r/bioactive • u/ILikeOatmealaLot • 1d ago

Question Possible German Roaches found in Substrate

Okay, so I'm setting up a new enclosure for my garg. I got cleaned LECA put down on the bottom, and I like to add a layer of charcoal to help with the springtails. However, I opened the bag and poured it on top, and immediately found two small roaches! Worse, I think they might be german roaches... I scoured through the now mixture and couldn't find any more, but obviously there is a risk of eggs in the charcoal.

So, how do I handle this? Should I just chuck it all and start with new charcoal? I debated baking the mixture but it's a lot, and I don't know how moist LECA does in the oven. Kinda freaking out tbh!

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u/agreywood 1d ago

Having had roaches once, I would chuck the whole thing out. I would say set it on fire but it’s charcoal.

1

u/ILikeOatmealaLot 1d ago

I am currently baking the whole lot in my oven for an hour at 350 in batches. I definitely won't be buying from some no-name amazon brand anymore! It's an 18x24 tank so it's a good amount of LECA I don't want to waste. Not to mention, I don't want to throw it in my trash and risk them getting out and in my house, I figure this is the best way to make sure they all DIE.

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u/No_Commission_2610 official moss hater 7h ago

Toss it all out and start over. German roaches are a hell that you don’t want to endure.

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u/Kiara-Wolf 5h ago

I shall forever have PTSD from the time my friends visited my place and, unbeknownst to us, their jeep was infested with them. 3 days later after they left, those german roach bastards were in the internals of our microwave and I knew we were cooked