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Geezle JackAsp Geezle JackAsp Geezle 789 Geezle Geezle

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#1482369

Geezle
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Damaged roach wings

So I’m fairly new to breeding roaches and I just have one quick question. I’ve noticed that in one of my bins of discoids I’ve got a couple adults with damaged wings.

Now my question is why? Is it because of lack of real estate for them, or is it perhaps a food issue? Or could the couple roaches in question just be near the end of their life cycle? When I got my starter colony I got all different sizes so I’m not really sure how old the adults would be.

Should I just feed off the ones with damaged wings before they die?

10/18/07 08:54am

#1483158

JackAsp
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Message To: Geezle In reference to Message Id: 1482369

Damaged roach wings

Their wings get injured pretty easily. Remember, in the wild they don’t live in conditions as crowded as we keep them in, so they aren’t really built to get trampled day in and day out by nymphs, many of whom are almost as big as they are. Dehydration can lead to shedding problems, which usually affect the wings first, and dehydration can also cause them to eat each other’s wings. I’ve lost a LOT of craniifers and a few craniifer/fusca hybrids, both of which have pretty much the same wing structure as yours, to wing problems, generally just feeding them off when it starts. I’m trying to salvage my remaining breeders by keeping a less crowded Adults Only tub, since the nymphs are pretty much indestructable until their wings come in, at which point I can just move them into the breeder tub, but it’s way too early to declare that I’ve gotten results this way.

10/18/07 11:03pm

#1483200

Geezle
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Message To: JackAsp In reference to Message Id: 1483158

Damaged roach wings

I don’t *think* it’s dehydration simply because I have two tubs and I’m only having this problem in one of them. The conditions are the same in both, except I’m not exactly sure about how many I have in each tub and it’s possible that the one may be overcrowded compared to the other. I’ve added a couple more big chunks of egg carton to give them a little more real estate.

Can the ones with the damaged wings be salvaged so to speak? They still seem to be going about their business as usual.

10/19/07 12:14am

#1484112

JackAsp
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Message To: Geezle In reference to Message Id: 1483200

Damaged roach wings

You might be able to still get another round of breeding out of them; I don’t know. Try putting them with just adults, lots of egg cartons, etc. and see if they make it. The adults don’t seem to have the same appetite that the growing babies have, so an injured one probably has a better chance of surviving with only other adults around. As much as the nymphs eat, I suspect that some of the wing injuries might just happen when an adult is at a crowded food dish and some of the babies get a little confused about what’s supposed to be food and what isn’t.

10/20/07 02:42am

#1484298

Geezle
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Message To: JackAsp In reference to Message Id: 1484112

Damaged roach wings

When I put fresh fruit in there the adults are usually the first in there eating.

I also posted this in the monitor forum and some of the folks there seem to think that it may be a protein issue and suggested feeding them mice from time to time. I think I’m going to pick up a few frozen mice on Tuesday when I get my feeder order and see what happens from there.

I’m not sure yet, but I may also cover some of the screen on the tops of the tanks to bump up the humidity some and see if that helps.

I appreciate your help and if you have any other thoughts on the subject please do share!

10/20/07 11:36am