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Royden - I have them in my closet so they get darkness 80% of the day / night but I want them to breed
How much light they have won't effect their circadian rhythm. I have a colony inside a sealed box, that's inside another insulated, sealed box (wife won't let them inside the house) so they have total pitch dark 100% of the time. If I open their box during the day..it's dead quiet in there, if I open it at night it's like a mexican wedding going on. They know how to party. They like the darkness..but you can't "fool" their internal clocks.
I honestly don't think this will help you that much. You need high temps,darkness at night, and food and water. That's it. (imo)
If anything, cardboard to block direct sunlight maybe. But if they're in your closet they should be totally fine. It's all about the temperatures.
Oh hell yeah.. if you didn't have a heat pad on them - that's your problem. Room temperature is enough for them to survive, but not enough for them to feel..in the mood..
They need upper 80's, low 90's, then they eventaully all start taking off their clothes and dancing with each other. (it's getting hot in here...)
Personally, I lay three or four layers of egg cartons down, and lay a heating pad right over top of them. (note: my heating pad is patched out through a hole in the side of the container, a chord going up and out of the cage is as good as a ladder and a welcome sign to come and explore your house)
yup..that's what I use. Except .. like I said..mine is actually inside the container.
Well...
If you know it's a good heatig pad..it should work. However, like I said I lay the pad right down on the roaches. I stack egg cartons and then lay the heating pad right over top, so it creates a heating dome.
You could try a ceramic heater though, that'd work too. But you do need to get the heat up to the high 80's for breeding.
Would you also be considering on how to build a contraption that converts glass to plastic? Or you could just buy a rubbermaid container...
Let me whisper this to you and all who house their temperate sensitive feeders who still use glass tanks to house feeders, (glass does not insulate as well as plastic).