# Yuch, Roaches in the Dart Frog Vivarium!



## ruthiesea

Here in Florida we have big flying roaches that are actually palmetto bugs. At least two of them have made it into my 72g bow front. My wife cannot catch them (I have a phobia that would Adrian Monk to shame). Short of removing the frogs and tearing up the tank,does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can get rid of them that will not harm the frogs?

Thanks


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## Curt61

Get over your phobia? lol. Maybe putting some type of food out in the center will draw them out so it would be easier to catch them?

I don't know what else you could do, I'm sure there is a way to do it easy though.

Curt.


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## ruthiesea

*Roaches*

I don't need to get over my phobia. That's why I have a wife! She is the official roach and spider killer at this house.

Actually, they seem to be feeding on the fruit flies I put in for the frogs.

Thanks


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## NCSUdart

i'd get them out as soon as possible, kristen (trinacliff) was saying a few weeks back that a few of her tanks had become hosts to small colonies or roaches


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## lacerta

I don't blame you. Even with all my experience in studying insects the roaches are one order that continues to give me the willies. Flying roaches are the worse. Especially if they drop down on you at night and crawl across your face. Or when your baby grandson picks up a dead dry one and decides to put it in his mouth. Or when they crashland into the bigscreen T.V. late at night while watching a chick-flick with your significant other. Talk about destroying the mood. I hate roaches. 
Doesn't surprise me that they would eat dead FF's. They can subsist on anything and the humid condx in the vivarium make it roach heaven. What I would do is place a "roach hotel" in the viv during the evening after containing the frogs in one corner of the viv. You don't want your frogs wandering into it. I am confident that after a couple nights you will have your roach. You may also want to "roach proof" your viv. If large roaches can get in then obviously you are not FF-proof either. 
George


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## NCSUdart

I'm sure its not just me, but i would never introduce any type of poison into your tank. you can remove the frogs and use CO2 to flood the tank and kill anything if you really can't bring yourself to just catch and crush them with your hand


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## lacerta

> I'm sure its not just me, but i would never introduce any type of poison into your tank.


Neither would I. Roach Motels have no poison in them. They use an olfactory attractant and a sticky surface to trap them. Flooding a large vivarium with CO2 can be problematic. Especially one that is ventilated enough to allow large roaches to enter. I doubt it would work with an organism as adaptive as a roach. 
George


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## ruthiesea

*Roaches*

Thanks to everyone. I'll see if a roach motel works.

Oh, yeah, thanks for the visuals, Lacerta. I got shivers just reading it.

By the way, we do have a division labor here. My wife is scared to death of snakes! Not a good phobia in the middle of Central Florida.


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## trinacliff

Did you try the roach motels? I'm having roach issues...I'm scared to use them because the ones I read said the roaches take the bait back to their nest or whatever. I don't think the ones in the vivs can get out and back in, but roaches are surprising creatures...so I hesitate to even put them in the frog room for fear that they might take the bait back to their nest in the viv.

If they worked, please let me know what kind you bought...if it's safe to use in the viv, I know it's safe to use in my frog room. 

BTW, the roaches I've seen actually eat LIVE FF...I have watched the nasty critters walk around and grab them. The only solution I have found is to tear the tank apart and redo...which is why I have simple, boring, setups....haha.

Kristen


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## ruthiesea

*Roaches*

I used Raid Roach Motel. They *DO* :!: contain poison!!! The frogs are active during the day and the roaches at night. I put in a motel an hour after the lights turned off and removed it an hour before the lights came on in the morning. I did that for two nights. The roaches are dead and the frogs are fine.

I would rather have used something besides poison, but I would have had to remove the frogs for dry ice, etc.


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## trinacliff

Glad to hear it worked. Do the roaches go in there and die? Or do they go in there, go back to their home and die? I guess since you did that in the viv, it's safe to use roach motels in the frog room.

Thanks for the info...

Kristen


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## ruthiesea

*Roaches*

The roaches leave the motel. They are supposed to take the poison back to their nest. Speaking of which, I hope there are no roach eggs in there!


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## vet_boy77

I recommend trying the dry ice/ CO2 method before going to the roach motel.
JD


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## ruthiesea

*Roaches*

Too late! the roaches are _el morte_!


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## 311_dart

Has anyone had success with the Dry Ice method? I too am going to have to jump on the bandwagon and proclaim my roach phobia! I found a roach almost the size of my tinc and am worried.


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## Catfur

311_dart said:


> I found a roach almost the size of my tinc and am worried.


Given that Death's Head Roaches have become established in FL you should be worried...


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## 311_dart

ewwwww, I found some pictures of Death's Head and got the willys just looking at them! I read they cannot climb glass, so I guess its not one of those. Either way tomorrow I am purchasing some dry ice!


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## a Vertigo Guy

How can ppl hold those things?!?!? Yech!!!!!!!


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## zBrinks

hehe, make great feeders for larger herps, though. Only the best!


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## Anoleo2

ruthiesea said:


> (I have a phobia that would Adrian Monk to shame)


That's impossible :wink: 

Yeah I think dry ice is the way to go for this one.


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## swz288

I just bought five planted vivariums two days ago. Last night I saw an ENORMOUS palmetto bug inside one with three ranitoneya amazonica ventrimaculatus..!!! I think I am going to take them out and try this dry ice method, but can you please explain it to me?? I have three vivs that are still empty and I want to be able to kill any palmetto bugs that are still in there. Also, is there a way to get rid of the babies or eggs it may have laid??


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## frogface

Before I realized there was a roach in the tank, I lost a lot of Leuc clutches. I would see them courting and laying but never any tads dropped in the pond (this is a usually productive trio). Then, I put in a nice chunk of Bug Burger. Within minutes I noticed half was gone. No way the bugs ate it that fast. Some snooping with a flashlight showed the roach but I could not catch it. I designed various traps but could not manage to get her into one of them. Finally I just pulled the frogs out, the wood, the plants and then sifted through the substrate. Just as I was about to dismantle the whole thing, I heard ruffling in the bag I'd placed the wood into 

Anyway, they are sensitive to the slightest vibration and can fit into the tightest of spaces. I don't advocate using poison of any kind. Maybe you can come up with better traps than I did


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## Tincman

Dont tell anyone, but Im a 6' 3" athletic guy & Im more afraid of a roach then if someone broke into my home with a weapon( I once shrieked like a girl when one flew near my ear years back!lol)...Appologies in advance if another member already mentioned this, but maybe try and find out all the access points to the house & find a way to seal them off or deter them from entering the home first so the problem doesnt reoccur... I hear making a Catnip Tea really bothers them & they wont come near a doorway sprayed with it or a molding... In my old apartment they used to come up the radiators so we taped lawn bags over them in the summer & never saw them again.. I think it wouldnt make sense to break down the whole tank until you first eliminate them from being in or entering the home entirely, then from there I would consider the best option..They are super attracted to water so if there are any in the area they will just go back into the viv if not removed from the home first...I know it is difficult as I have relatives out there & understand theyre literally everywhere outside, but at least cutting down on their access points could help a lot... Good luck & Im going to go have nightmares now..


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## Phyllobates

I had several large roaches in a thumbnail tank a few years ago. I waited patiently at night with a bamboo skewer and speared them to remove them. It took several nights before they weren't spooked by me opening the lid.


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