Dubia Allergy?

[Potatatas]

I've been looking into starting a small dubia colony recently and just found out that you can develop allergies to them. Had a quick search around forums and google and it sounds to me it isn't very common as most people don't let their roaches run all over them (I'm sure there are a few that do though).

BUT my issue is that I was planning on keeping the colony in my T room /office/small spare bedroom I claimed when me and gf moved in together. It's not well ventilated and pretty small so worried that I would be much more at risk at developing an allergy as I spend a lot of my time there. I'm not prone to allergies though and get very mild hay fever at the most.

Has anyone here kept them in a similar situation to mine and not had any issues with them? Also, is it possible to develop allergies to B. lats as well?

 

[Ashlynn Rose]

My dubia colony is in my bedroom. As long as you keep it clean, you shouldn't have a problem with it. The thing you might want to think about (I didn't) is that they make lots of skittering noises, especially at night. Sometimes the darn things keep me up at night. Occasionally they stink a bit if they release a defensive odor or need to be cleaned out.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

The frass can trigger some people's asthma AFAIK, I think that goes for both red runners and dubia.

I've had my red runner colony for the best part of 2 years and not had an issue.

 

[antinous]

If you’re that worried and want to be on the safe side, I know people who wear a ‘surgical mask’ or put a bandana over their mouth and nose area when working with their colonies. Might be a bit extreme but if you’re paranoid it’ll soothe the mind a little.

 

[Potatatas]

The info I was reading had a big red warning about the allergies and wasn't sure if they were over stating it. Got a little paranoid after reading people started getting blisters where the roach had been on them... If that does start happening then I'll just have to switch back to crickets. Say what you want about how horrible crickets are but at least EVERY pet shop has them...

 

[starnaito]

If you're concerned about skin contact, you can always wear gloves. I don't have a colony, because I don't have enough Ts to keep the population in check, but I'd never go back to crickets after trying dubia. The smell of crickets, even when well cleaned, is just too much for me. Dubia have almost no smell, depending on what you're feeding them. Just don't let food start to rot in their container, or you can keep some cleaning beetles in with them.

You could try keeping a small batch of dubia and feeding them off. See if you have any issues before starting up a colony.

 

[Teal]

I have been feeding dubia for 10q years. For the past year, my dubia and most of my T collection were in a small walk-in closet. I handle my roaches, have asthma and dermal allergies... but I have never had a problem with any of my roach species.

 

[EulersK]

For the first couple years of my colonies, I kept them in a standard closet not even 3ft from my bed. As @Ashlynn Rose brought up, they are very much nocturnal and will skitter around at night. I solved that at the time by simply hanging a light in the closet and turning it on when I went to bed. Problem solved. All of my colonies are now housed in my master bathroom... which is attached to the master bedroom, and my bed is less than 3ft from it. In all, I've got 29 colonies. The noise these days is more like white noise. Kind of like a rain stick, it's oddly soothing I've had this setup for almost 4 years now.

Concerning allergies, I wouldn't worry too much. Even sleeping in such close proximity to them, I see no effects of any allergies. The only time I'm ever even mildly bothered is when I do my deep cleaning about once per year - but even then, it's nothing more than a runny nose and sore throat that is gone by the next morning. I'm not one that has severe allergies, but I do flare up every spring, so it's not like I don't have allergies at all.

What I will say is that I was absolutely allergic to them before I nailed down their ventilation. I used to simply drill holes in the tub lids, which led to a more humid environment. I was a sneezing mess around them during that time. Now I just cut out a huge rectangle and hot glue window screen for ventilation. Problem solved.

 

[Potatatas]

Thanks all for the info I think my question has been answered

Roach colony is my next project once I've finished sorting my snake. The real challenge is getting my gf to let me breed them... She hates woodlice and dubia just look like big woodlice.

I only have a small collection of Ts at the moment so plan selling some off. They aren't very common at all from my part of the world.

 

[EulersK]

I only have a small collection of Ts at the moment so plan selling some off. They aren't very common at all from my part of the world.

You should definitely be able to sell them off, that's why I have the colonies I do. I also sell the frass for $5/lb to gardeners as indoor fertilizer.

 

[cold blood]

If you have allergies or asthma, the frass will almost certainly effect you. Roach feces is an extreme allergen for those with allergies or decreased immune system....especially children and elderly.

It doesn't matter how clean you keep them....I clean my bin out often, yet every time I do any extensive feeding from the bin, I get an asthma attack. Bin closed I don't even notice it.

Roach feces are such a strong allergen that many people developed allergies to them with prolonged exposure.

 

[Olan]

I sneeze a few times every time I open a roach bin. Not too bad.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I only have a small collection of Ts at the moment so plan selling some off.

I usually sell off red runners through FB whenever their numbers start to get out of hand (which is pretty often)

 

[LilyT]

My boyfriend is allergic to them. He gets itchy, has trouble breathing, and has an overall terrible time after feeding them to our various Ts and my beardy. He does OK wearing a facemask and using tongs to pick them up though.

 

[Percy]

My asthma is very mild, but I keep a few roaches. The only reaction I had was when a roach that came out of an unclean colony (at a show, not mine) walked on my hand. I had hives where the roach walked. Other than that, I've had no other reactions to roaches. But I also keep only a few for pets, not a large colony.