# Roach found in viv- any reason for concern?



## kgj (May 2, 2014)

I was showing a friend my (uninhabited) viv last night, and flipped a chunk of bark to show him some recently seeded isos. Much to my surprise a roach was lurking on the underside. Not too big, maybe 1/2" to 3/4". It decided my arm was a better place to be on than the bark, so I knocked it onto the floor where it was promptly squashed. 

I was wondering why the large chunks of bug burger I put in to feed the microfauna/fertilize plants were disappearing so quickly- *macro*fauna was taking care of it!

Anyone have an ID on the species? Is there any real reason for concern? I do a good job of processing all of my plants, but I didn't boil/bake/nuke all of my leaf litter or substrate when I put it in- I'm assuming that's how it got there. I figure I will set out some large chunks of bait to see if I can lure something out, and check it early in the morning with a red flashlight to see if anything is nibbling. If there is, it'll be time to start making some traps.


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

Probably won't bother the frogs, but you'll want to make sure it's out of there; otherwise you'll soon have millions of them in the viv -- dart frog conditions are pretty much ideal for roaches, and their population tends to explode.


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## WeeNe858 (Sep 13, 2010)

Looks like a "common" house roach, brown roach? I have a few in my 125 and they might be harassing my teribilis at night. They don't sleep in their huts anymore. Gonna start eradicating them soon.


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

I have one in a tank (In Florida they're euphemized into "Palmetto Bugs"), and it seems to be eating the heck out of my tillandsia. Any suggestions on trapping and/or killing it without disrupting the frogs excessively?


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

They eat frog eggs...


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

aspidites73 said:


> I have one in a tank (In Florida they're euphemized into "Palmetto Bugs"), and it seems to be eating the heck out of my tillandsia. Any suggestions on trapping and/or killing it without disrupting the frogs excessively?


Try making a baited trap with a plastic bottle with the top inverted.


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## kgj (May 2, 2014)

I made the above trap, baited with banana... Set it for a few nights. Periodically checked it with a red flashlight... Didn't catch anything but springs. I'm beginning to think I had a one-off.


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

frogface said:


> Try making a baited trap with a plastic bottle with the top inverted.


I was going to try that but I didn't want a frog to get trapped with a 2" cockroach.


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

remove the frogs and put into a temp container.

place a glue trap in the viv with a little dab of peanut butter in the middle. leave overnight. you will catch all of the little @$$holes.

I've had to do this a couple of times.

James


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## kgj (May 2, 2014)

Sadly, last night I spotted a few roach nymphs chowing on pea pods I tossed in for the isopods. Small, about the size of a grain of rice. I also noticed frass scattered about this morning on the pods. 

This makes me nervous. Either the one I saw in there dropped an egg case, or there's still another adult that I haven't seen. The possibility of additional egg cases has me real worried.

I am not into roaches. As this tank is frog-free for now, I am declaring all out war. Phase one begins with a baited roach motel- peanut butter and pea pods (which they seem to relish) will be added. I'll see what this brings up for the next few days, then phase two- bombing the tank with a CO2 generator. I'll repeat the process in 40 days. I don't mind hitting the reset button for a couple months and re-establishing microfauna populations if it's better for the long-term health of the vivarium (and the frogs!).


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

I pulled a "lights on" at 3 AM and found a huge (2"+) American Cockroach (euphemistically called a Palmetto Bug here in Florida) munching on a tillandsia. I also noticed all four amazonica huddled in a plastic test tube i put in their enclosure for egg laying. I was able to smash the invader with an acrylic tube. 24 hours later, my amazonica gave me 2 clutches. One with 5 eggs and another with 4! Bien por la cucaracha!!!!


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

Oops, I meant: Despedida cucaracha




aspidites73 said:


> I pulled a "lights on" at 3 AM and found a huge (2"+) American Cockroach (euphemistically called a Palmetto Bug here in Florida) munching on a tillandsia. I also noticed all four amazonica huddled in a plastic test tube i put in their enclosure for egg laying. I was able to smash the invader with an acrylic tube. 24 hours later, my amazonica gave me 2 clutches. One with 5 eggs and another with 4! Bien por la cucaracha!!!!


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## kgj (May 2, 2014)

Glue trap baited with PB and a peapod works wonders. I have ten small (little larger than a grain of rice) roaches caught so far, and nothing large. Looks like an egg case was laid and just popped. I may be able to avoid CO2 and just drop one of these in every three weeks or so- at least until everything's kaput!


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

make sure you remove the glue trap after about 24 hours as the roaches will eventually be released from the glue due to the high humidity. they may also sacrifice a limb or two in order to escape if they are not well trapped, and if you happen to catch an adult they may under stress deposit an ootheca which will of course hatch into a ton of new little nasties.

james


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