royden
New Member
Many of you have talked about having to bring your roaches into the house for the winter. Most of us don't have too much of a problem with this since we know they won't infest the house being that they're tropical. There still is the "ick" factor for some, and also the allergy response that roaches can trigger in some people.
My wife asked me to find a way to get the roaches outside (we don't have a garage). So I planned this out and thought I'd share it. It seems to be working pretty good so far.
I bought two containers from target, put one inside the other and filled the space inbetween with insulation (I also put insulation on the bottom). I created a fitted lid out of drywall laying around the basement. Then I drilled holes to run power chords out of both boxes. Once the power chords for the heating pads were fitted I glue-gunned the gaps around the chord. I started out with two zoo-med heating pads and and it was actually too hot (117 degrees), so I cut it down to one pad, and my roaches are currently out on the deck enjoying a balmy tropical temperature all the while sitting outside in minus 40 something degrees.
The big issue is ventilation, which I had no way of solving, so I need to keep up on cleaning and removing old food as often as possible. I'm pretty excited so far, but it has yet to prove completely succesful. I thought I'd let you guys know that it may be possible for you to do the same if you, like I, love your spouse more than your hobby.
This is a pretty small container, I plan on growing my colony, but I plan on doing something similar with larger rubbermaid boxes.
Also if any of you see this as a potential disater, let me know. It seems like it's working so far. I've had my colony for a couple months now and I've only had about 2 or so deaths that I actually accounted for (real deaths, not fakers).
My wife asked me to find a way to get the roaches outside (we don't have a garage). So I planned this out and thought I'd share it. It seems to be working pretty good so far.
I bought two containers from target, put one inside the other and filled the space inbetween with insulation (I also put insulation on the bottom). I created a fitted lid out of drywall laying around the basement. Then I drilled holes to run power chords out of both boxes. Once the power chords for the heating pads were fitted I glue-gunned the gaps around the chord. I started out with two zoo-med heating pads and and it was actually too hot (117 degrees), so I cut it down to one pad, and my roaches are currently out on the deck enjoying a balmy tropical temperature all the while sitting outside in minus 40 something degrees.
The big issue is ventilation, which I had no way of solving, so I need to keep up on cleaning and removing old food as often as possible. I'm pretty excited so far, but it has yet to prove completely succesful. I thought I'd let you guys know that it may be possible for you to do the same if you, like I, love your spouse more than your hobby.
This is a pretty small container, I plan on growing my colony, but I plan on doing something similar with larger rubbermaid boxes.
Also if any of you see this as a potential disater, let me know. It seems like it's working so far. I've had my colony for a couple months now and I've only had about 2 or so deaths that I actually accounted for (real deaths, not fakers).