Cockroach Care

General care instructions for cockroaches

There are over 4000+ species of cockroach of which only 30-40 are classified as pest species. This means most species are tropical species that play a key role in breaking down rotting wood, leaves and fruit. It also means that the risk of many of the common pet species infecting your house is very very low.

Temperature

Room Temperature 18-25 C. Spray every few days or keep dry and provide a water source.

Lighting

Well lit enclosures.

Avoid direct sunlight

Housing

This species will do well in a plastic or glass enclosure or any suitable sized enclosure with good floor space. We would recommend a large shoe box or glass viv around 30x30cm (LxW) They do like to climb so providing lots of height is an advantage. They will happily live on card egg crates or on logs. They do prefer a coco fibre or soil base with sphagnum moss as a nice additional. Provide lots of hiding places such as bark hides, cork tubes and leaf litter. There is very little maintenance required other than to remove any old uneaten food. They should keep themselves quite clean.

Feeding

Cockroaches will eat a wide variety of dead and decaying plant material including pieces of fruit and veg, leaf litter, dog or cat biscuit, beetle jelly and fish food flakes. They love soft fruits and will take moisture from this too as well as good to encourage breeding.

Sexing

Some species are easier to sex than others. Most of the large madagascan species have horns in males and none in females. Alternatively they can be sexed by looking under the abdomen at the base. Males have 3 smaller segments at the end.

General

Most species can live for a few years and have live young. Sexual maturity is around 3-5 months.