To see in the house of friends a lizard or a snake is no longer a novelty, but you do not often meet cockroach lovers. Some buy various chemicals or poisons to get rid of unwanted neighbors, and some spend large sums of money for the purchase of such a pet.
The Madagascar cockroach is one of the largest cockroaches in the world. The average size of the individual can reach 60 mm! There are cases when a home cockroach grows up to 10 cm long. The natural habitat of this exotic pet is the trunks of the trees and shrubs of Madagascar. At home, the Madagascar cockroach eats herbaceous plant parts and fruit pulp.
How many live Madagascar cockroaches? In its natural habitat the cockroach lives about two years, at home with good care from two to three.
Madagascar cockroaches: content
Caring for Madagascar cockroaches is very simple and does not require much effort from you. Instead of the usual aquariums, amateurs of these unusual pets are increasingly acquiring insectariums. The content of Madagascar cockroaches is greatly simplified: it is much more convenient to feed your pet, there are no unpleasant odors, takes up little space, there is no need to walk the pet.
Select the size of the container for the content should be calculated from the calculation of 1 liter of volume per individual. If you only have one cockroach, then a small container of 2 liters is enough for him. But for a family of 30 individuals, you need to prepare an aquarium for 30-40 liters.
What to feed Madagascar cockroaches? It is very convenient to start an omnivore pet, which does not require the purchase of a special food. This is one of the advantages of breeding Madagascar cockroaches - absolutely unpretentious in eating. You can offer them carrots or bananas, fruits of trees or fallen leaves will also have to them to taste.
The most important in caring for cockroaches is access to water. If your pet does not have constant access to water and fruit, it will die very quickly. A scoop with water is not good, you need to buy a special drinking bowl. It is a water-saturated material resembling a foam rubber, you can use a rag or cotton wool. In a small container, place absorbent material and moisten it with water. The cockroach will run around this wet foam and drink water.
As for rodents, you need to prepare a litter. This can be paper, sawdust, pebbles or clay with sand. It is enough to pour a layer of 2 cm. Try to avoid sawdust from coniferous trees. It is enough to change the litter once a month.
Madagascar cockroaches: reproduction
Cockroaches do not lay eggs, but bear offspring in the abdomen. In a couple of months you will observe how the tiny cockroaches appear.
A pregnant belly is slightly inflated in a pregnant female. If the conditions of detention are unfavorable, a miscarriage may occur in the female. After fertilization, a couple of months pass and the female pushes out about 30 tiny cockroaches of white color. These babies are called "nymphs". Within a few hours the skin of newborns hardens and acquires
Reproduction of Madagascar cockroaches significantly simplifies the task by the fact that they do not have cannibalism and can safely contain adult aquatic animals with nymphs in one aquarium. In this period, you need to pay attention to two important points:
- The drinking bowl with water should be shallow, otherwise the nymphs simply will not be able to get out of it;
- the edges of the cell should be smeared with petroleum jelly, since the nymphs creep very well on vertical surfaces.