big your Ts are so dont know if you need nymphs or adults but if possible i would feed off any excess males as you only need a 1 to 5 male to female ratio (they are usually sold 50/50 males females) and you can use substrate or not i personally use a layer of bran with vertically stacked egg crates on top and a space at one end for dishes of dry food which i always have available and water crystals also always available and i use mostly oranges and butternut squash or sometimes apples every other day and i never spray as i find the fruit/veg and water crystals maintain suitable humidity for shedding and hatching they are very easy to keep/breed and i find mine have no smell tho none of my colonies smell and i have large colonies of Dubias/Runners/Lobsters/Nivea/sp Giant (the bigger nivea) so good luck with your colony and remember when your deciding how many to start with they have to lay the ootheca then they have to hatch so your looking at possible 3 months before seeing nymphs especially without heat (consider using heat till established then remove it to slow the breeding) personally id go with at least 10m/50f to start

Thank you so much! That is really helpful Roughly how long after laying the ootheca do they take to hatch if it is around 70-76 fahrenheit?

 

[G300]

Anywhere between 3 and 6 weeks