Blaptica dubia help

tony77tony77

Arachnoknight
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May 28, 2006
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how many babies can one female make at one time and how long do it take for a mature female to start making babies?
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
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I have seen in the mid 20s come from one female, I dont know what the max is but I think maybe 15-20 is a good average. After a female has that maturing molt it does not take that long after for her to start reproducing, maybe 6 weeks at the most, total guess. Someone else might know a better guess.
 

ScorpDemon

ArachnoScorpion
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1 female alone won't make any babies, she needs a boyfriend for that. But yeah, 4-6 weeks is about right, and anywhere from 15-25 I would say. Average batch of nymphs is 20ish though.
You can speed things up by raising the temperature a bit. Mine seem to produce best at around 86-88 degrees.

Chris
 

Brad Ramsey

Arachnoknight
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Jun 18, 2007
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Higher temps definetely help to create a population explosion!
I put mine in the garage in the summer where it is easily in the nineties day and night.
Make sure they have a good source of water (I use wet paper towels)
Gestation is approx. 30 days.

-Brad
 

Galapoheros

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I just finished doing a count on an aborted B. dubia ootheca a few minutes ago. I counted 35 but I think that's more than normal. About 1/5 or maybe 1/4 of the Rubbermaid tub I have mine in is on a heating pad set on low in an un-air-conditioned room, gets in the 90s. I put down a thin layer of coco fiber, barely enough to dig in. I have some oak leaves and bark from small trees that is concave for them to hide under. I was frustrated at first. I wasn't seeing any babies but like scorpdemon said, I think I started seeing babies between 4 and 6 weeks too. I get a steady supply from the colony now.

I'm not sure about keeping them in the dark all the time. They hide in the day and come out at night. A natural cycle I would think, that's what I'm doing. Maybe you would get more if you put them in the dark, anybody know?
 
Last edited:

Brad Ramsey

Arachnoknight
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Jun 18, 2007
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Mine are in the dark most of the time.
Being dwellers of the forest floor, I don't imagine they would ever see much light in their natural environment.
At any rate they certainly don't seem to require light and do great in the
garage in the dark.

-Brad
 

ScorpDemon

ArachnoScorpion
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Jun 5, 2005
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I keep all my roaches in rubbermaid tubs, the only light they get is from the vent holes I have drilled in the lid, and when I remove the lid for maintenance. They all scatter when I open the lid, but I think its the stimulus that triggers this because sometimes I forget to put the lid back on, or just leave it off while I feed my other inverts, and when I come back there are roaches on top of their climbing material everywhere.

Chris
 
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