Blaptica dubia

[Atreyuhero4]

Ok I got my tax return today and with that money I just placed my order for my first roach colony!!! Obviously its going to be Blaptica duba i'm very excited here are some details on my order:

I got 400 mixed sized dubia
10 adult pairs
1 and 1/8 lb of nutrient protein diet
3 oz water crystals
10 roach flatts
2 food and 2 water dishes

I paid $118 I don't know cost of roachs and roach stuff but I feel I got a good deal.


I'm going to be setting them up in a 20 gallon tank with 5 roach flatts on each side and 2 food bowls and 2 water bowls in the middle

Any suggesions you might have please let me know I can't afford to have these turn out like my cricket projects!!!! Thanks for your time.

 

[scottyk]

Congradulations! My advice is that since you have come this far, spend $10 more and go the rest of the way. Those flats and dishes from blapticadubia.com are bigger that they look online, and you are not going to fit the flats and even 2 dishes in a 20 gallon. They will also start getting tight in there when the colony takes off, and glass tanks dont allow good cross ventilation.

Get yourself a 35 gallon tub from Big Lots, a cheap roll of screen, some masking tape and hot melt glue. Make a nice setup for them. Here is a pic or two for you. Note how 12 flats and two dishes almost fill the tub, which has twice the floorspace of a 20g. Let me know if you are interested in this, and I can give you some more specific instructions for putting the tub together. Unless you are a total loss with tools. it's about a 15 minute job...

Scott

 

[Atreyuhero4]

I'll do that when I start my job and start getting paid. The 20 gal should be fine for a couple weeks right? also is it better to set the roach flats vertical or horizontal? how big are the food/water dishes?

Also what is that paper towl roll doing in there? Whats its purpose?

 

[scottyk]

Yes, the 20G should be fine to get you started. Vertical stacking of the flats is better, as the waste and frass will fall to the bottom. In a 20G, you are going to probably have to settle for leaning them up diagonally for now.

The dishes are a good 8 or 9" across. You will probably only be able to fit one in the tank, so use that one for water crystals, and use a small coffee can lid for food until you get them in a bigger place.

The pic is of my newest colony of Discoids. I stack up paper towel tubes in the tubs to fill in the empty spots. It gives the roaches more surface area to colonize. At feeding time it's also easy to pick up a tube and whack a nice assortment into a jar. The jar then comes over to the T shelf with me....

 

[Atreyuhero4]

Alright thanks.

 

[Mister Internet]

Also, YOU MUST have a locking, sealed/weatherstripped lid if you are using an aquarium! They cannot limb smooth surfaces, but they can and WILL climb the silicone sealer in the corner edges of the tank! The nymphs especially... they will climb the silicone and then can easily sneak out "under" the lid even if it's locked with the clips. you ahve to use weatherstripping or something similar to make sure they can't get out.

Or, as has been said... spend 10 bucks and get the escape-PROOF container.

 

[Atreyuhero4]

Thanks, I have a zilla aqaurium (the ones with the sliding locking lid) so i think ill be good untill I get one of those tupper ware things, but like I said I have no money I had $119 and I spent $118 on everything

 

[NinjaPirate]

If you have a razor blade you can strip the sealant out of the tanks pretty easily. I stripped out the top 3" or so on mine in about half an hour. all you have to do is get a good start on it and then it peels. Then scrape the last bit off with the blade and there you go.

 

[jdcarrel]

Thanks, I have a zilla aqaurium (the ones with the sliding locking lid) so i think ill be good untill I get one of those tupper ware things, but like I said I have no money I had $119 and I spent $118 on everything

If you buy a tupper container, which I highly recommend, make sure that it has a slick interior so they can't climb. I have made the mistake once of buying a large container and they were able to climb it because it was just a little bit coarse and not totally slick.

 

[Kumo Punch]

I've had this same experience. The nymphs are great climbers and will get out of the tubs. I found the clear style container works better but the Dubai don't like it when people walk by. I'm going to try the bucket method. Seems like a great/cheap idea. Just went out this morning to Home Depot and purchased 6 5 gallon buckets with lids for about $4.00 each. You can't keep huge colonies in these but they are stackable and don't take up much room.

If you buy a tupper container, which I highly recommend, make sure that it has a slick interior so they can't climb. I have made the mistake once of buying a large container and they were able to climb it because it was just a little bit coarse and not totally slick.

 

[skips]

The dishes are a good 8 or 9" across. You will probably only be able to fit one in the tank, so use that one for water crystals, and use a small coffee can lid for food until you get them in a bigger place.

I was told the water crystals were a pointless expense, though cheap anyway. what do you guys do for water?

 

[Mister Internet]

I was told the water crystals were a pointless expense, though cheap anyway. what do you guys do for water?

Water crystals.

 

[Atreyuhero4]

I was told the water crystals were a pointless expense, though cheap anyway. what do you guys do for water?

water crystals ... There a good deal you can find and ounce for about $.50 most places and 1 oz makes 1 gallon and I have had my dubia colony for about 2 months and i still havent used a full gallon. So they last a while

 

[NinjaPirate]

mason jar overturned in a small plastic water dish. jar has two holes punched in the op and sits on a little riser so gravity keeps it filled. All I have to do is refill the jar once a week. Have to score the dish up really good so they can climb it, but I haven't had a single drowning from it.

 

[arachyd]

I use plain water with pebbles in the dish. If a nymph falls in it can climb on the pebbles to keep from drowning and crawl back out. Mine have corkboard rather than egg carton to climb on and are in clear plastic bins.

 

[skips]

good deal. I was buying the flukers gel until a few days ago. I didnt know the stuff was that cheap.