B dubia...why are the males dying?

[Gesticulator]

This is my first attempt to start a colony of Blaptica dubia roaches. Bought about 2 dozen a month ago. They seem to be thriving, but the males keep dying off. I now only have 3 males to 20 females. Do they die after they mate??? :?

 

[stevenhman]

I used to keep B. dubia a couple years ago. I don't remember having any problem with my males dieing. What substrate are they on? What to you have in the tank? Hopefully you've got some nymphs running around in there already! I might try and catch some and move them to a new container with all new equiptment. Maybe your roaches turned into Amazon Warriors?

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Actually it is not bad to have a higher female to male ratio, I always feed excess males to my Ts and scorps.
THree males seems a little critical, though! Do you have a lot of big (subadult) juveniles that could become males in the next future?
I think there is a way to sex juvenile roaches, but i'm not sure how it works.
But i think juvenile male dubias are more slender compared to juvenile females.

I'd suggest to buy some more roaches, to be on the safe side anyway.

greets
Bernhard

 

[Beth-Tex]

Were the dubias adults already when you got them? If so, it could be that the males have reached their end of life cycle. The males do not live as long as the females. I am assuming that you have them all together in one enclosure & since you say that they seem to be thriving, then the only other explanation I can come up with at this time is that the males are dying of old age. (as stated above) Sorry.

Beth

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Shorter livespan is one thing, another I've heard as a rumor is that the males fight. I've never seen it and can't imagine how they do it so it may just as well not be true.

I had a male death wave too right when I started out but Ive done well with 3 adult males for the following 6 months. Now I've lots of matures again and some die off every now and then.

Can it be a diet thing? I had a general death wave while I was feeding them cat food, before I switched to dog food.

 

[Gesticulator]

Hmmmm. I really don't know much abt the roaches. I have them in a large palstic tub, eggcrates, no substrate( is that a mistake??), and I feeding them smashed up dog kibble and water crystals. I use a "night glo"(purple) bulb at night. I did buy adults and larger nymphs. Should I order more adult males???

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Hm... all is right (I keep mine the same way) but you should also feed them vegies and fruit! Mine could kill for cucumber, orange, completley rediculously overripe kiwi, apple and so on and so on. If you feed them these things you can completely skip water crystals! Just keep feeding them fruit with dogfood as a complement and they will give you more offspring than you can handle (talking from personal experience)

Good luck!

 

[Gesticulator]

The fruit gets rotten pretty quick, that's why I switched to the water crystals (cricket gutload...blue). I had little maggots (fruit fly larva??) growing in no time, so I chucked the fruit. I e-mailed the dealer and he said that if the nymphs don't end up male, then I should get a few more males. BTW...two questions
Do the males dye after they mate?
Should I add peat to the bottom of the container? ( I read conflicting views)

 

[Beth-Tex]

Speaking for dubias only (as that is what I keep)......no substrate is needed for dubias......I keep mine in a 73 quart / 69.1 leter plastic tub with egg crates & paper towel rolls & provide them with ground up dog food & water crystals as a staple......couple times a week I give them either apples or carrots or lettuce or other veggies..... it always gets eaten & if not, I remove the stuff in 2 days time.....I never leave the fruit or veggies in the bin longer than that........have never had a problem.

My original 200 that I received last December had only a couple of adults mixed with large to small nymphs & they had multiplied to wayyyyyyy over a thousand or so.....I have already sent off 1 lot of over 200 & 2 more lots of over 300 each (including adults) & still have tons & tons more that I'm presently going to send off......they have done extremely well for me in these last 10 months & I was literally overrun with them to the point that now I'm only going to keep about a few adults & nymphs.

I must be doing something right - - - without substrate......frass accumulates quickly anyway & I do not believe they die after mating.....mine seem to be enjoying the company of several females & doing quite well.

Beth

 

[Gesticulator]

Birth announcement

Well I don't know if it was the substrate I added or the fact that I rehoused them into a wider container or none of the above...but I have nymphs!!!!
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[Beth-Tex]

All it takes is a little time & patience & the roaches will do the rest for you. Congratulations on the babies! Will you be passing out cigars?
It is always exciting on getting the first ones & then after that......well.....they multiply like roaches.

Beth