See the Hundreds of Techniques on Offer (Book Contents)
Below is a summary of the ways you will be able to save time and effort breeding cockroaches with our comprehensive guide.
Food and Water Requirements
4 different food/water dispensers to choose from which covers small and large scale production.
How to build a food tray with removes all wet/dry food and water together for quick and easy maintenance.
Our automated feeding/watering dispensers, allows you to feed cockroaches for over 2 weeks unattended if necessary (i.e. good for going away on holidays). They are inexpensive to build, durable and designed not to spill. They dispense food at a controlled rate which saves money, reduces the frequency for refilling and improves hygiene.
7 different methods/tools to feed cockroaches to your animals quickly and easily (and filter them to the right size).
Learn essential nutrients for cockroach development, how to purchase food in bulk and store/process them properly to save wastage and money.
Food recipes for standard and fast growth, gut loading and dusting.
Tables outlining the nutritional content of key food groups such as dog, cat and chicken layer dry foods.
Detailed instructions and photos how to build containers.
5.1 Food and Water Components……………………………………………………………32
5.2 Dry Food- Nutrition and Processing…………………………………………………33
5.3 Wet Food- Nutrition and Processing…………………………………………………36
5.4 Gut Loading and Dusting…………………………………………………………………38
5.5 Feeding Cockroaches to Animals ……………………………………………………..39
6.1 Design Considerations for Food and Water Dispensers……………………..46
6.2 Food Dispenser- Small Scale Production…………………………………………..47
6.3 Food Dispenser- Large Scale Production…………………………………………..48
Breeding
Learn our unique breeding method which maximized production and minimizes maintenance.
Learn the essential secrets which ensures productive and consistent breeding.
Learn the best heating method to supercharge production.
Learn efficient container design to improve growth (see next section)
4.1 Breeding Overview………………………………………………………………………….27
4.2 Zega Cockroach Breeding System…………………………………………………….28
Container Design and Construction
Learn the 6 essential design considerations for an efficient container which is durable, maximizes growth rates, and saves time in maintenance and feeding activities.
Some of the items covered includes how to maximize ventilation and air flow, easy access ports for feeding and removing cockroaches.
Detailed instructions and photos showing how to build step by step.
3.1 Choosing a Container…………………………………………………………………….17
3.2 Lids……………………………………………………………………………………………..18
3.3 Ventilation…………………………………………………………………………………..18
3.4 Feeding Port…………………………………………………………………………………19
3.5 Screening…………………………………………………………………………………….20
3.6 Barrier Cream……………………………………………………………………………..20
3.7 Component Set-up…………………………………………………………………………20
3.8 Making a Container………………………………………………………………………21
Heating and Storage
Tables which provide the various temperature thresholds to manage a cockroach colony
Learn the right heating methods which will supercharge productivity.
Advantages/disadvantages for 6 different heating systems including free solar options. Find out the best method for productive cockroach production.
Learn the thermodynamic principles for efficient heat conservation.
20 ways to reduce your heating costs.
How to estimate your heating costs and manage excessive heat.
How to store breeding containers so they are easy to access and feeding can be done without opening the lid. This will allow numerous containers to be stored into a tight configuration, to save space or to increase the number of containers.
7.1 Heating and Humidity Requirements……………………………………………61
7.2 Heating Systems………………………………………………………………………….62
7.3 Reducing Heating Costs……………………………………………………………….65
7.4 Estimating Heating Costs…………………………………………………………….67
7.5 Managing Excessive Heat…………………………………………………………….68
7.6 Storage of Colony………………………………………………………………………..68
Maintenance
2 different cleaning systems reduces maintenance to only a few minutes for each breeding container.
Food and water dispensers can provide food for up to 2 weeks, reducing the need for food/water changes.
Feeding methods allows 10 containers of cockroaches are able to be fed wet food in just 90 seconds.
Systems to remove all cartons together for quick and easy maintenance.
Devices to separate small and larger cockroaches from detritus and food during maintenance. This allows more animals to be returned back to the colony.
Systems to streamline cleaning for both small and commercial scale.
Pest Management
Detailed information on how to manage all major pests and diseases, which can result in the failure of consistent cockroach breeding.
Our clever container design prevents pests from entering.
Details how to build ant exclusion devices and micro-fly traps to prevent infestations.
How to maintain genetics and maintain productivity
Chapter Contents, see Maintenance above:
8.1 Maintenance………………………………………………………………………………..70
8.2 Cleaning………………………………………………………………………………………71
8.3 Pests……………………………………………………………………………………………79
8.4 Genetics……………………………………………………………………………………….82
8.5 Safety………………………………………………………………………………………….83
Grading and Selling
Learn how to quickly separate cockroaches from their cartons without escapees and with minimal effort.
How to make 3 different types of filtering devices to sort crickets on a commercial scale or smaller quantities to feed your animals.
Make a cockroach counting device which makes estimating cockroach numbers easy and hassle free.
Two systems to calculate cricket numbers (for small scale and large scale production).
3 different packaging and storage methods for dispatch to clients.
Full details how to manage a commercial colony from breeding, maintenance, grading, dispatch, transport and marketing.
Outlines what you need to consider for commercial production and the expected expenses and potential income.
Over 14 tips how to market cockroaches and find clients.
How to keep detailed records and efficiencies to maximize profits.
Example promotional material to help market your cockroaches.
9.1 Grading by Size……………………………………………………………………………84
9.2 Estimating the Number of Cockroaches…………………………………………87
9.3 Packaging and Transport…………………………………………………………….91
9.4 Economics…………………………………………………………………………………..93
9.5 Marketing…………………………………………………………………………………..96
9.6 Record Keeping…………………………………………………………………………..97
Biology
How to choose the best species to for cockroach breeding. Advantages and disadvantages between different species.
Diagrams and photos of the anatomy of a cockroach and how to distinguish between female/male, adult and medium cockroaches.
Understand the lifecycle, breeding and behavior characteristics of cockroaches to reduce deaths and increase breeding success.
Find out the best temperatures to maximize egg viability and growth. The best heating methods to increase productivity.
The main nutrient and environmental conditions for productive breeding.
2.1 Anatomy………………………………………………………………………………………11
2.2 Biology and Behavior…………………………………………………………………..12
2.1 Species Selection…………………………………………………………………………..14
List of Tables
Table 1- Advantages and Disadvantages between Breeding Cockroaches and crickets……… 7
Table 2- Conversion between Imperial and Metric Units…………………………………10
Table 3-Overview of Constructing a Container- Efficient Method……………………..22
Table 4- Detailed Instructions for Constructing a Container- Efficient Method……..24
Table 5-How to Make a Zega Cockroach Breeding System………………………………29
Table 6- Nutritional Comparison between Different Dry Food Types………………….34
Table 7- How to Make a Small Scale Food Dispenser……………………………………47
Table 8- Making a Food Tray…………………………………………………………………49
Table 9- Making a Large Scale Food Dispenrser……………………………………………50
Table 10- Making a Large Scale Water Dispenser………………………………………….55
Table 11- Making a Large Scale Water Dispenser with Pebbles…………………………59
Table 12- Temperature Ranges for Cockroaches…………………………………………….61
Table 13- Maintenance Schedule………………………………………………………………70
Table 14- Cleaning Food and Water Dispensers……………………………………………72
Table 15- Removing Detritus……………………………………………………………………75
Table 16- Making an Ant Guard for Power Cords…………………………………………..80
Table 17- Grading Cockroaches………………………………………………………………..84
Table 18- Counting Cockroaches- Large Scale………………………………………………88
Table 19- Transport Methods…………………………………………………………………..91
List of Diagrams and Figures
Diagram 2.1 Anatomy of a Cockroach- Top View………………………………………….11
Diagram 2.2 Anatomy of a Cockroach- Bottom View………………………………………11
Figure 3.3 Air Flow through a Container…………………………………………………..18
Figure 4.1 Diagrammatic Representation of a “Zega Cockroach Breeding System”.. 28
Appendixes
Appendix 1 Example Marketing Brochure………………………………………………….102