keeping roaches in their container

jejton · #1 (**permalink**) 02-06-2012, 07:14 AM

I have been attempting to raise a colony of hissers but am having trouble with escapees. In the past I've used the vaseline trick to keep them in the enclosure but after a while the vaseline slides down and is such a pain to clean that I end up chucking the container. So now I tried using packing tape, like with crickets, but the roaches managed to climb right over it and I keep finding escapees ( wife gets angry plus the size of my small starter colony is shrinking ). Can anyone recommend another option? I have been keeping them in a clear rubbermade type container.

frogparty · #2 (**permalink**) 02-06-2012, 08:10 AM

a micron filtered lid with additional weatherstripping to form a good seal

EvilLost · #3 (**permalink**) 02-06-2012, 08:20 AM

not really a solution directly, but this is why I breed Blaptica Dubia instead....they can't climb plastic. Problem solved

jejton · #4 (**permalink**) 02-06-2012, 05:02 PM

I'll try the weather stripping idea. If all elses fails, I'll go back to using the vaseline and just chuck the container when it gets too nasty. I started a colony of dubia's but I do like the hissers both as feeders and as 'pets' so I would like to try and salvage this.

BrianWI · #5 (**permalink**) 02-06-2012, 09:27 PM

There are some teflon paints that help However, nymphs sometimes still get past it as they don't weigh much so get little gravity assist.

I always wanted to see if they could climb over aluminum tape, but never got a chance to try.

jejton · #6 (**permalink**) 02-06-2012, 10:38 PM

Never even heard of aluminum tape but that sounds like something that should work. I also found, through posting on another forum, liquid teflon that can be used. I'm going to the local hw store soon so I'll look for the aluminum tape and post results if I have any.

jejton · #7 (**permalink**) 02-07-2012, 04:13 AM

Well the double sided tape was a flop. The hissers ran across it like it wasn't there. I ordered some roach barrier from an online roach supplier. If it works I'll share my experiences.

mydumname · #8 (**permalink**) 02-07-2012, 07:34 PM

This worked for my lobster roaches.....

Super Slick Roach Barrier | Aaron Pauling.com

BrianWI · #9 (**permalink**) 02-07-2012, 09:39 PM

Double sided tape? Aluminum tape is made out of metal with sticky on one side. Could test it by seeing if a roach can get crawl up a soda can, same thing. Again, never tried it.

xm41907 · #10 (**permalink**) 02-09-2012, 02:53 PM

I've had great success with Vaseline. It's never run, and I've yet to have an escapee. Here are some pictures of my setup for reference.