***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Kassaundra]

I ordered this one for $18:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FGDDI0/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
But that was after I'd finally found one 1/2 that size at CVS Pharmacy (with no auto shutoff) for the same price. Walmart and Walgreens both only had the auto-shut off timer. I'm going to keep both of them, never hurts to have a spare and it'd cost more in gas to return it than it'd be worth.
I'd have liked to use an aquarium, I've got so many here. But a screened lid would've cost more than the $6 each for these 3 tubs. And in an aquarium you can watch them, and they're really pretty cool. I set 2 slices of orange in there and they headed for it immediately. Didn't bother then a bit that some giant old woman was peering down at them from above lol

You pimp you, oranges are just like viagra to them!

 

[Kassaundra]

I wouldn't like the 3 tier method especially for roaches. I also see absolutely no need to seperate at any stage, they are not predatious to the young, they love being crowded (with plenty of food) the only issue is to many males which if you are growing for feeders you don't have to worry about.

Using the mats the better choice would either be garden mats or lizard mats they are designed to be on 24/7.

I made a screen lid out of scrap lumber and screening to fit on my aquarium, it has worked out very well. I first put them in the plastic tub w/ the cut out screen like you did ksane, but I really didn't like the plastic tub, can't really give you a good reason, just didn't. I have been much happier w/ the glass (or acrylic or whatever) aquarium.

As to cleaning in the freezer (or any other container) you really don't need to clean anywhere near once a month. 6+ months between cleaning isn't bad at all and if you add the sand like I have even less often then that. They really like having the substrate to burrow into.

 

[mefordz]

Careful there you live aweful close to my coverage area and I play w/ very large needles!

oh crap!

yes ma'am, i will be VERY carefull!

just had to go and get mean and mention needle's, only thing worse than spiders and snakes to me.

almost didnt get married cause of needle's, but when i woke up they had done stuck me!

still dont know what the old lady hit me with, but i had a knot like a baseball and a headache for a week!

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

Quote:

 

[mefordz]

You pimp you, oranges are just like viagra to them!

ahhhhh ha ha ha ha!!!!!!

kassandra called mitzi a pimp!!!!!!


where can i git me some of them oranges?

 

[NanaKat]

What's the temp range of the mats?

I'll go check in my gardening catalogs....BRB

 

[Ksane]

I got one from Walmart and figured that I would just bypass the timer and then install a thermostat to keep it from overheating. Then thought why didn't I just use one of the cookie tin heaters I had already made LOL

Hey! That's a good idea! I just made like 8 big ones and several small ones. You could even set it right down in there if you had enough room. And just make a small hole for the cord to come out the side or top and seal around it. Heck, for Dubia you wouldn't even have to seal it, they're not going to get out. So you think that's ok that just 1/2 of the floor is warm? That's how I was going to do it with the heating pad but I wasn't sure if it was ok that way.

Haha! You think we're going to betray your wife by telling you where we keep the oranges?? No way we'd do that to another woman lol

Oops, forgot the rest of my post.
Kass, the 3 tier thing does sound like overkill. Especially when everything I read says Dubia breed better the more crowded they are.
I'm a little concnered about using the heating pad 24/7, too. The reptile mats are only labeled for aquarium use and not plastic. I'll see if I can find something about the garden mats, I'd never ever heard of those before. Oranges certainly bring them out though, don't they?? lol
6 months between cleaning? That's wonderful news lmao! These guys just get easier and easier. I probably will use sand once I get a few bugs built up. I think I have too many egg flats in there, too. I'm going to take some out so I have room for this water & food set up here (found this on some spider site):

 

[NanaKat]

Checked Burpee...mats raise the temperature 10 - 20 degrees.
Without a thermostat, the temps can rise to 90 degrees.
Add a thermostat on a tmer, and you have better control of the temperature.

 

[Ksane]

These gardening heater mats are pretty cool. There's one at http://www.amazon.com/Super-Sproute...sr_1_8?s=garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1328237180&sr=1-8
that's $25. I wonder if they'd be safer or any different from a heating pad?
Most of them say it keeps them about 10 degrees above room temp. Not sure that'd be strong enough though.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

Checked Burpee...mats raise the temperature 10 - 20 degrees.
Without a thermostat, the temps can rise to 90 degrees.
Add a thermostat on a tmer, and you have better control of the temperature.

That's not bad really, I have a room in the house I start plants in, I want to build a greenhouse one of these days but that's gonna have to wait a while LOL

I like that waterer idea, I was watching some u-tube videos and most suggested to only have the heat on one end so they would have the other end to go cool down when they needed to
I would need to use a heat source esp since I don't keep my house all that warm most of the time just the one room and it has my incubator in it and anything else I need to keep above the rest of the house