B. Dubia dying

[robertcarst]

What am I doing wrong? I keep them in a 15X20 cm container. They have paper egg crates , I feed them vegetables once every 2 days and still I find one dead every day. What can I do?

 

[gvfarns]

What veggies have you been feeding? For feed, I'd keep a protien rich one (like catfood or dogfood) and a starchy one (like oatmeal) always available. They love veggies but I'm not sure they are meant to live on veggies alone.

Also, if their food is not sufficiently moist (which I can easily imagine) they might be dehydrating. Try putting some water crystals in for a while and see if it helps.

Also, how big is the colony? If it's really big, a death now and then may be just normal statistics.

 

[robertcarst]

That scares me, the colony was 80 adults and I'm now down to 16, any to my T's. They were offered potatoes, carrot, some apple and capsicum. I also believe that dehydration, the problem is I can't really find water crystals, gel anywhere, I'm now considering putting a really shallow dish in there with some water, and of course buying some more adults.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Chaika]

I've got a coffee jar lid full of gravel that I top up with water regularly, that way they have access to water but can't drown, and I notice that they do climb in for a drink now and then. Mine are still very small though (5-16mm) but I've had them for over a month and not a single death so far, but it could be different with adults!

The bedding is coarse crushed oats and cat food and I have a separate dish for fruit and veggies BTW.

 

[robertcarst]

that is what I'm going to do, thanks a lot for the tip.:worship:

 

[Moltar]

I offer apples as a source for H2O, no gel needed. Are all the ones dying adult males or even adults or are you losing nymphs too?

Also just out of curiosity... capsicum? As in the pepper.. hot peppers? I'd recommend against that, at least pull it out of the diet and see if it makes a difference. Nightshades like peppers are toxic to some animals. In fact most nightshades are toxic to humans, only a few like tomatos, eggplants and peppers are edible.

 

[barabootom]

I don't offer mine a water source other than bananas and oranges, but I always make sure they have one or the other so they are never without moisture. I feed them cheap dry catfood and once in a while some lettuce or an avocado. Mine are producing like crazy. I have them on egg crates with ample ventilation. I always put the water sources and food on paper plates so I can easily remove anything that gets messy. The dubias don't have any problems climbing on the paper plates. Are temps too high? Maybe you have mites? Some will naturally die from old age. How old are your adult females?

 

[robertcarst]

I just bought 80 adults, so I don't know how old they are, did consider old age but still 16 are left. There weren't any differences between genus in the dead ones. Capsicum as in pepper, but I started offering that after they started dying, I also thought it may be because they were shipped to me from Hungary, thus a 2-3 day road. Meanwhile i put a water dish full of pebbles in there hope it'll make a difference.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[skips]

http://watergelcrystals.com/

here's a cheap source of water crystals. A 1 lb bag will last you till the end of time. Easy to make as well.

You definitely should introduce some protein into the diet (dry cat or dog food). I feed corn meal and crushes cat food. As far as I know every breeding insect should have a protein rich diet and I think deficiency is often the cause of lack of breeding. That long road trip would probably put some stress on the animals. A lot of people keep dubia dry though so I dont know how much humidity directly contributed to the deaths, though they may not be able to molt? Heck, it's probably a little bit of everything that did them in.

 

[Moltar]

Hey skips, which crystals do you get from there, medium or large size?

 

[robertcarst]

http://watergelcrystals.com/

here's a cheap source of water crystals. A 1 lb bag will last you till the end of time. Easy to make as well.

You definitely should introduce some protein into the diet (dry cat or dog food). I feed corn meal and crushes cat food. As far as I know every breeding insect should have a protein rich diet and I think deficiency is often the cause of lack of breeding. That long road trip would probably put some stress on the animals. A lot of people keep dubia dry though so I dont know how much humidity directly contributed to the deaths, though they may not be able to molt? Heck, it's probably a little bit of everything that did them in.

Thanks for the link, but I don't think they would ship to Romania, also maybe i couldn't understand what you are saying, can i make my own water crystals? Could you please tell me how? I really think this bunch of roaches went to waste, but it'll be great to know for the future bunches.

And again thank you all for your advices.

 

[skips]

Hey skips, which crystals do you get from there, medium or large size?

Large, always. They're sold both for animal consumption and gardening purposes so small I think is really small. The idea was passed down to me from jmiller (credit where credit is due) to drill a few holes (3/4 inch) in the bottom side of a plastic container. Just put the crystals in and you wont have to worry about water for a few weeks. They'll dispense as needed.

 

[skips]

Thanks for the link, but I don't think they would ship to Romania, also maybe i couldn't understand what you are saying, can i make my own water crystals? Could you please tell me how? I really think this bunch of roaches went to waste, but it'll be great to know for the future bunches.

And again thank you all for your advices.

Oh, my bad. I forget sometimes that this a multinational board. You cant make this type yourself, or at least you dont want to. its made out of polyacrylamide which is sold on that website as a dried out polymer. If you can get it in the polymer form its fine. If you get it in it's powder/monomer form its a potent neurotoxin.

You can however go with agar (or "agar agar" as it's sometimes called). This is completely non toxic and easy to make. You can often find it at a health food store or health food isle of a regular store. This is a link to a discussion I had about different ways to make crystals with a guy much smarter than me on another forum. it's a good forum to join if you're keeping roaches as well.

http://www.roachforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1955&hl=

 

[skips]

Oh, and if you go to the site I posted (of which there are many--do some searching by keyword) dont go for the snow polymer. It's not the same. Its a monosodium salt I think. Anyway, make the stuff alot smaller and not ideal for feading.

 

[robertcarst]

I will check the site out, meanwhile I got another idea, I saw a guy kept dampened wool in with his roaches. A good alternative?

 

[skips]

I will check the site out, meanwhile I got another idea, I saw a guy kept dampened wool in with his roaches. A good alternative?

Oh yeah, that's an even cheaper option. If just dont like changing out the wool/cotton balls etc. I use an infra red bulb which tends to dry that stuff out fast. Otherwise anythign that provides water AND a way for the small ones to climb out and not drown is fine. Do it however you find easiest.

 

[robertcarst]

this thread has been a huge help, and i registered for that forum as well (thanks skips). Thanks to all of you who posted.

 

[Pacmaster]

can i make my own water crystals? Could you please tell me how?

Look for "polymer crystals", thats what they are called.

Can be found in the agricultural-world, as they are used as an additive to high-priced bagged dirt, they are used for water holding abilities.

They are all the same, and are all safe for your roaches, unless of course it says they have stuff added to them . . .

That being said, give your dubias oranges or tangerines, you will notice a difference.

 

[skips]

That being said, give your dubias oranges or tangerines, you will notice a difference.

ah. I forgot that. Listen to that advice. They start to breed like crazy once you start with the non-sour citris.

 

[robertcarst]

I will keep that in mind. Thanks a lot again.:worship: