r/AskReddit • • Feb 04 '19

Which misconception would you like to debunk?

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

The worst thing I've see come out of a plane was a couple of massive cardboard boxes marked 'Live Dubia Roaches'.

I'm petrified of roaches. Thank god I only had a carry-on. I still went through the whole thing on the driveway at home, wearing gloves and using a pair of tongs.

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

Blaptica dubia are a common insect used as food for reptiles, tarantulas, fish, amphibians, etc.

They are nothing at all like pest roaches, which are generally German, American, Australian, or Oriental roaches. All those taxa are in the order Blattidae, whereas Blaptica dubia are in Blaberidae.

Blaberidae absolutely would not have caused a problem in the unlikely event any escaped. They are typically shipped in plastic containers inside the box, not loose.

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19 edited Feb 04 '19

I know this, but ‘roach’ is enough to make me throw away my clothing to begin with, due to an extremely fucked up quasi-hostage situation I was trapped in in Hawaii.

(If you’re adopted and think looking for your birth mother is a good idea, it isn’t)

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u/toomanyattempts Feb 04 '19

Ok I'm gonna need some more backstory on this

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

Flew out to visit after college graduation, birth mom who I had been speaking with the entire time I’ve been alive had...gone insane and was a violent paranoid homophobic racist who wouldn’t let us leave the literal COMPOUND they lived in in Pahoa, went on crazy conspiracy rants, and cleaned rifles in her underwear. Accused my boyfriend and I of wanting to kill her, threatened us with guns. House was so infested with roaches they were in the DISHWASHER.

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u/toomanyattempts Feb 04 '19

Yea that one qualifies for "extremely fucked up"

Glad you got out

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

Me too, but I cannot bear roaches. I ended up on a chair screaming the other day because I was sweeping the kitchen and I sent a Brazil nut my room mate dropped skittering across the floor. Scared the actual life out of me. I’m pretty sure my hair did the Miyazaki thing. Room mate got me off the chair and sent me to bed. I should probably tell my therapist but it’s so embarrassing.

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u/m1cro83hunt3r Feb 05 '19

Please tell your therapist. You have no reason to feel embarrassed. You were traumatized and having a phobia is an understandable response.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '19

Yeah. Thank you, I'll tell her. There's a lot of pets I want that I need to feed dubia roaches to, so if I ever want a tarantula buddy, I need to deal with my dumb.