Shake 'N Bake Roaches

These are my roaches after their bathtime.



Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, like your typical loveable and cuddly pet (cats, dogs, boa constrictors) will sometimes become infested with mites. The mites do not feast on human flesh, but nonetheless, it is always somewhat disturbing when one lovingly strokes one's roach and disturbs dozens of small, white mites which come crawling out of the chinks in the armour of said roach.

It got OUT OF CONTROL...I picked up Honey Bunch, and he had white mites crawling ALL OVER HIM, especially his head. So it was time for a bath.

I had read on a website, in the days preparing for the purchase of my roaches, that to get rid of these pestiferous mites, one should put the roach in a little baggie of flour and shake the baggie lightly. I think the mites lose their grip because the flour makes the surface of their host a bit more slippery, and they fall off into the flour. In any case, it worked. Not a mite did they withhold.

Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch, and Baby Love were all pretty dazed after their baths. They just sat their on their bark benches very still and trying to get the flour off their extremities with their mouthparts.

They looked so sad, I gave them another bath by spritzing them with water to rinse off the flour.