B Dubia Roaches Burying?

[Needles666]

Hi,

For over a year I've used Lobster Roaches, but I saw what people on here were saying about Dubias, so I ordered 100...

So I went to use a Dubia yesterday and it buried itself in seconds before the T could even spot it. :wall:

So I'm assuming a lot of them (if not all) are going to be burying themselves when I toss them in with my T's and Geckos, none of which dig...

So am I stuck or how do you guys/gals deal with the burying?

It doesn't do much good if they can't find their food/prey...

Thanks for your help!

 

[Talkenlate04]

There is an easy fix for that. Well two actually.

First one is offer more then one roach. They will burrow, but it seems to never fail that when it’s dark out they come out to walk around out of hunger or thirst and then die by the hands (legs rather) of the T.


And second which is the method that I think will work best for you is, take tweezers and lightly crush the Dubia's head. Their legs and such will still flail about like mad and then they can’t burrow. This will give your T plenty of time to find it and complete the kill.
I use Dubia myself and never had a problem. I did run into some picky eaters but over time they all switched over to roaches.

 

[Drachenjager]

or you could hand feed lol but like i said YOU could hand feed lol not me lol

 

[Needles666]

Thanks for the replies, I'll hand feed geckos, and boas, but not T's lol...

I figured eventually they'd come back out, but I do like to see them meet their demise.

Lobster roaches hardly stop roaming the cages, and are easily found and quickly killed

Edit: I've never had goodluck with getting the geckos or T's to eat prekilled, though I haven't exactly exhausted it either...

 

[Needles666]

Anymore opinions or fixes?

The 2 Dubia roaches I threw in a couple days ago now, are still alive and well buried in the substrate, I can see them and it's aggravating me :wall:

 

[dangerprone69]

In my experience the roach(es) get found eventually. All their subterranean burrowing generates a ton of vibrations, and I've witnessed several of my T's digging them up. This usually only happens when the roach is near the surface though.

Have you (or anyone else for that matter) tried using Turkistan roaches (Blatta lateralis)? I've never used them myself but from what I've read they're very similar to Lobster roaches with one important difference- they can't climb glass.

 

[GailC]

I try to drop the dubia on their back, it takes them a few secons to get upright and by then the T usually has it. Some of my slower feeding T's get fed from tongs or I'll use crickets with them.

I tried turkistan roaches, they are ungodly fast and produce a sticky latex substance that covers their read end. You can't wash the stuff off you hands and I figured it might gum up a smaller T.

 

[IdahoBiteyThing]

MM's

Someone on the board said that the mature male dubias are the least apt to burrow- can't confirm that, but the head squish works great, also if you shake them a couple times before you toss them in, they'll often play dead for a few minutes before they start moving around again.

 

[Stylopidae]

Have you (or anyone else for that matter) tried using Turkistan roaches (Blatta lateralis)? I've never used them myself but from what I've read they're very similar to Lobster roaches with one important difference- they can't climb glass.

This species has gone through yet another taxonomical revision and is now known as Shelfordella lateralis. This time, it seems official.

S. lateralis can't climb glass, but are the most prone to infestation out of all the feeders.

MM dubia are the least likely to burrow, and I generally only feed those (my dubia colony isn't nearly mature yet.).

Spiders seem to take their time when they aren't that hungry. I generally only feed fast burrowers when there's a spider who hasn't eaten for awhile. I also only feed them to the spiders I keep on bone dry substrate because they'll usually surface if you overflow the waterdish right before you go to bed.

I think dubias are over-hyped feeders. When they go up to the surface to look for food, that is when they'll be caught if the T is hungry. Other times, the dubias will co-habitate for months on end. Just use what you think is best. I've never had a tarantula refuse a lobster.

 

[Needles666]

I've never had a problem with lobsters either, but they are smaller than dubias.

It's a sling T so I only threw in some tiny baby-ish dubias.

My colony of 100 only has 2 MM and 2 MF as I just got them...