# Dubia roach alive and missing half his body



## radicaldementia (Jul 14, 2008)

Well this is something else.  Last night I opened up  my dubia colony to feed them, and I see what I first thought was a dead roach, but he suddenly started walking around!


















You can see he's missing almost his entire abdomen, he just has a big hole and you can see his internal organs.  But he seems totally oblivious to this and otherwise acts like a normal roach.

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So I put him back in the colony and he scurried off.  But a few minutes later I saw that some of the other roaches were chasing him around trying to eat him!  So now I have him in a little deli cup with some carrot.  Honestly I don't think he'll live too long, but it's amazing he's lasted this long.


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## Rochelle (Jul 14, 2008)

This is completely macabre...but entirely fascinating! 
I recommend freezing or squashing him, as he cannot eliminate waste or have any reasonable expectation of survival. 
We have come across such things in our colonies and do not waste time removing them from the general population..... studying him to see how long he will last will be interesting, though! 
Is he eating and drinking?


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## bugmankeith (Jul 14, 2008)

Looks like it recently shed, and was eaten while still soft. Insects are really tough if you thinka bout it, if they are missing parts of there body that are not fatal, they can still live! Mabye it's true that they dont feel pain like other animals, that roach may not even know it's missing half it's body, yikes! Must have missed the brain and heart and that is why it's alive still.

I dont see how it would live either only because like stated about the waste issue. 

Still, it would be interesting just to see what happens if it's eating something as of now. Insects are full of surprises it seems!


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## Reanne (Jul 14, 2008)

Little mutant of many generations of inbreeding! Just kidding.

Is it dead yet? Or still kicking? If it's still alive it's on morphine I tell ya!


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## Moltar (Jul 15, 2008)

If they're eating each other like that you may want to take a look at what you're feeding them. Maybe they could use more protein. IME B dubia don't usually cannibalize (like evil crickets do).


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## Rochelle (Jul 15, 2008)

etown_411 said:


> If they're eating each other like that you may want to take a look at what you're feeding them. Maybe they could use more protein. IME B dubia don't usually cannibalize (like evil crickets do).


very good point, Ethan!


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## radicaldementia (Jul 15, 2008)

Ok, well first of all I put the little guy out of his misery, he was pretty much unresponsive this morning so I sent him to the freezer 

I think this is an isolated case, I feed my colonies lots of dry dog and cat food, fresh veggies (mostly carrots), and water crystals.  I looked right now and there's probably 6-8 freshly molted nymphs and none of the other roaches are bothering them.  My guess is this guy had a bad molt and was leaking tasty roach insides.


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## Miss Bianca (Jul 15, 2008)

*???????*

how's the little guy doin'? Amazing!


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## Miss Bianca (Jul 15, 2008)

OK, I'm late....... poor little guy..




tortuga00 said:


> how's the little guy doin'? Amazing!


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## arachnocat (Jul 15, 2008)

I accidently squished one of my dubias in the top of the critter keeper a few weeks ago. I just decapitated it pretty much and it had been a few days since I opened the cage but it was still alive. I felt soo bad. I'm way more careful now when I close the lid. I've read that roaches can live for a while without their head but I never meant to find out for myself :} 
Roaches are tough. I've never seen one live without it's back end before. That's interesting.


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## Moltar (Jul 15, 2008)

radicaldementia said:


> Ok, well first of all I put the little guy out of his misery, he was pretty much unresponsive this morning so I sent him to the freezer
> 
> I think this is an isolated case, I feed my colonies lots of dry dog and cat food, fresh veggies (mostly carrots), and water crystals.  I looked right now and there's probably 6-8 freshly molted nymphs and none of the other roaches are bothering them.  My guess is this guy had a bad molt and was leaking tasty roach insides.


You're feeding them almost the exact same thing I feed mine. I wonder if over time the carrots will make the P murinus a brighter orange?

One time I ran out of veggies for a few days so when I put some carrots in there they gorged on them. Then a day later I fed a big dubia to... I don't remember, a T. The next day there was a bolus in there that was basically a big lump of carrot with some bug parts stuck to it. :}


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## Rochelle (Jul 16, 2008)

radicaldementia said:


> Ok, well first of all I put the little guy out of his misery, he was pretty much unresponsive this morning so I sent him to the freezer
> 
> I think this is an isolated case, I feed my colonies lots of dry dog and cat food, fresh veggies (mostly carrots), and water crystals.  I looked right now and there's probably 6-8 freshly molted nymphs and none of the other roaches are bothering them.  My guess is this guy had a bad molt and was leaking tasty roach insides.


Don't forget to give fruit!  Citrus is a favorite of theirs, as well as apples, bananas, melons, squashes..etc......don't forget your dark green leafies, either!  
Giving only one kind of veggie is not good for your colony in the long term.
It's easy to get a colony to survive......but another thing all together to get one to thrive!


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## TalonArana (Sep 9, 2008)

Sort of disturbing-- But interesting. I had a near identical experience with a cricket... It was just the legs, and head, pretty much hollow, and was walking around *Shiver* it was really rather disturbing, really...
The roach is much more bearable to look at!


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