a few B. Dubia questions

[ornamentalist]

so i bought a few hundred b. Dubia from hamburg expo in december. They seem to be healthy, i feed them a range of fruit and veg, cat biccies and the likes. They have a little bit of gravel type substrate that they came with and lots of egg crates. They are cleaned out, egg crates replaced 4 weekly. I have only had a handful of deaths, old age i reckon. The females are seen laying their cases often, now in fact i see 3 turtle heading lol. The thing im concerned about is i have never seen 1 hatch. I was so concerned that there was something abnormal that, i waited for 1 to drop, then very carefully collected it and contained it so it wasnt devoured, was this wrong? It never hatched so i put it in with them again and it hasnt been seen since, whatever happened, either hatched or dispatched i dont know. I do often see very small ones but i dont know if they are the same ones that were in when i bought them about 5 weeks ago, how long are they really small for? Also i noticed when i was cleaning, tiny translucent worm type things?? I got rid of all the contents and replaced it. What were they? I just want our colony to grow and grow as we spend around 30 pound a week on crickets (we have a lot of creatures lol) They have a heat mat and i dont use a lid, i reckon its humid enough but if im wrong tell me off lol. Thanks for reading

 

[inGOODspirits]

They give live birth and don't hatch eggs. What you may be seeing is the females aborting there young. That means that they are stressed out. Replace the egg crates only once a year and clean the tank at the same time. Make sure you put some of the dubia waste/pooh back in when you clean as the little ones need this to eat. You may want to remove the dead ones every so often. I keep mine dry like 30% RH because that is what my house is. Worms would mean that it is to humid. If you have a heat mat than all you need to do is feed them and leave them ALONE in a dark place and let the humidity come down to ambient. With fruit you don't need water but the dry food would require water crystals. The food choice itself sounds good.

---------- Post added at 04:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:36 PM ----------

the "gravel" is the "pooh"

---------- Post added at 04:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 PM ----------

' i have never seen 1 hatch.'

they don't.... but I never seen mine give live birth so don't wait for it either

---------- Post added at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------

'either hatched or dispatched i dont know.'

They will eat the aborted babies... have seen this myself

 

[ornamentalist]

thanks for the advice! They dont like light then? Dark 24 hours a day in a cupboard type of job? Thats no problem if thats what it takes. I have seen clusters of possibly newborns but never tiny white ones. I have heard they drop an egg pod with approximately 30 eggs linked together in rows of 2, that drop,then hatch instantly or thereabouts, however they sometimes hatch as they are exiting the back end of the dubia, which gives the appearance of 'live birth', but thats just what i have read/heard, not witnessed. I will try to minimise stress and not annoy them. Thanks again

 

[Thegloryfades]

I would use a tote a opposed to a cupboard.

 

[ornamentalist]

whats a tote? I think thats some type of bag isnt it?

 

[Thegloryfades]

Like a rubbermaid tub type container

 

[inGOODspirits]

I would use a tote a opposed to a cupboard.

I think the cupboard would be fine if you put them in a container first.

 

[inGOODspirits]

"they drop an egg pod with approximately 30 eggs linked together in rows of 2, that drop,then hatch instantly or thereabouts, however they sometimes hatch as they are exiting the back end of the dubia, which gives the appearance of 'live birth',"

This may be true, I don't know but would make sense. I keep mine in a glass tank with a wooden box built around it. The box prevents my wife from seeing when she goes into the basement.

 

[Vfox]

Mine are mixed in with several other species of roach and I feed and mist them and remove dead bodies or old food once a week. I bother them quite regularly and have them in a clear glass fish tank with a red heat bulb. They and all my inverts are exposed to normal day and night cycles. They breed very well and molt fast. I treat all 14 species of roach the same way and have basically had success with all of them. I really think mild stress helps animals, and people really, so I don't keep them shunned in the dark or anything like that. All my tanks are in my livingroom and I spend lots of time each day just observing them through their clear containers without any detriment to their well-being.

 

[H. laoticus]

Mine are mixed in with several other species of roach and I feed and mist them and remove dead bodies or old food once a week. I bother them quite regularly and have them in a clear glass fish tank with a red heat bulb. They and all my inverts are exposed to normal day and night cycles. They breed very well and molt fast. I treat all 14 species of roach the same way and have basically had success with all of them. I really think mild stress helps animals, and people really, so I don't keep them shunned in the dark or anything like that. All my tanks are in my livingroom and I spend lots of time each day just observing them through their clear containers without any detriment to their well-being.

Interesting, I might try that because I'd rather not take up space with multiple roach bins. Have you mixed B. dubia and B. lateralis, by any chance? And how many are in that mixed container? Thanks.

 

[codykrr]

I need to say. I dont fully believe the young need poop to survive. I watch my nymphs eating dried ground dog food all the time.

this is how I keep my Dubia.(note the blue stuff is water crystal with food coloring added- they seem to eat it better when dyed, at least mine do)

I like to put cardboard flats inbetween each eggcrate. more climbing area.

Also for food, mine do VERY well on ground up old roy dog food. I use water crystals(from www.watergelcrystals.com ) for hydration.

I like to keep my dubia clean. I literally vacuum out the crap. I dont replace the egg crates untill they start eating through them(about once a year)

I keep them at room temp and leave them alone. (other than for feeding).

I dont mist, dont use substrate(its just a mess)

here is a link explaining how *I* clean my dubia bin.

This has proven a great success for me. so much so That I am regularly selling off tons of roaches.

click here for my detailed cleaning instructions

 

[Jam Reptiles]

Well sometimes you will see a little egg sack hanging from there but that's called a othica and that has eggs in it shortly it well go back inside the dubia.

Okay I have a clear bin in a stack of roach bins in the light and they do fine.

 

[Vfox]

Interesting, I might try that because I'd rather not take up space with multiple roach bins. Have you mixed B. dubia and B. lateralis, by any chance? And how many are in that mixed container? Thanks.

I have five species in this tank. Blaberus craniifer, Blaberus discoidalis, Byrsotria rothi, Archimandrita tesselata, and the Blaptica dubia. It's a 20 gallon tank with the dubia and discoids being the highest populations.

I've never mixed dubia and lats but I don't see why it would be a major issue. Even if the dubia eat the ootheca of the lateralis they are so prolific I don't think they could eat them all, if they would even try in the first place that is.

 

[Tremors]

First off, CODYKRR, do you have a barrier between the water crystals and the egg flats or are you letting them touch?

How do any of you keep the temps up on these roaches? They need to be in darkness and I don't know of anyone who keep their homes at 85-90 F with high humidity.

I recently bought some of these and I'm hooked on them as far as my large scorpions and bearded dragon.

 

[Vfox]

First off, CODYKRR, do you have a barrier between the water crystals and the egg flats or are you letting them touch?

How do any of you keep the temps up on these roaches? They need to be in darkness and I don't know of anyone who keep their homes at 85-90 F with high humidity.

I recently bought some of these and I'm hooked on them as far as my large scorpions and bearded dragon.

I heat mine with a 100watt red bulb which keeps the tank around 80 F or so. I don't need millions of babies so I just keep them like that. My ambient house temp is 62 F and like 20-30% humidity. I mist the tanks once to twice a week and keep the substrate moist. I use substrate in all my tanks, it keeps the humidity up and the smell down. Not to mention it gives them somewhere to burrow, which is a natural behavior of them.

 

[inGOODspirits]

mine will borrow when theres light in the tank. They scatter and hide. They are interesting to watch. almost too disgusting to turn away.


I would think that if you cleaned the tank every day and changed the egg cartons and left them in the light it would stress them out and stop breeding. Mine aborted their young until they were left alone like they are now. I have a second colony started in a clear tank and the amount of light is not affecting them as much as the lower temp. I keep those ones at.

 

[ornamentalist]

iv put them in the closet now, left the door just slighty ajar. Got the heat mat in there too, it is a good 85+ in our room all year round as we have an economy 7 heater, it must be high 80s to 90+ in the cupboard. We NEED lots and lots of them to keep up with the dragons, geckos, scorpion and lots of t's, oh and a fat pacman frog. We still use crickets to let the dubias multiply but if we run out for some reason, a few adult males are swiftly made dinner of, only single figures mind. Its absurd spending nearly a days wages per week on crix! Really need them to breed fast. I also mist daily, some would disagree, saying it will lead to moulding of the egg crates, but by the time i go to bed the heat mat has sent it skyward, and the egg crates are like ghandi's flip flops. I use oranges a lot, quartered, they soon scran them, even the tiny ones have a pop at them. They get a different fruit weekly to try, they go ape for pomegramete if thats how its spelled, and halved grapes, apricot, melon and plums.

 

[codykrr]

First off, CODYKRR, do you have a barrier between the water crystals and the egg flats or are you letting them touch?

How do any of you keep the temps up on these roaches? They need to be in darkness and I don't know of anyone who keep their homes at 85-90 F with high humidity.

I recently bought some of these and I'm hooked on them as far as my large scorpions and bearded dragon.

ok.

no there is no barrier between the egg flat and water crystals. I drain 90% of the excess water from my crystals. even if the egg flat do get moist they dry quickly, the roaches eat the crystals within a days time. no problems yet(been almost 6 years now)

for you next question.

I have a room dedicated to my tarantulas. which is kept at 78F year round via heater.

for the last comment.

No they dont need to be kept in "darkness" Mine experience day and night...as they are in a clear rubbermaid container. Also B. dubia do not need to be kept humid. that it the main cause of phorid flies, fungus gnats, mold and mites.

I let them stay at room humidity , which in the summer is around 60% and in the winter can drop to 20%. they are also kept at room temp.

B. dubia are easy to care for.

a tip I will give you though. feed mostly males. as females are your producers, and males will fight. there is no need to have a large number of males. I actually like to keep a ratio of 25 males to 100 females. or 1/4.

this is important if you feed beardies and other lizards.

 

[MOBugGuy]

Thanks for postin these pics. The thin cardboard between the egg crates seem like a really good Idea. Mine are allways moven I got so much.

I need to say. I dont fully believe the young need poop to survive. I watch my nymphs eating dried ground dog food all the time.

this is how I keep my Dubia.(note the blue stuff is water crystal with food coloring added- they seem to eat it better when dyed, at least mine do)

I like to put cardboard flats inbetween each eggcrate. more climbing area.

Also for food, mine do VERY well on ground up old roy dog food. I use water crystals(from www.watergelcrystals.com ) for hydration.

I like to keep my dubia clean. I literally vacuum out the crap. I dont replace the egg crates untill they start eating through them(about once a year)

I keep them at room temp and leave them alone. (other than for feeding).

I dont mist, dont use substrate(its just a mess)

here is a link explaining how *I* clean my dubia bin.

This has proven a great success for me. so much so That I am regularly selling off tons of roaches.

click here for my detailed cleaning instructions