Woodies?

[1131035]

Hi,
after looking for some time I finally got a woody colony - the fact that I got it for free made it all the more sweater!

The question I have is what is the best way to use the cockroaches as feed without destroying the colony? I have worked out that I will need to take out 30 large woodies a day. What do people recommend?

Thanks

 

[mad_at_arms]

Take the adult males (ones without wings).

 

[disintegratus]

I have egg cartons and cardboard tubes in mine (empty paper towel rolls)
They don't like to use the rolls, so I go in, disturb the crap out of the egg cartons, then they all bugger off and hide in the rolls. Grab a roll, cover both ends til you reach your destination enclosure and voila! Woodie dispenser

 

[bk201]

divide it up and have a feed out tub and a breeder tub so you would always have the breeder tub and when it gets to crowded divide it up into the feeder tub and you would be set.

 

[GeckoJosh]

Take the adult males (ones without wings).

I thought both males and females have wings, and that winged woodies are all final instar of both sexes.

 

[spongebob]

Divide the colony to start with. Then with the feeder group don't take the adults as they are the ones breeding - these are the grey winged ones. Take the brown unwinged large ones instead. With the adults present this colony will continue to produce youngsters to replace. However it depends on how big your colony is whether or not you will be able to take 30/day.

 

[1131035]

I thought both males and females have wings, and that winged woodies are all final instar of both sexes.

Woodies = wood cockroaches, the females only have wings

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the input, still developing a plan

 

[GeckoJosh]

Woodies = wood cockroaches, the females only have wings

Not meaning to be rude but can you please provide me with a credible source of this info as I have read both sexes have wings and that one of the ways to sex them is they have different wing length

 

[1131035]

Not meaning to be rude but can you please provide me with a credible source of this info as I have read both sexes have wings and that one of the ways to sex them is they have different wing length

I believe you are right, I was under the impression that only females had wings

 

[GeckoJosh]

I believe you are right, I was under the impression that only females had wings

Yeah I was under that impression for a long time as well until I was told otherwise. It is easy to make that assumption when the only ones you see with eggs have wings.

 

[1131035]

Yeah I was under that impression for a long time as well until I was told otherwise. It is easy to make that assumption when the only ones you see with eggs have wings.

Well that complete destroys my idea of using majority of males for feeding

 

[GeckoJosh]

The best way I found to maintain numbers is by keeping multiple colonies and only harvesting from one at a time.

 

[bohdi13]

is there any sexual dimorphism ?

 

[dragonlover1]

only females have wings.look on youtube for filtering methods ,I have lost the link but I use small buckets with various size holes to size the woodies and keep the nymphs to grow while having different size woodies for different size lizards.
30 per day means you need quite a large colony

 

[GeckoJosh]

Some info I have found:
"Males have longer wings which will extend past the end of the abdomen, Females wings stop short, so you will see the abdomen sticking out."
"Best bet is to flip them over. Females have one big last abdominal segment; males have two. If you really want to be sure, just feed off only small adults. Those are males 99% of the time."

 

[spongebob]

As adults there is sexual diamorphism but both sexes have wings.

 

[disintegratus]

Too lazy. *Insert smart-a$$ comment about sexing woodies here. Possibly some kind of double entendre*

 

[mudgudgeon]

Now the weather is warming up, the numbers in the colony will go berko
If they're in a warm spot, got plenty of veggie scraps, you won't keep up with the rate they breed.

Within a couple of months last spring, I was putting the open tub down for our chooks to have a feed 2-3times a week, the chooks would smash a couple of hundred easy. And the colony was still growing.
Id chuck in veggie scraps after making dinner, come back after dinner with more scraps, and every single morsel would already be eaten!

 

[Justdragons]

cheers guys been looking for a clear answer on this for a while

 

[1131035]

Now the weather is warming up, the numbers in the colony will go berko
If they're in a warm spot, got plenty of veggie scraps, you won't keep up with the rate they breed.

Within a couple of months last spring, I was putting the open tub down for our chooks to have a feed 2-3times a week, the chooks would smash a couple of hundred easy. And the colony was still growing.
Id chuck in veggie scraps after making dinner, come back after dinner with more scraps, and every single morsel would already be eaten!

Did you eventually split the colony into two or more?