Red Runner Roach care?

[Sauromayne]

My golden hierodula molted again and I've decided I'm going to try feeding him red runners now but I want to make sure I get the right enclosure to house them in.

I've read a few care sheets that suggest a sterilite or rubbermaid container with a screened lid, but I'm not sure what size I should get or what a screened lid is. Can anybody link an example of something that would be a good enclosure? I bought 100 to start with.

Also, any ideas where I can get egg crates for/how do you clean their enclosure?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I have about 200 roaches in an 11 gallon Ziploc storage container (20"L x 16"W x 11"H) that locks & has a watertight seal. I drilled a bunch of large holes in the lid it came with and hot glued fine mesh fiberglass window screen to the underside of the lid and a large coffee filter on the top (I got the cheap kind because they tend to be thinner and have a looser weave.) You can also cut out a section from the middle of the lid and hot glue fiberglass windowscreen both over & under the hole to make a screened lid. These roaches can't climb plastic but you still want a container that is at least 10" tall, has a water tight gasket and locking handles to lessen the chance of escapes. Be very careful not to leave any gaps on the edges when you hot glue the screen in place.

I put 2 egg crates stacked on top of each other in (some people arrange them vertically instead.) Places to get egg crates would be mantisplace.com, joshsfrogs.com, and Amazon. I also added a low wide bowl for food and another for their water source. It helps if the bowl has edges that are either very low or they slope out & down or you can get a specially made ramp bowl. Since roaches will drown in standing water, I use the same water crystals used for crickets instead (1 oz dry = 1 gallon wet) Unlike dubias, red runners don't need extra heat to reproduce so you can keep them at room temp (minimum of 75° but they prefer 78° to 85°F) 

As for cleaning you have 2 options. First, you can keep the container bare and periodically clean it by transferring the roaches to a temporary holding container. Second option is to make a bioactive substrate with cleaner insects. Use a substrate of something that holds moisture well like cocofiber, sphagnum moss, soil, or a mix specifically formulated for insects such as Zoo Med Creature Soil. Then add springtails & isopods (isopods = rollie pollies) and/or buffalo beetles and they will clean up after your roaches. If you choose springtails & isopods you will need to mist the substrate periodically to keep it slightly moist. Some prefer to go with a bare tub and only buffalo beetles but you will still need to clean the tub, just not as often.

 

[Sauromayne]

Thanks for all that info, really helps a lot.

In regards to the air holes roughly how big in diameter/ how many would you say is sufficient?

I will probably just keep the tub bare and clean it periodically by transferring them but I'm wondering how do you actually transfer all of them? Like how do you move them from point A to point B.

Also do you have a picture of your enclosure so I can maybe try to mimic it? I tried clicking on your link "11 gallon Ziploc storage container" but it wasn't working for me.

Edit: I was able to get the link working but still curious to see a picture of your enclosure if you have one.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I fixed the link. 

I just got the biggest drill bit I could find (not sure of size, maybe 3/8" or 1/2"?) and drilled lots of holes in the lid...no specific number, just as many as would fit with about 1/4" to 1/2" between the holes and leaving at least a 2" border on the edges untouched with no holes to maintain the structural integrity of the lid. Then I hot glued a big sheet of fiberglass windowscreen (roughly 19" x 15" in size) to the underside of the lid & several coffee filters (cut rectangular to fit & laid side by side) to the outside...or you could just put more screen on the outside of the lid instead. 

To transfer roaches set the containers next to each other then pick up the egg crates and quickly put them in the other container. You might want to do the transfer outside or in your bathtub just in case any fall off. Then scoop up the rest with a large plastic cup or other container. You can use a piece of cardboard to encourage them to go in.

I did that method for a while but now I have a bioactive substrate with springtails & isopods so it's just a matter of picking out the larger chunks of debris the cleaner insects can't handle fast enough such as old fruit/veggies & dead roaches. The cleaners take care of the roach feces pretty well. If I find they can't keep up & aren't reproducing fast enough to keep up with demand I just add more springtails from my colony & go outside to catch more rolly pollies.

Red runners are super easy to raise and take care of. Don't overthink things, it's hard to mess this up.  Basically they just need a container with air holes, food, a water source they can't drown in, and a place to hide and they are happy. Just clean the container & replace the egg crates every so often, whenever it starts to get yucky in there.

 

[Sauromayne]

I just got them in today and Dante enjoyed his first roach. He was holding onto the carcass for like an hour after he finished eating it lol.

Would you say this is a sufficient amount of holes though? I started with 5 in each spot but it started to get tedious so I did 2 in each spot but I could add more if its really necessary. They seem to be fine now but I don't want them all to suffocate to death.

For their food I just bought "Roach chow" on eBay and its a powder. I'm assuming they just eat the powder and I don't have to do anything to it?

Edit: also off topic, but can you tell if he is actually a he in this picture? I only count 6 sections on the abdomen so that would be female right?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

The lid looks good, a sufficient size &  amount of holes. No worries, roaches won't suffocate in there.

Ebay roach chow is probably fine, roaches will eat just about anything and the food currently available for roaches is nutritious enough. They will eat it dry or you can mix with water to make a paste. Also provide water crystals for source of water. 

As for the sex, yes 6 segments generally indicates a female but you count from the underside not the top of the abdomen.  I can't tell sex from that pic, can you post a closeup detailed pic of the underside of the abdomen? Also what species is it?