# B. dubia roaches???????



## Newyork (Aug 6, 2008)

I just got my tarantula. She's a 2.5-3 inch Chaco and I love her already. The person I bought her from (Dave Grimm for any of you who want to know) sent me like 30 B. dubia roaches of various sizes with her (in a different container of course)

I'm going to wait a few days before feeding my tarantula and even than obviously she won't be eating 30 of them right off. How do I keep them alive? I have absolutly no experiance with any kind of roach. Right now I put them in the smallest KK that I own in the substrate they came with. 

My Questions:

Do they need water?

What do they eat?

When I feed my tarantula should I give her the bigger roaches or the smaller ones and how many?

Do the roaches like it in the dark?

How much substrate do they need and what kind?

Is there any special thing that I should do to switch the tarantula from eating roaches to crickets if I do that later?


Sorry about all the questions, but like I said I didn't expect roaches to come with the tarantula. It's a wonderful suprise because now I don't have to rush to the store for crickets. I just need to know how to keep them alive so my tarantula can eat them.


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## gvfarns (Aug 6, 2008)

They do need water.  The most common solution is water absorbing gel, which they eat.  Some people feel that they can get enough water from eating fresh fruit also.  Others work out a system for wicking water into some kind of rope.  Open water dishes are not recommended as they drown easily.

They eat dogfood, catfood, fishfood, leafy greens, fruit, and whatever else you wanna throw in there.

Smaller roaches tend to dig or freeze when they are scared more than larger roaches, which you will see is very annoying because it means you don't get to see the T eat, at least not right away.  Larger roaches move more, but they are...well...large.  Your T is only 3 inches, so maybe something no bigger than its abdomen might work.  Just one roach at a time is good since dubia are large and meaty. But you can throw a couple in there if you want.  They aren't dangerous.

Roaches definitely like it dark.

No substrate necessary.  Just put some egg crates or other paper substance for them to hang out on.  Their frass (poo) and shed skins will be easier to remove if you don't have any substrate.

No special procedure when switching to crickets; you will find that tarantulas are quicker to eat crickets than roaches.  Roaches are better in many ways, but as least as far as acceptance, dubias are less good than crickets.  If she doesn't want to eat them, she won't.  Then she'll get hungry.  And then she'll eat.  

Another tip: dubia like it warm.

Toss the roaches in a critter keeper or a plastic bin with smooth sides.  Or if you don't want a colony, put them in a ziplock bag and throw them in the freezer.


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## gvfarns (Aug 6, 2008)

BTW if your T doesn't eat for a few weeks (or more) don't be surprised or worried.  It doesn't mean anything's wrong and it doesn't necessarily mean your T doesn't like dubias.


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## Newyork (Aug 6, 2008)

*Water?*

Could I just use a milk cap with a wet cotton ball or is that bad for roaches as well as tarantulas? If not I can just drive to a pet store to get some of the gel stuff. Fruit for now I suppose.


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## K1j1m (Aug 6, 2008)

These are probley the easiest things in the world to take care of.  Just put em in  a large container.  throw some water crystals in.  Add some premium cat food to a dish and give em a fruit once and a while.  ive had mine for almost a year and have yet to have a death.

They also like it very dark.  I would recommend getting a colored container so its dark all the time.  you will notice if they are in a see through bin that they will run like hell when the lights come on.


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## tabor (Aug 6, 2008)

Made a video on this yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSv5-P5tUBY


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## cjm1991 (Aug 8, 2008)

tabor said:


> Made a video on this yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSv5-P5tUBY


Nice video I learned a few things watching that I didnt know. Im new to the roach scene


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## gvfarns (Aug 8, 2008)

Newyork said:


> Could I just use a milk cap with a wet cotton ball or is that bad for roaches as well as tarantulas? If not I can just drive to a pet store to get some of the gel stuff. Fruit for now I suppose.


The cotton ball should be fine in the short run.  The downside of that kind of thing is that it gets nasty and moldy pretty easily.  Before I got water crystals I used to fold up paper towels and put them in my water dish.  They did just fine with that, but you have to replace the paper towels as well as they get wet.  You can try it out yourself and see how long it lasts.  Once you get the water crystals they are pretty easy and they stay pretty nice as long as food doesn't get in there.

These are Blatta lateralis but the same type of setup would work for dubia.







Actually I later went back and removed more plastic from the lid because this provided inadequate ventilation.

By the way you can't see it but I glued aluminum foil all around the outside of the container to cut down on the light.


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