# My Dubia Roaches smell?



## Incubus (Oct 18, 2013)

Hey, I've always heard that Blaptica Dubia don't smell, but mine do. I feed them wheat bran and provide them with water crystals for moisture. Do you guys know what could be causing the smell? There aren't any dead roaches or rotting food in the enclosure, I think their poop is probably what smells bad. I don't understand why though? Please help. Thanks!


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## ShaunT (Oct 18, 2013)

Hi. 

How often do you clean out the enclosure? I have found that I need to replace the egg cartons once a month to keep my lateralis colony smell free. 

It could also be that your ventilation is insufficient. 

Hope that helps

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## Mike41793 (Oct 18, 2013)

What does it smell like? Mine have an earthy smell, sorta like dirt, and then you can smell the cardboard a little bit too. But its extremely mild and not what i'd consider a bad smell at all. Especially compared to crickets. I had my colony in my bedroom right next to my bed for months and never smelled it unless i took off the top and stuck my nose in there to smell lol.


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## Incubus (Oct 18, 2013)

I guess the best way to describe the smell would be like something fishy. It just smells bad. I keep it generally pretty clean. I don't leave that much frass inside. I'll attach a picture of the enclosure. I only have about 100 or so medium sized nymphs in here, so it is a smallish container at the time being.


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## Introvertebrate (Oct 18, 2013)

Are you feeding them cat food?  Sorry.  Just re-read your first post.


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## ShaunT (Oct 18, 2013)

Ok. So experiment a little. Replace the bran with a small amount of dog food (the dry type) and instead of water crystals give them fresh fruit or vegetables every second day for moisture. The fruit or vegetables should keep the humidity up. I keep my turks like this with no smell. Try it for a week and see, or smell what happens. 

Remember to wash the fruit or vegetables twice befor giving it to them. 

Good luck

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## Cowin8579 (Oct 18, 2013)

Certain cat foods will give you major ammonia!  I should post the exact brand in mind, but they don't love eating it either.


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## Galapoheros (Oct 19, 2013)

I know I'm repeating a few things here.  I don't use water crystals, I only offer some apple, orange and veggies, not all at the same time and only about twice a week, only enough that it's gone in a day.  I also don't use egg cartons for doobs, I use curled bark I save as I cut wood for the fireplace, They hide under and in that.  I start out a colony with a thin layer of coco fiber, about a quarter inch and add old brown oak leaves, they eat the leaves.  I have pillbugs in there also.  I never clean it and doesn't smell, everything turns to dirt.  I've gone years without cleaning out the container with no bad smells.  Dirt piles up, I've had to take some out.  About once a week I will spray a side, I see them drink the droplets up.  I have a deep tub so I don't have a top on it.  I feed cichlid pellets, kind of cheap, fishflakes and dry dog food.  I buy the veggie stuff at an 'organic' store.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Incubus (Oct 26, 2013)

So I switched out to Blue Buffalo brand Grain Free formula and I've been giving my dubias carrots, peppers, and cuties every two days, the smell is still there, if anything it smells a little more like ammonia. I don't know if it's my actual roaches that might be sick? It just smells funky and has a bit of the smell that burns your nose. Any ideas? Maybe the container is too small for them, but I heard that they don't breed unless they feel crowded.


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## Galapoheros (Oct 26, 2013)

That's probably a speculation that people started stating as a fact somewhere on the internet, that they need to feel crowded to breed.  It doesn't make much sense to me.  They do fine in nature and there is a lot of room there.  Somebody probably noticed a pick up in productivity after it got crowded simply because there are more having babies, but not because it's crowded.  imo it's prob those egg crates holding the waste like toilet paper and staying moist with high humidity.  I'd look for alternate hiding things, egg cartons and most cardboard products kind of smell anyway to me, especially when they start getting a little moist.  I had to move new boxes out of the house, burned other ones in the fireplace because they started smelling bad.


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## Bugmom (Oct 26, 2013)

My dubia have an ammonia smell as well. I don't use substrate, and they hide in cut up cardboard from boxes and the cardboard from toilet paper rolls. They smelled like that when I got them. They aren't overcrowded.  They all get different food types because they're a science experiment for my daughter, she's studying if different diets effect offspring count when all other factors are the same.  We've noticed no difference in smell with the different food types.  

It's still far preferable to crickets IMO.

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## Incubus (Oct 26, 2013)

I thought the whole selling point of dubias was that they did not smell? Not, smell a little less than crickets.


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## Galapoheros (Oct 26, 2013)

Mine don't smell, it's the way people keep them that causes a smell.  My doob container looks like a forest floor, half inch of coco fiber, leaves, bark and some isopods, no bad smell.

What you could do is go to an organic grocer and buy corn and use the husk for hides, or find something else there that might work, maybe breaking up a coconut somehow.  Probably a lot to think about when walking around a store like that.


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## Incubus (Oct 26, 2013)

I guess I'll try that out. I'm just curious how it is that some people just use egg cartons and a set up similar to mine, but have no smell. Do you just grab the pillbugs from outside? Or did you just order some to prevent pests?


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## Bugmom (Oct 27, 2013)

The first dubia colony I had didn't smell like anything.  I can't say why these do. 

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## Galapoheros (Oct 27, 2013)

I bought some of the small whites people call white dwarf isopods and also get them out of my yard.  imo we try to keep things too sanitary for some of this stuff, just IMO.  The roaches live in and around fungus, they eat it, yet we see a mushroom and freak out.  The only problem I've seen is these small moths that have gotten into my containers, just flew in from outside I think and the larvae eat what the roaches do, I was told what they are but I can't remember the name of them now.  They would bother other people but I'm living like a loner caveman so I don't have to worry about that atm.  I don't know why some people have it set up like you do but have no smell.  It could be that top, even though there is ventilation, it might not be enough.  I don't have a top on mine.  The males are too weak to fly over the edge over here.


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## ShredderEmp (Oct 27, 2013)

I have those same moths I think. They can hardly fly. I have more of a problem with what I believe to be fruit flies.


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