Hisserdude
Dynastes
Very nice, glad they are growing so well! 
Baby rhino roaches! (AGAIN!)
- Thread starter arizonablue
- Start date
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
Another little update - another molt is in progress! Here's a freshly molted nymph next to one of its siblings who is almost ready to molt too. I adore how fat and round they get immediately after molting.
Thanks! And sure, they're incredibly easy to care for. I have them in a low, long tank (not sure of exact measurements but it takes up about 25% of an average coffee table). When I had just the parents in there, I had them on about 2 inches of cocofiber substrate. Just enough so they could burrow completely but the sub wouldn't be heavy on top of them. Now that I have the nymphs, papa roach is in a smaller container and mama and babies in the tank have a *very* thin layer of cocofiber so the nymphs can molt safely. There's a plastic hide, your average low snake hide with two openings. Mama roach and her babies spend the majority of their time in there and when it was just the parents they were usually both in there as well. They tend to shove the cocofiber around and make themselves nice and cozy. That's literally the entire setup - cocofiber and a hide. They're misted daily - but I'm in the desert, a more humid location wouldn't require misting every day. For food, I offer dry oak leaves, beetle jellies, and cichlid pellets. The leaves are the main diet staple. They don't go crazy on the jelly, it seems to mostly be used as a water source. They go absolutely bonkers for the cichlid pellets and the adults will take them straight from my hand. If you just drop them in the tank, within 30 seconds a roach has trundled out and hauled it off, LOL.
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
They seem to all be molting at approximately the same time, at least so far. And they're too small for me to reliably sex them yet. With my pair I don't believe the male grew any faster than the female.
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
Some more photos of the growing little roaches! I bothered them to count babies again today - all sixteen are still happy and healthy and most of them look like they're about to molt again. I recently got a photo of one of them barely out of the old exoskeleton. Later this month I'm going to begin transferring the babies to their own container, probably a few at a time to avoid stressing out the mother with a suddenly empty nest. She's been doing such a great job of raising her little ones. 
Hisserdude
Dynastes
Congratulations, happy to see they're all doing fine still!Some more photos of the growing little roaches! I bothered them to count babies again today - all sixteen are still happy and healthy and most of them look like they're about to molt again. I recently got a photo of one of them barely out of the old exoskeleton. Later this month I'm going to begin transferring the babies to their own container, probably a few at a time to avoid stressing out the mother with a suddenly empty nest. She's been doing such a great job of raising her little ones.
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
For a couple of days I thought I'd lost one of the little buggers to a bad molt or something, because I could only find fifteen. Number sixteen must have been well hidden somewhere, because when I removed mama roach today and counted, there they all were! Two are taking their time with the latest molt but look like they might pop out any day now.
And if anyone is going to be at the Tucson Reptile Expo coming up on October 5-6, these little guys will be available for purchase. PM me for details if you're interested!
And if anyone is going to be at the Tucson Reptile Expo coming up on October 5-6, these little guys will be available for purchase. PM me for details if you're interested!
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
It isn't a very interesting update, I'm afraid! I sold the babies, with the exception of one sexed pair that I kept for myself. They seem to know it's winter now even though we're in the still-rather-warm desert, and both the pair of babies and the parents are spending all their time holed up beneath the coco fiber. Haven't seen them in weeks, although I can peek under their container to check on the babies and I hear the parents rustling around in their hide. Hopefully mating! I've got my fingers crossed for another batch of babies in late spring/early summer.Any further updates on this successful project?
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
Thanks, I hope so too! I will definitely post here again if there are more babies!Even news of normal downtime is interesting to
me. Thank you for sharing and archiving the process here. I hope you get another brood!
All About Arthropods
Pupa
I have raised them from hatchling to adult while providing carrots as an ancillary food (to help prevent them from drying out if I forget to water for too long).
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
I am pleased to announce that there is a second batch of babies! I tried to count - I think there's 20ish. I've been expecting the birth for about two weeks now, she was HUGE and looked about to pop. Four more nymphs than last time and a week earlier. The male has been relocated already and mama roach is hard at work keeping her little ones warm. Last time she had them in the hide, but this year she chose the corner of the tank.
The male has been relocated already and mama roach is hard at work keeping her little ones warm. Last time she had them in the hide, but this year she chose the corner of the tank.
Last edited by a moderator:
Hisserdude
Dynastes
Congrats, that's awesome, so happy to hear it!I am pleased to announce that there is a second batch of babies! I tried to count - I think there's 20ish. I've been expecting the birth for about two weeks now, she was HUGE and looked about to pop. Four more nymphs than last time and a week earlier.
View attachment 1693
They're so adorable!
Last edited by a moderator:
All About Arthropods
Pupa
What a stunning sight.I am pleased to announce that there is a second batch of babies! I tried to count - I think there's 20ish. I've been expecting the birth for about two weeks now, she was HUGE and looked about to pop. Four more nymphs than last time and a week earlier.
View attachment 1693
Congrats!
Last edited by a moderator: