Cockroach Care

General care instructions for most cockroach species.

There are close to 4500 species of cockroaches in the world and only about 30 of these are classified as pests. Most cockroaches are great at clearing rotting material, old leaves and rotting wood. They play a very similar role to that of millipedes and isopods.

Many of the species commonly available are tropical and require humidity and warmer temperatures to do well. They are however good at climbing and escape.

TEMPERATURE

Room Temperature 18-25 C. Spray ever few days. Ensure the soil doesn't get too try. Additional heating is beneficial in the form of a heat mat attached the side of the enclosure or a lamp.

LIGHTING

Normal lighting. Cockroaches may hide from bright lighting

Avoid direct sunlight

HOUSING

The deeper the substrate the better for all millipedes. At minimum the substrate should be 4-6 inches deep. Chemical free peat, coco fibre, rotting leaf mulch, bark and sphagnum moss are all idea, especially if mixed together. Most millipedes do also like to explore and climb so plenty of logs, plants and leaf littler on the surface will be appreciated. It is always preferable not to keep digging up your millipede. If it has burrowed under the substrate it may be laying eggs or shedding its exoskeleton and you will disturb this if you collapse the chambers. We would recommend an enclosure with a secure lid such as the faunariums or glass tanks as they are good at escaping and very strong. A good plastic storage box with ventilation holes will also work well. As these inverts are eating the substrate, do ensure it is chemical free and you harvest leaf little and logs away from the roadsides.

FEEDING

Millipedes get most of their nutrition from the substrate. It is important to include lots of rotting wood, moss and leaf littler. They will happily eat their way through this and replace with small black/brown pellets. They will also take a variety of fruit and veg. Calcium is important for millipedes. It is useful to provide this as crushed egg shell or cuttlefish bone. This will allow them to graze at their leisure.

SEXING

Most millipedes can be relatively easy to sex. Males are missing their 6th or 7th pair of legs. You can quite often see the gonad in adult millipedes.

GENERAL

Most millipedes are harmless to handle. They can produce a yellow staining substance if threatened. This is similar to iodine. If handled regularly it is rare that they produce this. They will die if dropped from height also so make sure all handling is done at a low level or over their substrate.