RarestDragon
Hatchling Member
I've recently bought some adult dubia roaches to start a colony of feeders in preparation for my bearded dragon next year. But I'm kind of new at this. I've found two of my adult roaches dead.
I initially bought 15 adult roaches: 10 females, 5 males. So far here is my setup for them.
They live in a large 20 gallon plastic tote with several egg crates. There is a heat mat under the tank connected to a thermostat for safety. On the warm side temps range from close to 90 degrees near the bottom, about 80 degrees in the middle and a little warmer than room temperature towards the top. Since it's been a bit cold lately, being winter and all, I've placed a towel over the warm end of the tote for a bit more insulation. There is a ventilation hole on the lid on the cool side of the tote about five inches long and two inches wide covered with a screen. Humidity is at around 60% or more. The tote is in my bathroom, so it's easy to keep the humidity high enough for them.
As for their food, I feed them fruits and veg. I feed them a variety of collard greens, apples, oranges, carrots, cantaloupe, romaine lettuce and cucumbers. I'm positive they get enough water from their food so I don't bother with water crystals. They don't seem to munch on the food as much as I thought they would but maybe that's because there aren't very many of them. They devour cucumbers though, I assume for the water.
I usually leave the food in their bin for about 24 hours. So far one of the females has had babies and I've seen about a dozen tiny nymphs in the bin.
I've had these roaches since Jan 28 and since then, two of my adult roaches have died. I found one adult female dead last week and one adult male dead today. I've also seen at least two tiny nymphs die. I have no clue why. The other adults seem to be moving around fast and fine, but I'm getting concerned.
Here are my guesses as to why they're dying:
Too humid.
Injured.
Pesticides from their food.
Mold.
Some chemical in my bathroom.
Not enough ventilation.
Today I plan on moving them to a new plastic bin with new egg flats in the hope that I can get rid of the problem. I also plan on not leaving food in their bin for more than 12 hours this time around. I also plan on moving them to my closet, where there is no smell of pine sol or any other cleaning agent.
My question, though, has anyone run into the same problem? My roaches aren't dying fast enough for me to conclude anything. Anybody have any suggestions for me? I want to avoid any future problems so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I initially bought 15 adult roaches: 10 females, 5 males. So far here is my setup for them.
They live in a large 20 gallon plastic tote with several egg crates. There is a heat mat under the tank connected to a thermostat for safety. On the warm side temps range from close to 90 degrees near the bottom, about 80 degrees in the middle and a little warmer than room temperature towards the top. Since it's been a bit cold lately, being winter and all, I've placed a towel over the warm end of the tote for a bit more insulation. There is a ventilation hole on the lid on the cool side of the tote about five inches long and two inches wide covered with a screen. Humidity is at around 60% or more. The tote is in my bathroom, so it's easy to keep the humidity high enough for them.
As for their food, I feed them fruits and veg. I feed them a variety of collard greens, apples, oranges, carrots, cantaloupe, romaine lettuce and cucumbers. I'm positive they get enough water from their food so I don't bother with water crystals. They don't seem to munch on the food as much as I thought they would but maybe that's because there aren't very many of them. They devour cucumbers though, I assume for the water.
I usually leave the food in their bin for about 24 hours. So far one of the females has had babies and I've seen about a dozen tiny nymphs in the bin.
I've had these roaches since Jan 28 and since then, two of my adult roaches have died. I found one adult female dead last week and one adult male dead today. I've also seen at least two tiny nymphs die. I have no clue why. The other adults seem to be moving around fast and fine, but I'm getting concerned.
Here are my guesses as to why they're dying:
Too humid.
Injured.
Pesticides from their food.
Mold.
Some chemical in my bathroom.
Not enough ventilation.
Today I plan on moving them to a new plastic bin with new egg flats in the hope that I can get rid of the problem. I also plan on not leaving food in their bin for more than 12 hours this time around. I also plan on moving them to my closet, where there is no smell of pine sol or any other cleaning agent.
My question, though, has anyone run into the same problem? My roaches aren't dying fast enough for me to conclude anything. Anybody have any suggestions for me? I want to avoid any future problems so any advice would be greatly appreciated.