My roaches had babies! + Hamburg reptile show

 WHAT'S UP, Y'ALL

 I'm really excited to share that my Neostylopyga rhombifolia (harlequin roach) had babies! They've been laying ooths since early September, and one or two of them hatched! From that time until now, that would be right within the average gestation period of 4 months. That means, however, that the adults won't be around for much longer, either, so here's hoping they not only lay more ooths before they kick the bucket but the rest of the ooths they've laid hatch. Here's some pictures of one of the babes. Sorry the image quality is so crappy. It's hard to get nice pics. 😅 You can find a video of them on my instagram!

 

Both the rhombifolia and the S. conserfariam have been doing so well they're getting to colony numbers. Since, I've restarted my roach collection, I haven't had any crashes (knock on wood). So all of this is really encouraging! Colonies take so long to establish but the thrill of seeing a large, healthy colony makes the wait worth it!

 

In other news, this weekend I will be attending the Hamburg Reptile Expo in PA. Despite the name, it's actually located in Morgantown, not Hamburg. It's roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes from where I'm at but I'll be leaving from my boyfriend's house which will bring it down to 44 minutes.

I'm really excited because this will be the second expo I've ever been to, and it's a big one at that! Stacking the excitement, some people from the roach community will be there and I can't wait to meet them. 🥰 Stella's Springtails will be vending there and I plan on seeing if he has any P. dilatatus. I need them for my beardie's bioactive enclosure. I did purchase some from Exotic Wilderness but the packaging has been in limbo for over a week now. Considering the weather, I'm not too hopeful they'll arrive safely, so if that ends up being the case then at least I'll be able to get some in person.

Oh, and it's my birthday tomorrow, so I'm treating myself to the expo (no one wanted to go with me so I'm going alone 😭). My boyfriend said not to come home with anything alive. Out of respect, I very likely won't, aside from the p. dilatatus. I don't have the room for anything else, anyway, and I have to prepare to move somewhere next summer. We shall seeeeee.

 If you'll also be attending the expo, let me know so I can say hi!

OKAY THAT'S IT FOR NOW BYYYYYE 👋 

New roaches and new info!

Güten tag, alle!

I've got a couple of topics to talk about today.

1. New roaches!

2. Current video projects and future project ideas

New roaches new roaches!! We live in a beautiful time, my friends. Information is so readily available to us and we're all connected to one another via the online sphere. Our ancestors are envious of our privilege to buy bugs and have them in our hands whenever we wish. Or maybe they're looking onto us with bittersweet pride as we enjoy the fruits of their hard work that granted us this privilege. Whichever is true, I recognize and greatly appreciate this privilege. This past weekend of November 1st, I daringly took part in yet another Roach Crossing charity event, where equal-minded individuals gather to challenge one another's wit, speed and wealth to obtain bugs while generously donating to a poor, pitiful homeless man who we shall not name out of respect... Kyle's bug auction was hosted so he may purchase himself the highly desirable Kirby Airballers for the Switch 2(tm) and being the magnanimous character that I am I donated a few dollops toward his sympathetic cause.
In exchange, I am to receive the following gifts:

1. 30 Blaberus cranniifer "University of California, Riverside" - a species so common in the hobby yet remained away from the shelves of my collection for reasons of personal interest.

2. 100+ Pycnoscelus nigra - you can never have too many parthenogenetic girlbosses and girlsisters.

3. 40 Aeluropoda insignis - a species already on my shelves but exclusively in adult form and small numbers; this group will assist me in jump-starting a colony.

4. 40 Blabtica dubia "Amber" - a purchase made in lustful vanity.

5. 40 Planchora sp. "Little Manatee River, Ruskin, FL" - not a fan of Floridians, but, it's for charity... 

And then of course there's a side purchase I made with a fellow philanthropist attending the event. I am to receive a curious group of Archimandrita tesselata, where there is a possibility of uniquely aestheticised individuals.

Please do not ask me how much the total price was; that is none of your concern.....

Building the Off the Fent Roaches brand If you've read my About me page, then you already know that my goal is to be a teacher in the roach-keeping community. I'm currently working on a script for a How-To / Introduction To video about housing cockroaches. This will be the first work I publish to the world to guide new or curious roach-keeping prospects. It will be a simple yet thorough detailing of how to set up cockroach enclosures for complete beginners.
I remember when I first started keeping roaches and my set-ups for them were atrocious. There was so much information yet too little at the same time. So many different species with different care needs and no set of info could paint the full picture of proper and efficient husbandry. So my goal here is to paint that picture for you. Keep in mind, however, that the painting will never be fully clear until you experience husbandry for yourself. You'll always be insecure until you experience roach keeping for yourself; but I will serve as your tutor to the best of my ability.

The video will start with a light introduction to roaches and their devoted community and then get right to the informational bit focusing on cockroach houses (enclosures). I'll be appropriately utilizing the two most common beginner species: B. dubia and G. portentosa; Dubia roaches and Madagascar hissing cockroaches to showcase and explain the many unique ways you can house cockroaches. I will do my best not to get carried away with in-depth explanations as I always do when explaining things and keep it as concise as I possibly can lol. I want the video to be a simple introduction for beginners so having a lengthily-timed video will certainly steer the target audience away. Then eventually I'll go more in-depth with their care in another video.

We'll see where this series goes. I have an idea of the content I'll be going over in the series but nothing is set in stone. If you ever have suggestions, reach out to me!

Oh, and I forgot to explain that this series of educational content will not only be in video format. It will be a mix of videos and textually-delivered information here on this website. Some times a combination of both. 

Megaloblatta blaberoides

Güten tag, alle!

 A few days ago, I started my very first big project. I obtained the unique opportunity to culture a new species of roach in the U.S hobby, and it isn't just any roach. Thanks to Kyle from Roach Crossing, I'll be attempting to introduce Megaloblatta blaberoides, the world's second largest roach species (by wing span and body length). He owns a captive female that was pregnant and produced two ooths. I received the second one, and I'll be attempting to hatch it. The U.S hobby has not seen any Megaloblatta yet. This is hopefully the first day of change for that!

 img source: Orthoptera Fam. Blattidae Subfam. Nyctiborinae, Genera Insectorum 109 by Philogène Wytsman

 The challenge for me is experience. Though I do have a couple of intermediate-level species that I've hadn't had an issue with, I still haven't fully grasped proper humidity. Most of my keeping experience is with dry-tolerant species. I believe what I'm doing so far is correct. Having a thermostat that reads temperature and humidity helps me remain confident that things are going well. It also helps that RC sent the ooth with already-damp substrate that I could just transfer over to the ooth's new enclosure.

 I don't want to disturb the ooth after I already buried it, so here is a snapshot of RC's female holding it before she laid it

 

 

The laid ooth is much darker, as it hardens after being laid. If you'd like to see the actual ooth itself, visit my instagram to see the unboxing and setup video!

 

 So what's next?

Well, the only thing to do now is keep the humidity and temperature parameters consistent (that being 80% humidity and 77-86 degrees Fahrenheit (25-30 Celsius)) and wait for it to hatch. I'll check on it once a week to make sure it isn't rotting. Which is another thing I don't have much experience with... the only other species I've worked with that are oviparous and lay ootheca are N. rhombifolia, who only recently laid their ooths. They all look fine, but I've never seen/personally experienced a "dead" ootheca (dried out or rotted). With the help of the community, though, I'm confident it'll be fine. :) Speaking of, Roach Crossing and InvertebrateDude are due credit for getting this project started for me. InvertebrateDude supplied the husbandry information, and RC provided the ooth and resources, so I'd not have been able to do this without them. As an amateur roach-keeper, I'll be updating them regularly on the ooth's status.

 

This venture will take approximately a year. I know that sounds so long! But what can you expect from a super-sized cockroach? Even after it hatches, the nymphs will take approximately a little over a year to reach adulthood, then of course comes the challenge of breeding them, getting them to lay their ootheca, and waiting for those to hatch. So altogether, introducing this species is going to take a long time, but with plenty of patience and support from the community, we'll make it happen!

 

I'll of course keep you updated on here, but for faster and more accessible updates, be sure to follow my instagram. 😊I also plan on starting to stream on the Off The Fent Roaches Youtube channel for live husbandry and other things involving my roaches, so be sure to subscribe over there! I really appreciate your support.😊

 

As always, any feedback you want to give me or if you need to contact me feel free to do so by emailing me at offthefentroaches@gmail.com.

 

Auf weidersehen! 

The First Post

 Firstly, thank you so much for visiting my sight. I'd like you to get to know me!

My name is Dianna. I'm currently 28 years old and I'm a native southern New Jerseyan. I attended Stockton University for my bachelor of arts in Sports Management. I wanted to study biology, as my dream is to be a wildlife conservationist, however due to mental illness I wasn't able to perform to the best of my ability and had to settle for something that could just get me by. For three decades I've been fighting a war with depression, anxiety, and my adhd. All I've ever known was sadness and the feeling of alienation, but with personal courage and my stubborn will to live, I'm still here. The name "Off the Fent Roaches" has double-meaning: 1. It's a reflection of my humor, and 2. I have to rely on substances to function properly, but much like the drug fentanyl, these substances help me "feel good" at a price; they will never cure me, and I will always be dependent on them for my happiness. So, I might as well go off while I'm on them!

The roach hobby has given me the platform to live my dreams. I never thought it was possible to work with animals, care for them, conserve them, and educate the public about them without a degree and a science-related job. But I realized, after being given the opportunity be one of the first to bring a new roach species to the U.S hobby, that I was performing wildlife conservation in my own home, and I have the freedom to work on my own schedule and not have my ideas rejected. I'm still fairly new to this hobby and the community, but I hope taking these small steps will nurture me into the person I've always wanted to be. I'm afraid of failure, but I'm confident this hobby will teach me to accept failures and apply what I've learned to future projects. I'll always need to remind myself that even the most experienced roach keepers have colony crashes and other set backs sometimes. I'm looking forward to this journey. :)

I'm always open to talk to you if you have questions or just want to chat about roaches. Places you can contact me are via email offthefentroaches@gmail.com, Instagram @offthefentroaches, and Discord @thalassodromidae.