Breeding Overview

As outlined in the previous lesson most cockroaches are oviparous, with the eggs being located outside of the mother’s body. This commonly referred to as “live bearing”. The eggs are carried in an egg sac (ootheca), which are attached to her abdomen. Often the eggs are hidden or dropped just before they hatch. Other species carry their eggs after they are born.

Some species continue to carry the hatching eggs and care for their young after they are born. It is important that this egg sac remain moist otherwise the eggs will not develop properly. If low humidity conditions persist for long periods the productivity of the colony will reduce or stop breeding. Some species are ovoviviparous, with the ootheca located inside the mother’s body.

Newly hatched roaches, are known as nymphs. When born their exoskeleton has not hardened and is white in color. At this stage they are prone to dehydration. Shortly after birth the exoskeleton hardens and they resemble small, wingless adult roaches. Nymphs undergo a number of molts before becoming adults. The period between each molt is known as an instar. Each instar results in the cockroach becoming more adult like. Some species live for a few months, others live for more than 2 years.

Traditional Methods…

In reality, cockroaches are very good at breeding themselves if you provide sufficient food, humidity, water, shelter and heat. The main issue breeding cockroaches is not breeding at all….it’s the ongoing maintenance. Below are commonly used methods that people use to breed cockroaches using conventional methods. We then outline how this is streamlined using our methods:

• Place toilet roles or egg cartons to one end of a plastic tub and place food and water at the other end. A free source of egg cartons can be obtained from take away stores (i.e. McDonalds) or baking stores.
• Food consists of a bowl of wet vegetables/fruit, a bowl of dry food and a water bowl. Some people put pebbles or hydration crystals in the water bowl to prevent cockroaches from drowning.
• Place a heat source to one end usually a light. This often provides inconsistent heat, which often escapes through the top of the container. We suggest another method which we will discuss in further detail in our Heating lesson.

Our Efficient Methods

Conventional methods described above are messy and make cleaning and containing cockroaches difficult. Our systems have a number of innovations summarized below:

• Significantly streamlined cleaning and maintenance activities. This allows all your cockroaches to be removed from the container with ease (and no escapees), allowing quick and easy removal of detritus.
• Find out our quick method to separate detritus and cockroaches.
• Food trays that allows for the removal of all food and water items together, saving time.
• A method to separate cartons, food and water from detritus areas. This significantly increasing the life of cartons and food.
• How to manage cockroaches so they are efficiently contained and minimizes escapees.
• Specially designed containers which increase air flow, removes toxic odors and maximizes heat retention.
• Food and Water Dispensers which feed your animals for you.

Tomorrow we will explain how to build a container to house your cockroaches. If you want to get started straight away, our books are available electronically or as paperback Here.