Dubia Colony

[biomarine2000]

I have a fairly new dubia colony, and a lateris colony. I keep them in tubs with egg flats. They are in a room that is heated to 80 degrees or just below at all times. Do you think the temp is high enough to encourage breeding? My Dubia colony does have adults and I haven't noticed any breeding. I have no adult lats. I only started out with small babys.

Do I need to add a heating element of some sort?

How do you heat yours?

Thanks

Ps: I can post pics if needed.

 

[ThyTempest]

They will both breed in those temps, but higher temps will encourage faster production. I heat our dubias with 11" flexwatt on a dimmer.

 

[tarantulaholic]

I have about 500 adults, in a plastic rubber made 10gallon bin, with drilled holed top, vaseline top edges, screen top with 60 watt ceramic bulb. At first they werent breeding at all. I started feeding some of males and combination of warmer climate now. Theres tons of new dubia babies all over, I see several females always has new eggs ready to pop.
BTW it helps if you keep the ratio to 1 male to 4females. I never feed females just males.

 

[skips]

I have about 500 adults, in a plastic rubber made 10gallon bin, with drilled holed top, vaseline top edges, screen top with 60 watt ceramic bulb. At first they werent breeding at all. I started feeding some of males and combination of warmer climate now. Theres tons of new dubia babies all over, I see several females always has new eggs ready to pop.
BTW it helps if you keep the ratio to 1 male to 4females. I never feed females just males.

I dont think i'm hijacking the post by asking this, but do you think that the sex ratio of 1:4 has increased your output by alot? I would definitely try that. I'm just starting my colony as well. I'm using a 100 watt infrared bulb, i'm not too fond of the ceramics but to each his own. The infrared does tend to dry things out though, assuming you're keeping it more humid, though i'd say most don't.

I thought somebody told me these guys gave live birth, but you say egg sacks? How many typically come out of an eggsack? I never actually see eggsacks but I started with 20 dubia and now I have 40 (mostly males i'd say).

To answer the question asked yes they will breed at that temp, but warmer is always more productive.

 

[inverts]

I thought somebody told me these guys gave live birth, but you say egg sacks? How many typically come out of an eggsack? I never actually see eggsacks but I started with 20 dubia and now I have 40 (mostly males i'd say).

Technically, they have oothecas (egg cases); however, the females carry the oothecas until they hatch, so for all practical purposes they give birth to live young.

 

[skips]

Technically, they have oothecas (egg cases); however, the females carry the oothecas until they hatch, so for all practical purposes they give birth to live young.

Sounds like standard oviviviparous birth. Cool. now how many hatch out of one ootheca?

 

[inverts]

An ootheca usually contains 20-30 young.

 

[skips]

An ootheca usually contains 20-30 young.

Thanks! Do they look similar to lateralis egg cases do you know?

 

[biomarine2000]

I think it would help a lot of AB visitors and members if we post pics of our setups. I sure would like to see how you guys are doing it. I like the idea of heat tape or a heat mat, but am afraid of overheating the underside of the rubber made container.

 

[codykrr]

well ifyou go to my link you can see my setup. itspretty basic with my own twist which has done wonders for my offspring production.

 

[arrowhd]

When I first started a feeder colony it seemed like it took forever to start seeing any production. I only started out with around 200 nymphs and maybe a dozen adults. Around 3-4 months later I had a population explosion. Now I have to sell off 500-1000 every 2 or 3 months to keep the colony at a more manageable size.

 

[ThyTempest]

I think it would help a lot of AB visitors and members if we post pics of our setups. I sure would like to see how you guys are doing it. I like the idea of heat tape or a heat mat, but am afraid of overheating the underside of the rubber made container.

The flexxwatt heat tape is really easy, but you will need a dimmer to keep it from getting too hot. We chose to use a one foot section of 11" flexwatt and I could not be happier. The cardboard underneath is just to keep it off the carpet and provide a better/flat surface. The egg crate side of the tup sits over the flexwatt @ ~95F. The water crystal dish is the bowl that Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes come in from Taco Bell. Good size, could be bigger, but climable and easily washed. Their dry food just gets put in the corner.

 

[skips]

The flexxwatt heat tape is really easy, but you will need a dimmer to keep it from getting too hot. We chose to use a one foot section of 11" flexwatt and I could not be happier. The cardboard underneath is just to keep it off the carpet and provide a better/flat surface. The egg crate side of the tup sits over the flexwatt @ ~95F. The water crystal dish is the bowl that Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes come in from Taco Bell. Good size, could be bigger, but climable and easily washed. Their dry food just gets put in the corner.

Thanks for the pictures. Where did you buy that heat tape by the way. and how much did it run you? I tried home depot but what they had didn't look like it would work well and was expensive.

 

[ThyTempest]

As far as I know, flexwatt is pretty much only available online. I got ours from Reptile Basics, but there are a ton of online suppliers. Big Apple Herp and Beanfarm are some of the other big suppliers for stuff like this. If you get it from RBI, Rich will wire it for you, which saves some time and potential hassle if you screw it up. The entire flexwatt setup was like 8 bucks, but his shipping can be a little high IMO. We ordered some other supplies to make the 9 bucks in shipping more worth it. Another good way to heat roach setups, especially if you have multiple totes can be found here. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=78804. I thought the user posted a similar thread here on AB, but I didn't find anything.

Whichever way you decide to do it, make sure you have a dimmer (a simple in line/plug in lamp dimmer works great, about 10 bucks at a hardware store or Walmart, etc). A way to measure your temps is nice, but maybe not critical for roaches, so long as you know you are not cooking them. We have the RBI 205 from reptile basics, and we like it. IR thermometers are easier to deal with, and we get to play with the dogs and cats with the laser

 

[Miss Bianca]

new question: What's the absolute smallest amount you can actually start a colony with, if any...??? I have a small Rubbermaid shoe box of Dubias... will these ever procreate without me adding more? Also, should I add some?? Thanx..

 

[ThyTempest]

Technically, you could start a colony with a pair....but you are going to have to wait like 2 years before you can feed out of it...and you better hope one of them doesnt die. Realistically, start with pretty much as much as you can afford or are comfortable spending. We got a good deal on 500, so started with that. It also depends on what you are feeding. On here, it is mostly T keepers, who, in general, don't feed as much as say someone who has a bunch of growing beardies. I think a good start colony is at 50, but anywhere from 100-500 would be better, even more if you want to feed out of it faster or expect to need more production.

You can add more to your existing colony without any ill-effects I think.

 

[jdcarrel]

well ifyou go to my link you can see my setup. itspretty basic with my own twist which has done wonders for my offspring production.

you may want to cover the light you have in the container with some sort of wire mesh. I have had male dubia fly into lights before and fry themselves. Could be a fire hazard if you aren't careful.

 

[biomarine2000]

I was searching dubia colonies on this site yesterday and came across the way James does his. He has heat rope attatched to the back portion of the tub. I think this is the method I will use. Does anyone else use this method?

Here is the link.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=463&page=6&highlight=heat+rope

 

[codykrr]

you may want to cover the light you have in the container with some sort of wire mesh. I have had male dubia fly into lights before and fry themselves. Could be a fire hazard if you aren't careful.

hmm....never thought of that. ad good point. only thing is i use a 40 watt light. nothing would burn and in the past year its been just fine so im not going to worry now. not o mention its on a timer and all of mylights have an emergency shut off switch like bathroom wall plug ins.. so i doubt afire would be possible...one short circut or even aburnt out light bulb triggers it..so i feel safe. but hanks for the consideration...

 

[Miss Bianca]

Technically, you could start a colony with a pair....but you are going to have to wait like 2 years before you can feed out of it...and you better hope one of them doesnt die. Realistically, start with pretty much as much as you can afford or are comfortable spending. We got a good deal on 500, so started with that. It also depends on what you are feeding. On here, it is mostly T keepers, who, in general, don't feed as much as say someone who has a bunch of growing beardies. I think a good start colony is at 50, but anywhere from 100-500 would be better, even more if you want to feed out of it faster or expect to need more production.

You can add more to your existing colony without any ill-effects I think.

Thank you very much!

Mine are about 50.. but it's 50 mixed sizes... only like 5 are over an inch... not sure what to do just yet..