Well I do now ... Couldn't leave them in tub forever so I chucked them in ... they were dug in within seconds so you wouldn't even know they exist lol

 

Great question and fascinating experiment!
You could well be a trail blazer 🤷🏻‍♂️
If colony gets too big, maybe you could think about some theraphosids 😁

 

Well in my experience with breeding roaches (granted those were dubias and turks) back in my Tarantula days, there comes a point where the size of the colony just stalls and seems to find the correct size for the enclosure.

They die pretty quickly once adult. The only issue I have is that my enclosure got air holes and foam backgrounds and they can climb. I don't think they NEED to, but what I have done is closed the air holes for the moment with sticky tape (snake cannot get to them) so I will see if in a week or so I can see roaches stuck to them.

 

Although image a small ecosystem ... small lizards, frogs, spiders and a snake LOL

 

I personally wouldn't want to risk them eating the plants and leaf litter (leaving nothing for the isopods etc) I only keep dubias so not sure if this statement will be relevant but I also find they poo and breed a hell of a lot, so much so that I now have a cleanup crew in with the roaches to help them clean up the waste. I'd also be concerned about how much they reproduce,may overrun your isopods.

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Yea it's a test really ... Those porcelain seem to have the same diet and seem to be perfect in a boa environment. I mean to be honest, right now I have fake plants in as the plant grow lights are getting too hot and the background is too thick and insulating ...

Personally, I don't care much what clean up crew I have in there. You could argue they don't do much without life plants and boa poo is so massive it probably won't make much of a difference ..

So IF the roaches end up being the only crew - I could live with that. In fact, they might be a bit more efficient in getting rid of boa poo - or rather making it less ... smelly

As I say - it's a test .. if I get overrun and it becomes too dodgy I might end up cleaning it all out and sell them. Those Porcelain roaches are expensive lol ...

 

Yea it's a test really ... Those porcelain seem to have the same diet and seem to be perfect in a boa environment. I mean to be honest, right now I have fake plants in as the plant grow lights are getting too hot and the background is too thick and insulating ...

Personally, I don't care much what clean up crew I have in there. You could argue they don't do much without life plants and boa poo is so massive it probably won't make much of a difference ..

So IF the roaches end up being the only crew - I could live with that. In fact, they might be a bit more efficient in getting rid of boa poo - or rather making it less ... smelly

As I say - it's a test .. if I get overrun and it becomes too dodgy I might end up cleaning it all out and sell them. Those Porcelain roaches are expensive lol ...

This is great - keep us posted 😁
One word of caution, though. I developed a v severe allergic reaction to roaches, dubia/ cranifer? False deaths head, or something.
They kicked up a dust cloud, and I couldn’t stop sneezing. 🤧 Was funny, until it wasn’t. 😳
So be warned when you go about sniffing into your viv to check the humidity 😂

 

Haha don't worry .. As I said - I used to breed them for Tarantulas back in the day - I am fine


For now

 

Oh funny, the roaches also came with two small millipedes ... I tell yea - that thing becomes a habit and a half lol

 

Actually saw a 'pede for a change .. .

 

Plenty of people have used roaches with success in Bioactive Setups. Dubia, Deaths Head and similar species can work well, as their populations remain relatively stable, though they are better off in enclosures with an insectivore in, to keep the numbers down if they get too high.

Just be careful if going for species like Suriname Roaches, they're extremely prolific and will end up invading the house.

In generaly, a well established, planted viv doesn't have much to fear from Roaches. They tend to eat everything else first, including waste, left over food, etc. They will even help clean up dead plants. They're not a substitute for a full, healthy clean up crew though, make sure you have plenty of Woodlice and Springtails to manage the smaller end of the jobs.

Id also recommend giving a kick start to your microbial load in the enclosure. This can take a long time in large enclosures, especially for Boas, which paste waste less often. Use this, to boost it

Bioactive Herps Bio Boost

Bio boost is a liquid blend of beneficial bacteria, myrchorrizae, minerals and more, designed to kick start the natural life cycle of your enclosure.

bioactiveherps.co.uk