Christmas Lovin' Critters

Three nights ago I was awake the whole night doing homework. I suddenly had to stop what ever I was doing because I heard the roaches chattering loudly. It has not been the first time that I've mentioned that cockroaches like the dark. The interesting thing that I noticed that night was that the only light that was on in the living room was the light of my computer and the lights from my Christmas tree. So I figured they must be in the Christmas spirit, because they were not afraid to be under the dim lights of the Christmas tree.

After I discovered one of the cockroaches was white and it's old skin was in the container I checked on them more frequently that day. The white one got darker and darker all day. By the next day it was almost all the way brown again with white spots. The most curious thing though was that the skin that was shed started disappearing throughout the day and I found the white cockroach near it at one point. I think it may have eaten the old skin because it was half gone by that night and all the way gone by the next day.

Turning Over a New Leaf

The cockroaches haven't been doing a whole lot with Stacey and me. They wouldn't really eat anything we gave them and they mostly just sat around all the time. Last night I put some more of their green food from the store in and they were up running around the cage. I watched them for a few minutes as they crawled around. Then I went to bed. This morning I walked passed them and noticed that one of them was white. I actually freaked out a little. I brought them into the light and saw that one of them had shed its outer layer, the brown part, and was now white. It was on top of the other and they were chattering. The old skin is just laying there in the dirt. The white one ended up burrowing down into the dirt. I got a few pictures but they weren't very good because of my camera.

Maybe It's Me?

Well when we had them in class they were not fans of that. They were yelling the class away. I think they were sick of the lights and me trying to show them off. Well whatever it is we didn't get off to a good start...And it hasn't gotten better.

What I've tried to feed them....with no luck:
1. Zucchini
2. Apple
3. Food from the store
...pretty sure they aren't eating anything and I don't know what to do. I guess it may be time to retry the carrots. Even at night they don't seem to be moving...at all. So to say the least I am worried about our mama and papa :(

One fun fact I noticed that mama has little spikes on her legs. Papa probably does too but he is so dark colored it's been harder for me to notice, especially since he always seems to be hiding.

So for now I'm trying to find something to make the little critters happy.

"Lettuce Not Eat That"

I had promised another entry, and here it is. These cockroaches have turned out to be a lot more picky eaters than one would imagine roaches would be. I guess because these are "high class" roaches. They are certainly not like their Southern relatives I've unpleasantly met in Texas. Anyways, this weekend I tried feeding them iceberg lettuce, just to see if they would eat it, and they did but, just like with the watermelon, they did not "love it."

I actually had a funny experience today. At around 10 pm as I was trying to moisten their soil and provide them with a little more food, I must have disturbed their beauty sleep. Because, a few seconds later- Mama Roach, began squeeking and squacking me out. Her antenna were going crazy, and like always Pappa Roach did not even move a muscle.

Trick or Treat, Give Me Something Good to Eat!!!

Well, this week I learned that cockroaches do not like watermelon. Last week we learned from Sarah that they absolutely love carrots. This week I wanted to try something new and put some watermelon wedges. They did taste it, but they definitely did not go crazy for it like they did for the carrots. Today, I cleaned out the watermelon, and put some of their regular food plus some iceberg lettuce. I will enter another post to let ya'll know how it went (the Texan came out of me). In the meantime, enjoy the latest pictures of The Roaches.

Chatter Bugs

I have had the opportunity to have Mr. and Mrs. Cockroach this week, and this is what I have learned. Cockroaches are definitely nocturnal creatures. They are never to be seen during daylight hours. They prefer to be under the comfort of their nice warm soil. In all the days that I've had them, I've noticed they don't come out during the day, not even to eat. But night time is a totally different scenario. I am often found to be sitting in front of the computer doing homework, during the heaviest hours of the night. I have to say these cockroaches have surprised me. If I am not listening to music, I have been interrupted by their chatter. The best way to describe it would be- very faint high-pitched squeeky noises. It makes me wonder if the noise I hear is really the way they communicate. It is very interesting!

Carrot Craze

Stacey and I got Mama and Papa on Tuesday, September 27 (my birthday!). We took them home and started observing. We noticed that most of the time they stayed down under the soil when it was bright out. When we would come into the room and it was dark and then turned the light on they would be up on top of the soil moving around. We frequently caught them with Papa on top of Mama during those times. At night they would stay out even when the light was on in the room but during the day they stayed under the soil almost the whole time.

We kept giving them the green food (it looks like jello and smells like pears). I started to wonder though if they might like a change so I broke a baby carrot in half and stuck in there. They were both out on top of the soil that night (September 29th) and I stuck the carrot next to Mama. She moved her antenna around touching the carrot. Then her head emerged and she went crazy! I hadn't seen her head yet. She ate a large portion of the carrot half that night and it continued to dwindle over the next few days. I never say Papa eating it. Mama used what looked like pincers by her head to grab the carrot and eat it.

Unfortunately my camera and my photography skills are not even close to equal to Meredith's but I did get a few pictures of Mama eating the carrot.

Pics.

Here is where Mama & Papa live! Mama is the one standing up, giving a pose. Papa is the one under the Earth. He likes to be underground more than Mama does.

Honeymoon Stage

I went to Animal Ark on Saturday, September 17, 2011, ready to bring our new critters home!!!! Everyone was excited and hopeful of a happy future. The nice lady escorted me to the cockroach drawer, and there were SO MANY to pick from, I couldn't decide! I wanted them ALL! Their cuddly little scaly bodies, their multiple legs and wiry antennas were calling my name, saying, "pick me! pick me!". Alas, I made the decision of picking Mama (lighter brown, smaller) and Papa (darker brown, spots).

Well, Mama & Papa Roach are sitting on my shelf right now, adjusting to their new life. For the first 48 hours they were burrowed underneath the surface of the "earth", keeping warm. The lady at Animal Ark told me that they like humid/warm climates, so I sprinkled some water in there and let them have their space.

They stayed under the surface of the soil occupying opposite corners of the terrarium. It wasn't until yesterday evening (Monday, September 19) that I saw them above the surface and noticed some of the food gone. Right before I went to bed, I noticed that Mama & Papa were no longer on opposites sides but a good 2 inches apart from each other (no doubt engaging in family home evening/prayer).

I woke up today (September 20), and saw Mama Roach resting on top of Papa Roach. Upon coming home @ 2:45, they had resumed the same position. What does this mean? Time will tell...

All in all, these guys are great. They watch TV with us, listen to our jokes, engage in political debate, and of course, sing along to the tunes of Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez. Until next time!!!