hi, not sure how to find this old post, but i had it saved on my computer, so i copied and pasted it here,
The best way I have found to breed these little creatures is in a plastic tub with a fitted lid. A 40 to 60L tub from any Kmart, Woolworths, Bunnings or wherever you can get it cheapest is best.
I cut a round (coz round looks good, no other reason) hole about 10cm in diameter at each end, near the top of the tub. I then silicone aluminium fly screen over the hole, both inside and outside. You may choose to cut squares or rectangles and if you cut the holes in the lid, this will mean that your tubs are not stackable. I find it advisable to have at least two tubs so you can separate the babies from the adults. Then paint a 1?-2? ring of fluon paint around the tub ? available from the herp shop. Place Egg cartons on the floor, no other substrate is needed. I rip my egg cartons into two pieces, top and bottom then cut each piece in half. I just find this an easy size to work with. Only go 1 layer deep. A 60L tub will house about 2000 adult woodies with their babies, allowing that you remove the babies every 4 weeks or so. Woodies don?t like to be cold so if your house gets below 25C or so in winter regularly, you will need to put them on a heat matt or if possible, on top of one of your herp cages where it?s nice and warm.
Feeding
Rat and mouse pellets make a good staple for your woodies. The dust that collects in the bottom of the bag of pellets is even better because it?s free. For moisture, you can either get a chick waterer and but a sponge in the base so that the woodies cannot drown in the water or feed them fresh fruit and veg. Most people use carrots for this purpose but I use apples, bananas, tomatoes, carrots, squash, choko and whatever is cheap. They can also be supplemented with either milk powder or baby formula for calcium. I get expired baby formula for free and as this also has vitamins in it, I use it for this.
Seperating babies
Get an ordinary household bucket, drill numerous holes in the base, about 6mm or so. Paint a thick line of fluon around the bucket, about ? way up (on the inside) and just above the base on the outside. Shake the woodies into the bucket, bang it around a bit (letting the babies fall into another tub.) Put the adults back in their tub.
Maintenance
The tubs need cleaning when the roach poo builds up too much. This will be from every 4 weeks to every 6 months depending on how many woodies you have in each tub. To do this task requires a special skill known only to roach breeders. First, take all the egg cartons out, leaving all the roaches in the tub. Tip the tub up on an angle so all the muck runs down one end. Scrape the muck out, without removing any (or too many anyway) woodies with it. As you do this, most of the woodies will (should) run to the top of the tub to get away from you. Replace egg cartons when they get soggy and worn out (the woodies will eat them.) Woodies live for approx. one year and females will give birth every 30 days once mature.
i follow this way and i'm over run with woodies, not that my bearded dragons are complaining,
cheers,
steve.........
The best way I have found to breed these little creatures is in a plastic tub with a fitted lid. A 40 to 60L tub from any Kmart, Woolworths, Bunnings or wherever you can get it cheapest is best.
I cut a round (coz round looks good, no other reason) hole about 10cm in diameter at each end, near the top of the tub. I then silicone aluminium fly screen over the hole, both inside and outside. You may choose to cut squares or rectangles and if you cut the holes in the lid, this will mean that your tubs are not stackable. I find it advisable to have at least two tubs so you can separate the babies from the adults. Then paint a 1?-2? ring of fluon paint around the tub ? available from the herp shop. Place Egg cartons on the floor, no other substrate is needed. I rip my egg cartons into two pieces, top and bottom then cut each piece in half. I just find this an easy size to work with. Only go 1 layer deep. A 60L tub will house about 2000 adult woodies with their babies, allowing that you remove the babies every 4 weeks or so. Woodies don?t like to be cold so if your house gets below 25C or so in winter regularly, you will need to put them on a heat matt or if possible, on top of one of your herp cages where it?s nice and warm.
Feeding
Rat and mouse pellets make a good staple for your woodies. The dust that collects in the bottom of the bag of pellets is even better because it?s free. For moisture, you can either get a chick waterer and but a sponge in the base so that the woodies cannot drown in the water or feed them fresh fruit and veg. Most people use carrots for this purpose but I use apples, bananas, tomatoes, carrots, squash, choko and whatever is cheap. They can also be supplemented with either milk powder or baby formula for calcium. I get expired baby formula for free and as this also has vitamins in it, I use it for this.
Seperating babies
Get an ordinary household bucket, drill numerous holes in the base, about 6mm or so. Paint a thick line of fluon around the bucket, about ? way up (on the inside) and just above the base on the outside. Shake the woodies into the bucket, bang it around a bit (letting the babies fall into another tub.) Put the adults back in their tub.
Maintenance
The tubs need cleaning when the roach poo builds up too much. This will be from every 4 weeks to every 6 months depending on how many woodies you have in each tub. To do this task requires a special skill known only to roach breeders. First, take all the egg cartons out, leaving all the roaches in the tub. Tip the tub up on an angle so all the muck runs down one end. Scrape the muck out, without removing any (or too many anyway) woodies with it. As you do this, most of the woodies will (should) run to the top of the tub to get away from you. Replace egg cartons when they get soggy and worn out (the woodies will eat them.) Woodies live for approx. one year and females will give birth every 30 days once mature.
i follow this way and i'm over run with woodies, not that my bearded dragons are complaining,
cheers,
steve.........
