Pseudomops septentrionalis

Housing:

Something like a gallon plastic container works well for a starter colony, and since this species isn't really affected by crowding much, they could stay in a container of that size for several years, though if you want a larger colony, you'll want to upgrade their enclosure size when they fill up their old one. Adults can climb and fly, so a tight fitting lid is recommended.

An inch or so of substrate should be provided, such as coconut fiber, potting soil, peat moss, etc., long-fibered sphagnum moss and wood chunks can mixed in to enrich the substrate and give them more places to lay oothecae. Hides such as leaf litter, bark slabs, paper towel rolls and eggcrates all work nicely for this species, the more surface area, the better.

This species enjoys high humidity and moderate ventilation. They aren't particularly sensitive to frass buildups, just mixing up the top layer of substrate every now and then, and maybe replacing it a bit is all that's needed to keep them happy.


Diet:

Dog/cat/chick feed, fruits and veggies work well for the staple diet of this species, they have a particular fondness for apple pieces.


Temperature:

This species will breed when kept at temps anywhere from 70-85F°, they aren't picky.


Breeding/Life cycle:

Adult females can live up to 8 months, whereas males usually only live for about 3-4. Females are prolific egg layers, they produce one thin, seed-like ootheca every week or so, which only take 2-3 months to hatch. Oothecae are normally glued to the underside of bark slabs or buried in substrate, and each ooth contains a dozen or so eggs. The resulting nymphs take 6-9 months to mature under optimal conditions, however the growth rates of this species are normally quite staggered, some nymphs from the same ootheca will take almost twice as long to mature as others, not sure why. For that reason, I'd recommend you starting out with no less than two dozen nymphs, or at least a couple mated adult females.

After a colony gets firmly established, they are pretty hard to kill off, and can be used as occasional feeders. They aren't that sensitive to crowding at all, and tend to just fill a container and maintain that colony size steadily. This makes them a pretty easy species to keep, and the adults are very pretty. Definitely one of the better beginner species out there, if you can start out with enough individuals to make up for their staggered growth rates that is!