Hisserdude
Dynastes
The sand/peat mixture would be best, again make sure the substrate is very shallow or else there's a good chance your roach will die.
Hi from Arizona!
- Thread starter arizonablue
- Start date
Can you send me links on how to set up their containers? Also, what sand should I use?
Hisserdude
Dynastes
Don't think there are any sites that show you how to set up their enclosures, but Orin explained their care in a very in depth manner in his new book, "For the Love of Cockroaches". He says any enclosure that has a surface area of at least 10" x 10" and a height of 4" makes an acceptable cage.
For substrate he uses less than an inch of potting soil mixed with sand, and for hides you can use pieces of bark, those coconut huts they sell at pet stores, etc. Be sure to give them decent ventilation, and keep them pretty moist.
The primary diet is dog food, along with dead leaves. You can put a bunch of dead leaves on one side of the cage and add more as they eat them. One important thing, do not offer a food bowl or water bowl, as these guys can literally not climb at all and will get trapped and die in a food or water dish.
Play sand should work fine, or any fine grained sand, like repti sand for example, (but not calcium sand, that stuff is bad for bugs).
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Thanks so much dude!
Hisserdude
Dynastes
No problem, happy to help!
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
Leave for a little bit and my thread blows up with info on rhino roaches, haha. Mine have been doing great on an oak mix. I put in bits of fruit and dog kibble but for the most part the leaves are what gets nommed on.Actually, you don't need eucalyptus leaves to keep M.rhinoceros, they'll eat any hardwood leaf like oak, maple etc., and feeding the wrong type of eucalyptus can easily kill them, so in the hobby we generally recommend you don't use any eucalyptus leaves.
Another common misconception with keeping these guys is that they need a deep substrate, but that's wrong too. These guys aren't substrate "swimmers", like many of the other burrowing roaches in the hobby, and if they molt while covered in substrate they can suffer massive deformities that are often fatal. In the wild they make large, cavernous burrows in soil that won't collapse, so they are never really covered in substrate, but in a terrarium filled with a loose soil like coconut fiber, they aren't able to make those spacious burrows.
So for the nymphs, you should only keep them on substrate that is as deep as the nymph is tall, which can make keeping them moist a bit harder, but if you just decrease the ventilation a bit and check on them frequently, they should be fine. You really have to make sure they don't dry out though, as that can be fatal.
Using these methods Orin McMonigle and several other keepers have been able to breed this species for generations with a nearly 100% survival rate.
Thank you for posting the substrate depth info! I knew that it should be shallow, but the height of the nymph was something I hadn't heard, and if that's correct I probably had about three times too much in there. (I had about an inch.) There's now just a very thin layer of cocofiber with leaves on top, as the nymphs are quite flat at the moment, and I changed out their cork bark for one with a little more of a curve for them to hide under. Haven't had too much trouble keeping them moist, since I've got a plastic cover over two-thirds of the mesh lid, and as long as I mist them nightly it stays pretty moist.
The tank is quite a small one at the moment (10x6x6) since they're so teensy, but as they get larger I'll be moving them into a tank with more floor space.
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Hisserdude
Dynastes
Yeah, sorry about that lol!
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
No worries, it was helpful!Yeah, sorry about that lol!1-2 CM of substrate should be good for the nymphs, according to Orin McMonigle's book. Yeah that cage size should be OK since they are small nymphs, you don't want it too big or else they'd have a harder time finding food.
Do you see a lot of mites on your roach? I know almost all millipedes have mites.
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Hisserdude
Dynastes
Yeah, that sounds about right, they are more tolerant of dryness than lots of other roaches but they love their moisture. No problem, glad I happened to mention it before they molted. Hope they molt for you soon, keep us updated on them!No worries, it was helpful!They tend to stick to the moister side of the tank right now, since when I check on them they're usually holed up together somewhere on that side. The leaves are scattered everywhere, though, so they never have to go very far to find something to nibble on. Glad you mentioned the substrate thing so I could tweak it before their first molt with me -- I'm anticipating it soon, as both of them are starting to look a little stretched -- more light-colored length between the segments on the abdomen. Hopefully one day soon I'll peek in at them and find them a bit larger!
Reportedly wild specimens of M.rhinoceros sometimes have large, possibly symbiotic mites on them, but the current stock in the hobby does not have any symbiotic mites. On the other hand Madagascan hisser colonies almost always have symbiotic mites, Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi, which live only on the bodies of Madagascan hissing cockroaches and clean and eat any derbis or fungi that start to grow on the roaches.
So basically you shouldn't find any mites on your M.rhinoceros, unless you have an infestation of grain mites, in which case you have to change how you are feeding your roaches, and invest in some springtails.
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Thanks again bro, always so much help. Making me closer to getting one!
Hisserdude
Dynastes
arizonablue
Fresh Imago
Haven't seen any mites at all! My millipede doesn't have any either, at least that I've seen.
I have seen some small white mites in my flower beetle enclosure, but they only seem to nibble on the fruit in there. I have been wanting to get some sort of cleaner crew -- I love the zebra pillbugs on Peter's site but I don't know if they would be useful as a cleaner crew or not. Do you have any suggestions on what to get that would be suitable for all of my tanks? The darklings probably don't need anything because their tank is dry with the exception of one corner. I'd love to put something in with the millipede, the flower beetles, the cave crickets, vinegaroon, and possibly my wolf spider, though, to clean up any food debris or mold, and to potentially eat the eggs of the fungus gnats that so enjoy my millipede tank, haha. I have a fly strip up and they don't really bother the millipede, but they're annoying and I'd rather they didn't get into everything else.Yeah, that sounds about right, they are more tolerant of dryness than lots of other roaches but they love their moisture. No problem, glad I happened to mention it before they molted. Hope they molt for you soon, keep us updated on them!
Reportedly wild specimens of M.rhinoceros sometimes have large, possibly symbiotic mites on them, but the current stock in the hobby does not have any symbiotic mites. On the other hand Madagascan hisser colonies almost always have symbiotic mites, Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi, which live only on the bodies of Madagascan hissing cockroaches and clean and eat any derbis or fungi that start to grow on the roaches.
So basically you shouldn't find any mites on your M.rhinoceros, unless you have an infestation of grain mites, in which case you have to change how you are feeding your roaches, and invest in some springtails.
Hisserdude
Dynastes
Yeah, those sound like grain mites. Armadillidium tend to take quite a while to mature and breed, which can make them a bad species to use as a cleanup crew. Porcellio scaber is a great isopod species to use as a cleanup crew, however my favorite invertebrate to use as a cleanup crew that seldom seems to stress out their cage mates are springtails, in particular this species here. They have proven to be great at outcompeting grain mites and are extremely prolific, but don't seem to stress out any other invertebrates, (with the possible exception of a white species of Panchlora that I'm culturing). They outcompete mites and keep mold levels down, however they don't have any affect on fungus gnats, tbh no cleanup crews really do.
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arizonablue
Fresh Imago
Thanks for the recommendation! I'm not too worried about the grain mites just yet as I haven't seen them anywhere else besides the flower beetle tank, but anything that's gonna give them some competition is great.
Figured I was stuck with the fungus gnats, sigh. They don't bother anything except me, though.
Hisserdude
Dynastes
Yeah, eventually the mites will probably spread, so it's nice to have a line of defense against them.Thanks for the recommendation! I'm not too worried about the grain mites just yet as I haven't seen them anywhere else besides the flower beetle tank, but anything that's gonna give them some competition is great.
Figured I was stuck with the fungus gnats, sigh. They don't bother anything except me, though.
Yeah, fungus gnats don't seem to harm or stress other inverts at all, but are extremely hard to get rid of and like to fly up your nose when you open an enclosure.
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This bucket is pretty much full of dead, dried oak and maples leaves. Would this be enough to keep a rhino roach alive through winter? Or are they fast eaters?
This bucket is pretty much full of dead, dried oak and maples leaves. Would this be enough to keep a rhino roach alive through winter? Or are they fast eaters?
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arizonablue
Fresh Imago
I've been trying to be careful and taking care of the flower beetles last so I don't accidentally spread any mites around. Just sent an email off to Kyle to order the springtails, too.Yeah, eventually the mites will probably spread, so it's nice to have a line of defense against them.
Yeah, fungus gnats don't seem to harm or stress other inverts at all, but are extremely hard to get rid of and like to fly up your nose when you open an enclosure.I've given up on trying to get rid of them, they're in every moist enclosure I have, and honestly they don't bother me too much, so I've learned to live with them.
For tiny nymphs, yeah, that should be plenty, especially if you supplement the leaves with fruit/jellies/kibble. For larger roaches I don't know. If you were worried about it, Josh's Frogs has oak leaves that you can order online. I have some of those in the oak mix that I've been using and they work great.FullSizeRender.jpg
This bucket is pretty much full of dead, dried oak and maples leaves. Would this be enough to keep a rhino roach alive through winter? Or are they fast eaters?
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Hisserdude
Dynastes
From what I've heard they aren't big eaters, so that should be more than enough to last one the winter.FullSizeRender.jpg
This bucket is pretty much full of dead, dried oak and maples leaves. Would this be enough to keep a rhino roach alive through winter? Or are they fast eaters?
Good, hopefully he'll be able to get you those springtails soon.I've been trying to be careful and taking care of the flower beetles last so I don't accidentally spread any mites around. Just sent an email off to Kyle to order the springtails, too.
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@Hisserdude, I talked to a woman who lives in Australia who keeps rhino roaches. She says to give them at least 6 inches of substrate. Should I listen to her or Orin?