Caring For Our Friends
Living Enviornment
Our cockroach friends live best in a place that is dark, moist, or wet, and isolated, or in a place that's mostly by themselves. They are usually kept in aquariums like fish (but without the water)!
Our cockroach friends are great climbers, so we gave them cardboard, egg cartons, and wood for them to climb and play on. Because they're such good climbers, we need to make sure that our tank is always sealed very tight with a mesh lid and we even put some slippery vaseline or petroleum jelly on the top of the tank to make sure that they don't accidentally climb out!
Our cockroach friends also are provided small rocks or tubes to give them a special place to claim for themselves (a territory) that they can defend from other cockroaches and take care of.
Just like us, our cockroach friends need to sleep, and they sleep in the dark! Their "beds" are woodchips or moss that lets them burrow under to hide from light.
To provide the proper moist environment, it is important for us to spray the tank with water every once in a while to make the tank just how they like it. The temperature of the tank is very important as well, as our cockroach friends LOVE the heat! If the tank is too cold, they will become slow and sluggish. We keep our tank at a temperature at about 72 F (22.2 C) to 76 F (24.4 C)
Feeding
Just like us, our cockroach friends need to eat! But sadly, unlike the photo, we can't just feed them a cheeseburger and call it a day.
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In their natural habitats, the cockroaches are called opportunistic feeders, meaning they put a lot of work into finding their own food sources. They rip up fruit that falls from trees to drink their juices
We will be feeding our cockroaches small, cut up pieces of fruits and vegetables such as orange peels, banana peels, carrots, apples, and grapes. Along with those, we can supplement this diet with some regular processed "pet food. The cockroaches surprisingly love processed foods such as dog food, cat food, and mouse food!
How are our cockroach friends supposed to eat their meal without a drink? We will provide them water through a special method called the cotton wick method. Water will be stored in a tightly sealed plastic container, a small hole is drilled in the lid of the container, and a wick that's made of cotton. The cockroaches can then drink from that wick!
Safety
Although these creatures aren't the most cuddly pet, they are harmless! They cannot bite and they do not carry any of the bacteria commonly associated with the word "cockroach". On the contrary, these little critters actually are very comfortable being held and will not hiss after they become comfortable with human contact! We always wash our hands after handling our friends as well.
Their low maintenance living as well as their inability to harm students makes them a perfect pet for the classroom!