# Dubia roaches arent eating



## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

hey guys im new to the forums , so my concern is that my dubia just gave birth yesterday , and the babies arent eating i separated them from their parents and placed egg carton on their cage and placed some cabbage on their cage and i checked on them today only a few bite marks like 5 only but theres tons of babies , and they keep hiding under their egg cartons and i have 3 dubia adults and checked on them and still no bite  , im worried whats wrong with them the adults were eating last time , is this natural for roaches?


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## vukic (May 30, 2013)

Pass, don't think many people keep them on that small a scale... I've started "mini colonies" but thats still been with 10-20 adults... Babies might not eat for a while after hatching, and adults may fast for.a.bit after birth... What are the temps like??? My first colony I set up I took out 5-10 to start a second, and they didnt seem to eat much but they did breed, slowly. The first one with more in seemed to grow and breed faster..

Try feeding them oranges.. They never seem to pass those up.. 

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

vukic said:


> Pass, don't think many people keep them on that small a scale... I've started "mini colonies" but thats still been with 10-20 adults... Babies might not eat for a while after hatching, and adults may fast for.a.bit after birth... What are the temps like??? My first colony I set up I took out 5-10 to start a second, and they didnt seem to eat much but they did breed, slowly. The first one with more in seemed to grow and breed faster..
> 
> Try feeding them oranges.. They never seem to pass those up..
> 
> ...


Hi thanks for reply , the temp is 25 degree celsius , and i feed them cabbage , Do they also accept bananas? , oh and also thanks i didnt know that babies wont eat for a while after hatching , ok thank you very much  , is it also normal for the babies to hide in groups underneath the egg cartons?


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## Bongo Fury (May 30, 2013)

Young dubia feed primarily on the frass of the adults. They need the beneficial bacteria in the frass for proper digestion. Leave the nymphs with the adults, at least for a few instars.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

Lurker597 said:


> Young dubia feed primarily on the frass of the adults. They need the beneficial bacteria in the frass for proper digestion. Leave the nymphs with the adults, at least for a few instars.


So how long should i leave the babies with the adults? wont the adults eat the babies?


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## Bongo Fury (May 30, 2013)

Nope, they won't. Why separate at all?


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

Lurker597 said:


> Nope, they won't. Why separate at all?


Scared it might get eaten by the adult , they eat the poop of their parents??  so which one should i place with them male and female or female only?


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## Bongo Fury (May 30, 2013)

I keep them all together, regardless of age or gender. Never had any issues.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

Lurker597 said:


> I keep them all together, regardless of age or gender. Never had any issues.


Am i doing anything wrong here on my setup? egg carton should be placed like a stand or the position we place the egg carton on a table? , i used position on a table is this also ok?


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## Bongo Fury (May 30, 2013)

jeromeetabuzo said:


> Am i doing anything wrong here on my setup? egg carton should be placed like a stand or the position we place the egg carton on a table? , i used position on a table is this also ok?


What I think you're asking is should the egg flats be vertical or horizontal? A vertical arrangement will create more surface area but I don't think it really matters.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

Lurker597 said:


> What I think you're asking is should the egg flats be vertical or horizontal? A vertical arrangement will create more surface area but I don't think it really matters.


ok thanks do the baby roaches also eat the food like the adults ? or they only eat the poop when their young?


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## Bongo Fury (May 30, 2013)

jeromeetabuzo said:


> ok thanks do the baby roaches also eat the food like the adults ? or they only eat the poop when their young?


Yes, the nymphs eat food as well.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

Lurker597 said:


> Yes, the nymphs eat food as well.


then why arent my nymphs eating them (


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## Bongo Fury (May 30, 2013)

jeromeetabuzo said:


> then why arent my nymphs eating them (


Small numbers of roaches eat a small amount of food, are you only feeding cabbage? They need some protein.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

Lurker597 said:


> Small numbers of roaches eat a small amount of food, are you only feeding cabbage? They need some protein.


Cabbage and Lettuce and ill place the adults for the poop , what can i give for protein?


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## Bongo Fury (May 30, 2013)

jeromeetabuzo said:


> Cabbage and Lettuce and ill place the adults for the poop , what can i give for protein?


Lettuce is ok for providing moisture but it has no nutritional value. For fruits and vegetables try apples, melon, carrots, squash, and oranges. You should also provide a dry food. Some people feed dog or cat food, fish flakes, or chicken starter feed. I make my own dry mix in the blender, it consists of: Ground flax seed, rolled oats, wheat bran, nutritional yeast and dried coconut flakes.

Do a search for dubia caresheets and roach chow.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

Lurker597 said:


> Lettuce is ok for providing moisture but it has no nutritional value. For fruits and vegetables try apples, melon, carrots, squash, and oranges. You should also provide a dry food. Some people feed dog or cat food, fish flakes, or chicken starter feed. I make my own dry mix in the blender, it consists of: Ground flax seed, rolled oats, wheat bran, nutritional yeast and dried coconut flakes.
> 
> Do a search for dubia caresheets and roach chow.


Hi thanks for the tip i mixed the adults with them and now the adult are like squishing them , theyre too big lol , Will the nymphs get crushed? i added a 2nd layer of egg carton to scatter them. Should the fish flakes be dry?


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## Bongo Fury (May 30, 2013)

jeromeetabuzo said:


> Hi thanks for the tip i mixed the adults with them and now the adult are like squishing them , theyre too big lol , Will the nymphs get crushed? i added a 2nd layer of egg carton to scatter them. Should the fish flakes be dry?


The adults will not kill the young. Damp fish food will smell and attract pests.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

Lurker597 said:


> The adults will not kill the young. Damp fish food will smell and attract pests.


Hi i checked on them today its 10:00 pm and i have seen one trying to nibble on a small cabbage and the big ones are sleeping , U sure they eat the poop of the adults? seems gross lol


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## bugmankeith (May 30, 2013)

Dubia favorite foods are oranges, bananas, apples, romaine lettuce, white bread, cat or dog kibble ground up, and decaying leaves (mine eat Oak) and decaying wood. Keep them with the adults.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 30, 2013)

bugmankeith said:


> Dubia favorite foods are oranges, bananas, apples, romaine lettuce, white bread, cat or dog kibble ground up, and decaying leaves (mine eat Oak) and decaying wood. Keep them with the adults.


So i gave them bananas ( sliced and mashed a little) and they dont seem to swarm it , how long should i leave the banana in their bin , and also how long will they eat it up?


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## bugmankeith (May 31, 2013)

jeromeetabuzo said:


> So i gave them bananas ( sliced and mashed a little) and they dont seem to swarm it , how long should i leave the banana in their bin , and also how long will they eat it up?


Bananas rot easily so remove the next day. Oranges and apples you can keep in for 2 days.  Usually the food is never finished considering eventually it dries out or they reach the hard outer skin and stop eating because its too hard to chew.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 31, 2013)

bugmankeith said:


> Bananas rot easily so remove the next day. Oranges and apples you can keep in for 2 days.  Usually the food is never finished considering eventually it dries out or they reach the hard outer skin and stop eating because its too hard to chew.


Hi what i did is  i added another egg crate and they are scattered now , i dont even know if some are missing , but i did is i crushed up bananas and cut it into pieces ( sticky!!!) and i stick it on their egg carton and they began to go there and eat , is this a fine way to feed them? and also how will i feed orange do i just leave it under their egg crates or in the open area? i have 2 horizontal egg crate and a big vertical one infront , they seem to lessen in population , but i think its just scattered thats why it seems few right?


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## bugmankeith (May 31, 2013)

What you did with the bananas is fine. Leave the oranges on the ground (pulp side up) right next to the egg crates, put a few in every corner of your tank so everyone can get some. You should see them go to them within minutes.


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## JeromeTabuzo (May 31, 2013)

bugmankeith said:


> What you did with the bananas is fine. Leave the oranges on the ground (pulp side up) right next to the egg crates, put a few in every corner of your tank so everyone can get some. You should see them go to them within minutes.


but they didnt swarm the bananas the small one just nipped on it and ran away , yea and we will buy some oranges tomorrow , what do you mean by pulp size? small cuts?


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## vukic (Jun 5, 2013)

Pulp side, the fleshy bit that you eat... The roaches will be more active in the dark... I have mine set up with vertical egg crates in black tubs... They're fed oranges, Apples and occasionally potatoes.. Along side my home brew roach chow and some pig nuts when I don't have time to prepare their usual cuisine... 

I.have the egg flats vertical so the frass falls down to the floor keeping things tidier.. And I also have cut strips of egg grate, and put the food on these... This does three jobs..
Somewhere to put the food,
Helps reduce light in the egg flats
And if there's any mold on the egg grates from the food you only have to remove the bit of egg grate that it's on... Simples.. ;-)

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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