dubia questions

[fishwithoutabik]

Ok I have had my colony for about 3 mos. The roaches are now all adults, started with mostly nymphs and a few adults and babies.

I don't think they are reproducing very fast at all, I am keeping them @ 80 degrees, is this warm enough?

I put their food in little plastic lids but they pull it out and get it allover, i am concerned about cleanliness when i give them veggies and crackers (crumbs get everywhere) has anybody experienced a problem with this? Should I use dishes with deeper sides? I am worried about them not being able to get inside if i use a shallow bowl.

Do males live much shorter than females? I am noticing a few dead adults from time to time, maybe 4/month, but they are generally males. is this normal? is something wrong?

How frequently should i be picking out dead bugs/exuvia?

Thanks!
btw, i have done some searching, but still had questions

 

[radicaldementia]

It took my colony a little over 3 months to start producing babies, I started with medium-large nymphs. But once I saw a few babies, many many more soon followed.

What kind of crackers are you feeding them? Dubias need a lot of protein in their diet, and they won't be getting enough from most crackers or veggies. They need something like dry cat food. I've been feeding mine special roach diet that I got from blaberus.com, plus I throw in some baby carrots every few days. Don't worry about food getting everywhere, just make sure to remove any uneaten fruits or veggies before they mold.

I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure males don't live as long as females, I feed off excess males to my T's so its hard for me to judge personally. Don't worry about cleaning up dead roaches or other waste, they'll eat most of it.

 

[fishwithoutabik]

My family and I are vegetarians, so I feed them whatever we eat in addition to cat food. Basically in a week they will likely eat a variety of the following:
Fresh veggies (cabbage, squash, carrots, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes etc
Saltines, whole wheat bread, quinoa (good protein source), lentils, veggie burger type stuff, and cat food. This week I did give them some textured vegetable protien. basically a dried crumb like protien substance which is made from soy. They did eat some of it. Should I be doing more protien sources?

 

[Hedorah99]

How many did you start with and are you feeding them out at all now? Dubia are pretty slow growing/reproducing by roach standards. The colonies seem to hit a critical point when there are enough males and enough adult females that their numbers seem to just explode out of control. My colony is just starting to bounce back from over feeding and has at least tripled in the last two months.

 

[fishwithoutabik]

I started with 100, not counting several babies. I have been using them as feeders, but lightly, should I do crickets for another few monthes?

 

[Hedorah99]

I started with 100, not counting several babies. I have been using them as feeders, but lightly, should I do crickets for another few monthes?

Yea, until the second generation matures, I would feed out crickets.

 

[caspermilktoast]

I started my colony 6 weeks ago. i had 10 adults and 150 mixed sizes. i just cleaned their container and i have at least 400 plus a pleth of newborns.

i keep a basking spot of 95 degrees and an ambient of about 80 degrees. my relative humidity is 60 percent. I use the water gel crystals for water. as far as food goes im feeding them dry cat food mazori tortoise chow and fresh greens from time to time. i noticed that they eat the mazori first (its vegatable based) and pick at the cat food. they seem to know what they need to eat.

i use a small plant pot base for the food, they dont pull the food out and i made a little cardboard ramp to they can get in and out easy.


Im not saying im an expert but i was supprised at my success. ive only had 2 die on me (both male)

as for me i just bought another box of crickets...this way the dubia can go crazy breeding and maybe by next month i can start using them more

i hope this helps

CMT

 

[arrowhd]

I started with 100 B. dubia about 6 months ago. Just now starting to see a population boom. It will take awhile for your colony to get up and going full speed. Sounds like your doing everything right. If you want to speed them up cut back on feeding any of them off for now until they really start reproducing heavy.

 

[jukahman]

ive only got few dubia nymphs.and i was just wondering if this would be a great idea if i keep them and try to make them as my starter colony?:? :? :?

 

[Xaranx]

If you are willing to wait a long time, sure. Could take up to a year depending on how many mouhts you are feeding. I'd buy more (50-500) with some adults, will get you up and running in 3-4 months.

 

[siliconthoughts]

Add fruit and warm them up!

My family and I are vegetarians, so I feed them whatever we eat in addition to cat food. Basically in a week they will likely eat a variety of the following:
Fresh veggies (cabbage, squash, carrots, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes etc
Saltines, whole wheat bread, quinoa (good protein source), lentils, veggie burger type stuff, and cat food. This week I did give them some textured vegetable protien. basically a dried crumb like protien substance which is made from soy. They did eat some of it. Should I be doing more protien sources?

In my opinion, saltines and cabbage should probably not be fed to them due to their low nutritional value. Add a variety of fruit, they really like sweet fruit (apple/banana/grapes). If offered sugar and protein sources simultaneously, they will pick an optimal diet. If you give them an appropriately sized slice of apple they should consume the whole thing within a couple hours, so there is no mess. If you are seeing crumbs left you are feeding something they really don't like, or way too much. They don't eat the outer peel of banana, but will scrape out the inside quite efficiently, so I just remove the paper-thin peel the next day.

Roaches don't actually require much variety in their diet, but their gut contents will be better for what are you feeding them to if you offer a variety of foods.

I also think you are keeping them too cool, 80 is fine for the cool side, but having a 90+ degree side will let them get warmer if they are inclined. Mine move around from the hot area to the cooler areas.

Males are much shorter lived, but you should be seeing few fatalities. The numbers you're reporting seem a little on the high side to me for a small young colony. I feed off nearly all of my males so I don't get too many dead ones - it doesn't seem to slow the colony down much.

 

[fishwithoutabik]

Since all you guys have given me all this great advice, I have upped the protien and upped the heat. I had a small head pad which didnt do much, I have since moved them to the top shelf of my closet partially sitting on my wireless internet thingie which has the inside temp a bit above 85 F. I have been feeding crickets (blech!). I just checked on the Dubia last night and have witnessed an explosion of babies! Literally, more babies than I have seen them produce since I have had them. So, I will keep feeding crix for the time being til the babies grow up.

Thanks all for the input, I have seen a big diff in really a short time frame

 

[Kevmaster06]

Maybe keep them with higher humitiy if they are not breeding fast enough, but be carefuil with to much of because i was not and ended up with a bunch of maggots in there also.

 

[Xaranx]

I've had no problems keeping mine bone dry with only water crystals for moisture. Even in a kritter keeper they molt fine.

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I started out with 52 sub-adult to adult and a year later sold 1000 sub-adult to adult's back to my LPS and probably had another couple thousand nymphs. I used a heatlamp for the first 6 months, after that room temp in the low 70's, I also I keep mine bone dry with no substrate.

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I've had no problems keeping mine bone dry with only water crystals for moisture. Even in a kritter keeper they molt fine.

I agree I've had them burrow in my scorpion tank which is 100% sand. I put them in as nymphs and have removed them as sub adults.

 

[theloner]

My B. dubia colony

I started a B. Dubia colony with 100 roaches a few weeks ago and it seems to be doing pretty good so far. Here's my setup and I'd like opinions, good or bad. I put them in a Rubbermaid (not see thru) container about the size of a 20 gallon fish tank. I made a food dispenser like Jeremy's and bought Roach food to get them started right. Water crystals in a shallow water dish, peat moss on the bottom and multi-egg crates. For heat I cut a hole in the top the size of my spotlight fixture and put a ceramic heat unit in it. The hole is covered with metal screen. What I am concerned about is the lack of any light. Do they need a window for some light on one of the short ends of the container? I could cut a hole and silicon a piece of plexiglass over it.

 

[Xaranx]

They hate light, the darker the better. i find mine are more active, eat more, and breed fast/better in the darkness of my closet.

 

[theloner]

B. Dubia Colony question

They hate light, the darker the better. i find mine are more active, eat more, and breed fast/better in the darkness of my closet.

Just got your reply. Thanks for your input. I'll leave everything the way it is.

 

[Xaranx]

Something else, if you wanna save some money, the roach food you buy isn't really necessary, and can be subsituted easily by dog food. I like to add some oats or cereal, they like that too.