Constant mold in T's dubia feeder colony.

[MikeofBorg]

I have a L dubia colony going for my Tarantulas. My issue is mold constantly. I have to clean their plastic tote weekly. I’ve been feeding them rabbit pellets and potato slices. I have cross ventilation. Had the colony in a smaller container before and never had a mold issue. Could the rabbit pellets be inundated with mold spores in that lot of pellets or something? Also any suggestions for better but nutritious food that molds less. This is my first attempt at a colony. Before I just bought them as needed. I have 9 mature females, 7 mature males and nymphs of numerous instar stages. They have been breeding fine even with the constant fight against mold. I just don’t want to have my colony collapse due to a preventable issue. If anyone has better food options for them please let me know what works best for you. I’ll try anything to get this mold under control. I even have isopods and springtails in the enclosure trying to keep it down. They did a fine job in the smaller container but can’t seem to put a dent in the larger. But, the dubia would not breed in the smaller one. I’m am in a quandary on what to do. Either no mold but no breeding or mold and successful dubia breeding. Thanks for any suggestions.

Edit: in both containers I had a small layer of vermiculite as substrate and used cardboard egg crate as climbing surfaces. Cut down to 1/4 size to fit the smaller container, full-size for the larger tote.

 

[lazarus]

You need to make sure the rabbit pellets stay dry, don't place them directly on the substrate.
I keep my roaches, both dubias and B. lateralis without substrate, I feed them with cereal flakes(mixed oat, corn, barley, wheat without added sugar), cat food and twice a week I offer them fruits and veggies which I make sure to remove after a few hours (usually in the evening I put them in and remove them in the morning). I use water crystals for hydration. Good ventilation is very important to prevent mold.
I'm not sure if the size of the container is what's preventing your dubias from breeding, when I started collecting Ts I used to keep my feeder dubias in a 5L box, I started with about 30 adult females and 10 adult males and they were reproducing just fine, they just need to be kept warm to start reproducing.

 

[spookyvibes]

The vermiculite is probably part of the problem. When their poop falls to the ground, the vermiculite is probably wicking the moisture out and retaining it. This is leading to constantly moist egg crates, which is leading to mold. Also, do you have your egg crates stacked horizontally or vertically? Egg crates should always be stacked vertically to avoid the poop building up on the crates and making the egg crates soggy and moldy.

For food, I give them fresh fruits and veggies every day, once a week I give them fish flakes for protein. I also give them the occasional treat of honey, but that’s only because I really enjoy my dubia colony and like giving them treats.

 

[Hellblazer]

I don't use substrate and I have some lesser mealworms in with them as a clean up crew. I never had mold issues and rarely need to clean the bin.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Get rid of the sub, thats your issue. All they need are egg crates, the bottom can be emptied or cleaned when necessary.

 

[cold blood]

The vermiculite is probably part of the problem.

This.

Why use substrate? Much one designed to absorb and hold moisture?


I use dog kibble as substrate, they don't need anything else.


I don't know about rabbit pellets specifically, but i do know that roaches do require protein to a degree, which is why the dog/cat kibble....I would think food designed for a herbivore might be lacking in protein.

 

[AngelDeVille]

Egg crate, dog food, and water crystals.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Ditch the vermiculite, I keep red runners but I just feed them a mix of chick feed/fish flake and bug gel for water, never had an issue.

 

[MikeofBorg]

This.

Why use substrate? Much one designed to absorb and hold moisture?


I use dog kibble as substrate, they don't need anything else.

I don't know about rabbit pellets specifically, but i do know that roaches do require protein to a degree, which is why the dog/cat kibble....I would think food designed for a herbivore might be lacking in protein.

I have the crates vertical. I’ll get rid of the sub and use the dry dog kibble.

I was reading they are primarily frugivores and don’t require high amounts of protein. Plus the rabbit pellets are made of the legume alfalfa which has a decent protein content. But not too much for a frugivore. I saw the gentleman on Exotics Lair using rabbit pellets and thought I’d try them. They roaches seem to like them. They always in the dish with the pellets until light hits them.

I bet the vermiculite sub is sucking up and holding too much moisture like you all have said. Has to be it. Gonna go clean the tub out and add a small amount of kibble to the bottom. Thank you all. Was pulling what little hair out I have left trying to get the mold under control. Didn’t have an issue in the small tote. I’m assuming the compactness of it let the pillbugs and springtails really get at mold growth. Only problem was the dubia refused to have young in the smaller tote.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I bet the vermiculite sub is sucking up and holding too much moisture like you all have said. Has to be it.

Yes, definitely. In fact I love to add a couple of Tea spoons of vermiculite (a fine grain one, only) well mixed in the substrate, when it comes for T's/other inverts (such Asian 'pedes) that require, for thrive, a more humid environment.

Vermiculite helps me to mantain a proper humidity "level", on the long run.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I was reading they are primarily frugivores and don’t require high amounts of protein.

Too much protein (over 60% protein in their diet) can kill them, they convert protein into uric acid which they can convert back into protein when food is scarce or use it up to moult/produce young, if they never run out of food then they just keep storing uric acid until it kills them, mature males are the worst affected.

But otherwise they'll eat pretty much anything you give them.

 

[Joogvanhedel]

oatmeal (as food and substrate), baby chicken food, and once or twice fruit a week. Good ventilation, that's it..

 

[boina]

I was reading they are primarily frugivores and don’t require high amounts of protein. Plus the rabbit pellets are made of the legume alfalfa which has a decent protein content.

Rabit pellets are very high in fiber since rabbits need that. They have specific bacteria in their intestines to digest it. Roaches haven't. They need a reasonable amout of high quality protein to breed well. Rabbit pellets and potato is a pretty poor diet for your roaches. Alfalfa has a high protein content for a leafy green, but on an overall scale that's still low. Of course your roaches eat the pellets since they don't get anything else and they need to eat lots and lots of it just to meet their basic needs.

I don't know where that myth came from that roaches don't need protein but it is just that: a myth. They will die if you feed a meat only diet, but who does that? A reasonable amount of protein in their diet, however, is really beneficial, especially if you want them to breed. A female roach needs protein to produce eggs.

I feed oat meal and cat kibble as base diet and supplement it with fresh fruit and veggies.

Oh, and I never had a mold problem with my roaches but I keep them on DRY substrate.

 

[The Snark]

For what it's worth. Molds are infections, just like getting a cut and it gets red and sore and puss comes out. Except in the case of the OP, everything in the enclosure has the infection. Spores on everything. Getting entirely rid of mold and the spores? Best of luck.

 

[MikeofBorg]

For what it's worth. Molds are infections, just like getting a cut and it gets red and sore and puss comes out. Except in the case of the OP, everything in the enclosure has the infection. Spores on everything. Getting entirely rid of mold and the spores? Best of luck.

Yeah I know. They are carried in the air. Keeping the container dryer by removing the substrate should fix it. I’ll know by weeks end. Totally wiped it down and replaced the egg crates

 

[The Snark]

To give a graphic example of mold. We have black mold in our water. Our bathtub is old and the slick coating has worn off in places. Even with 2 ppm chlorine in the water, little black blotches grow every few days. I've scrubbed the tub with 10% chlorine bleach and 50% hydrogen peroxide dozens of times. My next plan is to coat the entire inside of the tub with car wax and get rid of all our old towels.

So much for an easy way to get rid of mold.

 

[Tarzanus]

I keep my breeder box dry. All their humidity comes from vegetables and fruit, their food. If I leave half of orange inside, they eat it in an hour or so. Two days later, the skin of that orange is completely dried out. Males don't have issues molting and I don't have mold related issues. Knock-knock on wood!

I also haven't cleaned up the frass for a while and there's an inch or so on the bottom. Completely dry, or at least it seems. And somehow I got superworms inside my bin, now the beetles started mating and I have them living in harmony without making troubles. Perhaps superworms help cleaning as well.

 

[Tarzanus]

Regarding my post above. The superworm beetles DO harass roaches. I found that after a while they started predating on molting nymphs. As soon as I noticed that I started removing them. I fed them all the time and roaches stared multiplying exponentially while the number of beetles was constant. I'm not sure about severity of the predation issue, might be nothing, but I decided to remove them anyway.