Question on keep Blaptica Dubia?

[Arachnomore]

I am having some die off... seems like 1 to 3 a day and I have a colony of 150 or so in a 50 gallon storage tub.... is this normal.. and if so should I let the corpses just dry up or should I remove deceased roaches daily?

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I usually let them dry up, but it's only small ones that die that quickly. Mature ones should die considerably less.

I've heard a lot about protein high diet being bad for roaches (maybe particularly for dubia, I'm not sure) so one thing you could try is to give them protein just a little bit less often and give more fruit/veggies. It is said that roaches (dubia?) can only digest so much proteins at a time and if they get too much they get indigestion and die. I have no source of this however, it's somewhere in some old thread.

 

[Arachnomore]

That makes sense and helps alot... .I have them on some all natural high protein cat food.... I am going to switch over to banana's and lettuce with corn meal and oatmeal.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

That makes sense and helps alot... .I have them on some all natural high protein cat food.... I am going to switch over to banana's and lettuce with corn meal and oatmeal.

You could try low protein dog food. How many % of protein a brand of food contains is normally printed on the package.

 

[Rochelle]

That makes sense and helps alot... .I have them on some all natural high protein cat food.... I am going to switch over to banana's and lettuce with corn meal and oatmeal.

We feed only the cheapest dog kibble available and supplement with fish flakes. (both animal and algae based)
The "premium" brands use too many preservatives and add too many extras that aren't needed by the roaches. (and can sometimes kill them).
Dubia do best with lots of citrus in their diet. Better production.
Head lettuce is practically worthless for roaches, except for the moisture in it. When you give them greens; make sure they're organic and then wash them anyway. Kale, squashes, spinach and romaine lettuce are good choices.
Also ~ if you use products intended for feeder crickets; then you might need to know that they are filling up your roaches with deadly levels of nutrients intended to be delivered to a reptile, not a Tarantula. The crickets are not intended to live on the products...they're intended to be eaten.

Good luck!

 

[Rochelle]

Can you post a clear pic of your set up and a close up side view of one of your nymphs? I'm curious about something.

 

[Arachnomore]

I will in half hour when I get home.

 

[reclusa]

I give mine oranges and they destroy them. I also give them chick mesh.

John S.

 

[Xaranx]

I give my roaches Ol' Roy (cheapo brand dog food), oats and cereal equal parts and grind it all up. I have heard of high protein cat food causing problems, they are roaches they don't need that much protein. And cricket gutload will definitely kill them, a friend killed off his colony of a dozen I gave him doing that. Impacts them, kills off crickets pretty fast too.