Blaptica dubia info

[Arachnokid 93]

Well I am thinking of buying a Blaptica dubia starter colonie and have got a lot of info from the internet. But I really wanted to get some tips from people with experience.


thanks for any posts,
Arachnokid 93

 

[REAL]

There's lots of threads already for dubias, if u search for it using the board's search option I'm sure U'll get more answers faster with less wait.

Only thing I can say about dubias is...I like discoidis more than dubias and if u want a feeder like a dubia but prettier than get a discoidis

Discoidis (male and female have wings) btw my nails are dirty cause I was digging through the bag of peat moss.

And the male dubia

Things u'll find when searching for dubias:

They like it hot 80-95, universal humidity, they like bunching up and staying close together. The frass is good for them (their poop)...you should mainly care about excessive dead bodies. Cleaning tank depends on numbers, but many ppl change them every few months to a year.

Food: Pretty much any fruit/vegatables. Thats what I do, just toss it in there and test it out. They like oranges and soft fruits. Put a lil to no substrate is okay for them. Humidity comes from their food most of all, I also supply water crystals for them, bought it from watersorb.com 2 pound large size recommended. Get some egg flats, especially the 12x12" ones and stack them vertically right next to each other, this way the frass wont build up on the egg flats as much. Baby mortality rates are lower if frass is presented from what i read. They don't bite, but watch out for their leg spines, I've never had a problem with their spines though. They can't fly, can't climb, however they can glid, pathetically but still. Keep the egg cratches about 3-5 inches from the top of the tank was told to me by a few keepers here, as they sometimes jump especially when it gets really warm.

Dead roaches might not be dead roaches but actually molts. Egg crates should be held up above the substrate by placing a piece of wood, this way the egg crates will last longer especially if ur substrate gets saturated.

Other things: Takes about a few months to a year for you to have a self sustaining colony so you should start it as soon as you can, well that is if your planning to feed them off. A 10 gallon tank can house about a few hundred. I recently got 100 and they all compacted themselves into one side of a 12"x12" egg flat, so a lot of them can fit into a small space.

Wow man thats about it...I'm tired of typing now.

Btw, I would say dubias are slightly smaller than discoidis. Other than that, they're about the same in housing etc.

 

[dtknow]

Discoids seem much more active than dubia, at least mine are! The discoids are the one running aimless laps around the colony.

 

[Vfox]

I have to agree with REAL, I just started my colony of Dubia as well. Although I need a second heat source, it's currently only 80ºF in the tank, I do think they will be a great feeder colony in a few months. I may just buy another 100 or so just to get things moving.

Another nice thing about the Dubia roaches are the male and female differences. Males have full wings, while females have small wing-buds.

Male:

Female:

 

[shotcaller88]

Wow, for some reason the adult male dubia scare the heck out of me. It must be their wings because I'm also afraid to touch adult lobster roaches. The nice thing about the dubia is that they're slow, so it's simple for me to pick out the nymphs without touching the adults. I have to use tweezers with the lobsters.
I really hope to get over this fear one day.