Your resident NJ invert enthusiast

[Dianna]

Good evening, everyone.

I'm Dianna. I live in Southern New Jersey, U.S and I'm in my late 20s.

I mainly collect/breed cockroaches, but recently I've started to keep Ts as pets. My first introduction to the T hobby came from Petko of Dark Den, back in 2018. I really enjoyed box opening videos and found he had such a great personality. I loved the way he talked about tarantulas. It wasn't enough to make me want them, however.

I've been afraid of bugs my entire life. It took me two years to get used to cockroaches, but I continued to pursue them as pets because I have a love for all animals, whether I'm afraid of them or not, and my fascination with them eventually over came the fear. I started keeping Ts for the same reason. They're beautiful and unique animals, and I remembered watching Petko's videos which brought me back to his channel, which of course fueled my desire for them.

I currently have a V. chromatus sling, an L. parahybana sling, a K. brunnipes sling, a juvenile male A. avicularia, and a mature male E. pruriens. The chromatus was my first, so I'm quite fond of it.

This may come as a surprise to you, but I prefer male tarantulas. I like that they're smaller, and they're less of a commitment. I'm sure my opinion might shift the longer I keep Ts, but my male E. pruriens, who is incredibly docile, made me fall into even deeper love with males. I find he's very gentle and 'sweet' (as sweet as tarantulas can be).

I'm here to learn more about Ts, seek advice, chat, buy/sell/trade, etc..

As a cockroach hobbyist, if there's anyone here that needs advice on them, I'm your gal. And if anyone is from NJ or nearby, let's please be friends! I attend the Hamburg reptile expo and sometimes the Oaks expo every chance I get.

I look forward to talking to you.

 

[boreece27]

Good evening, everyone.

I'm Dianna. I live in Southern New Jersey, U.S and I'm in my late 20s.

I mainly collect/breed cockroaches, but recently I've started to keep Ts as pets. My first introduction to the T hobby came from Petko of Dark Den, back in 2018. I really enjoyed box opening videos and found he had such a great personality. I loved the way he talked about tarantulas. It wasn't enough to make me want them, however.

I've been afraid of bugs my entire life. It took me two years to get used to cockroaches, but I continued to pursue them as pets because I have a love for all animals, whether I'm afraid of them or not, and my fascination with them eventually over came the fear. I started keeping Ts for the same reason. They're beautiful and unique animals, and I remembered watching Petko's videos which brought me back to his channel, which of course fueled my desire for them.

I currently have a V. chromatus sling, an L. parahybana sling, a K. brunnipes sling, a juvenile male A. avicularia, and a mature male E. pruriens. The chromatus was my first, so I'm quite fond of it.

This may come as a surprise to you, but I prefer male tarantulas. I like that they're smaller, and they're less of a commitment. I'm sure my opinion might shift the longer I keep Ts, but my male E. pruriens, who is incredibly docile, made me fall into even deeper love with males. I find he's very gentle and 'sweet' (as sweet as tarantulas can be).

I'm here to learn more about Ts, seek advice, chat, buy/sell/trade, etc..

As a cockroach hobbyist, if there's anyone here that needs advice on them, I'm your gal. And if anyone is from NJ or nearby, let's please be friends! I attend the Hamburg reptile expo and sometimes the Oaks expo every chance I get.

I look forward to talking to you.

My V. Chromatus is such a sassy girl. She loves to threat pose me on the daily. She’s close to molting so she’s a little lethargic.

 

[Tarantula Trooper]

Welcome Dianna! I have had several male T's I got quite attached to but the problem with males is short life spans. I have a Dubia Roach colony and a hissing roach almost colony as well. Hissing roach nymph's to my surprise are quite the escape artist and I lost probably a generation of them. I need to rehouse them to cut down on escapes. I separated the next set of nymph's ( all I could find) to a small enclosure to raise them in. They are putting on size quickly. Thing that surprise me most is how little the hissers eat. Mine are are full and healthy but don't really eat like I thought they would. Do you keep your hissers on the humid side or dry?? I find that to get them to drink I squirt water at them and they will drink. I seen them drink off one another. Lol! Do you have Emerald roaches?? Can't remember their scientific names but those are the coolest roaches I've ever seen! Anyway, Happy Spoodering and Roaching!!

 

[m0lsx]

Good morning Dianna & welcome to the forum. I have a small colony of Gromphadorhina portentosa, hissers & a another colony of Archimandrita tessellata, pepperd roaches.

 

[Enn49]

Hello Dianna and welcome.

 

[Dianna]

My V. Chromatus is such a sassy girl. She loves to threat pose me on the daily. She’s close to molting so she’s a little lethargic.

She's so pretty!

 

[Dianna]

Welcome Dianna! I have had several male T's I got quite attached to but the problem with males is short life spans. I have a Dubia Roach colony and a hissing roach almost colony as well. Hissing roach nymph's to my surprise are quite the escape artist and I lost probably a generation of them. I need to rehouse them to cut down on escapes. I separated the next set of nymph's ( all I could find) to a small enclosure to raise them in. They are putting on size quickly. Thing that surprise me most is how little the hissers eat. Mine are are full and healthy but don't really eat like I thought they would. Do you keep your hissers on the humid side or dry?? I find that to get them to drink I squirt water at them and they will drink. I seen them drink off one another. Lol! Do you have Emerald roaches?? Can't remember their scientific names but those are the coolest roaches I've ever seen! Anyway, Happy Spoodering and Roaching!!

Hi Trooper.

Hissing roaches (gromphadorhina portentosa) are not picky about humidity levels at all. They can be kept dry or humid, but neither in the extremes. I always recommend a humidity gradient (one side of the substrate dry and the other moist but not damp), so that the roaches can choose whether they want to be on the drier side or the more humid side. Having areas of moist substrate helps nymphs grow.
To help keep your roaches from escaping, I recommend a vaseline barrier around the top of their enclosure, but If you want a barrier that is fool-proof, I recommend going to Roachcrossing.com and purchasing his Roach No Crossing barrier. It's made up of some sort of vaseline mix, and it's much stronger. If you use that, I guarantee you will not have any more escapees, so long as there's no other avenue of escape other than the top. Having a barrier like that can also help mediate unwanted pests like mites and phorrid flies. People also use gasket-lid enclosures for extra security.

You'd be surprised how picky of eaters cockroaches can be. When I first started keeping them I thought the same things. Only two species out of the 28 that I have will eat anything. Hissing cockroaches do well on just leaf litter, dog food/fish good, and apples (peeled to prevent pesticide poisoning). Apples seem to be a favorite among cockroaches. If you want a species that's voracious, pretty to look at, and prolific, look into Simandoa cave roaches/Extinct roaches (simandoa conserfariam).

No, I don't have any Emerald cockroaches (psuedoglomeris magnifica), specifically because I've no interest in them personally, and I hear they can be rather sensitive. They're super pretty, but I suppose my tastes lie elsewhere x). Also, they're expensive, so there's that lol.

If you like the hissing species, I recommend Flat-horned hissers (aeluropoda insignis). They're my personal favorite. They're hardy and they have such a unique design. They have a more rich red color to them than the g. portentosa.

Thank you!

 

[Dianna]

Good morning Dianna & welcome to the forum. I have a small colony of Gromphadorhina portentosa, hissers & a another colony of Archimandrita tessellata, pepperd roaches.

A. tessellata is a fantastic species. Great choice.

 

[Dianna]

Hello Dianna and welcome.

Hello and thank you!

 

[Tarantula Trooper]

Thank you Diana for your advice on roaches. I pretty much keep my hissers as you describe. The Vaseline thing I'm aware of just don't have any. Lol. My hisser babies and adults had some salad mixins today and all my T feeders get apple. Have not feed any of my hissers to the T's BTW. Like them to much. Have been bitten by an adult female though I believe she was just hungry cause it had been a minute since I had fed them. Still don't know how she got out?? Hitched a ride on my leg. Was getting rather painful before I stopped her. Lol. Anywho..happy Spoodering! And Roaching.lol

 

[m0lsx]

A. tessellata is a fantastic species. Great choice.

I spotted them at an invert show & just had to have some.