Help with Dubia colony please :(

I just started with dubias so please excuse my ignorance.

I am having problems with the breeder colony I started a month or so ago. I bought 1lb of mixed L and XL and smaller ones to feed now. They are in separate containers, a bigger one for the breeders.

The smaller guys are doing great, here are my issues with the breeders:

1 I'm including a picture of the bottom of the container. Are there too many deaths?
2 Humidity- everytime I put fresh food in there it molds. We are in south Louisiana, everything mildews here, but I'm scared to have low humidity. Is fresh food necessary? They have water and dry food in there also.
3 Buffalo beetles- they are breeding like CRAZY! Do I need them?
4 Fruit flies! I only have them in the breeder container. How do I get rid of them?
5 How long will it take them to breed? There were only a couple of true adults when they arrived. Almost half are now adults.

Thank you so much for your help in advance! I am just stuck with so many questions

Also, temps are good and there was a problem in shipping. Could a stress problem last this long?
Thanks again!!

Yes. Try a thorough cleaning regularly. I clean my breeder bin every few weeks.

Mold is your worst enemy and will kill off a colony with a quickness. Remove stuff before it can mold.
Do you know what the humidity is or just guessing? Humidity at 50%-70 is good for the roaches.

The cleaner beetles will also begin to attack the roaches if there’s too many and not enough protein. I don’t use them because I clean my bins.

Fruit flies follow the stuff that molds. Try to clean it out faster and maybe a few fly traps on the outside. Should help minimize flies.

Here’s a guide from ABdragons, I’ve found their info helpful. Good luck!
http://abdragons.com/dubia-roach-colonies-and-breeding/

Thank you!
I cleaned them thoroughly. I got rid of the beetles. I also added another breeder bin. If something goes wrong I'm thinking it's best to have them in two bins.

I counted the adults so I could separate them evenly. I was way off, only maybe a fourth are adults. There are roughly 23 males and 22 females. Should I start getting rid of males now or wait until more develop?

Their dry food is rabbit food. I saw somewhere to give it to them. Is that a good dry food or should I give them something else?

I don't have a humidity gauge at the moment. But the humidity outside right now is 93%. I know it changes inside with central air etc, do you think it might still be too low?

Sorry I have so many questions! I didn't think I could screw it up this much

Two bins is great. It makes cleaning them out easy.

Culling the males will help reduce stress if they’re fighting over ladies, but that’s up to you. The boys can fight if there’s not enough girls to go around. Ripped wings or chewed up males are signing of fighting.

For roaches, I don’t worry too much about specific diets. Lots of people use various pet foods and lots of people say don’t use pet foods, but I think it’s a personal preference mostly. Roaches have specialized stomachs that literally produce the vitamins they need from just about anything. They can eat cardboard and their own poop and do fine. However, a good water supply is critical. I feed mine my Beardies left over salads, fruit, and the occasional dry foods I have that would otherwise be tossed out—stale bread and such. The salads provide all the water needed as I use squash and various greens regularly.

Your humidity is likely fine even with the a/c. Can alway increase/decrease the air flow in the bin to help you regulate. They love hot and humid weather. The humid weather likely contributes to mold issues so you may have to work harder at bin maintenance than someone from a dryer area.

I’m torn on my investing in a colony honestly. I have well over a 1000 roaches that are too large or too small. They breed and I see babies all the time, but I feel like by the time my colony is completely self supporting my Beardie will have made the conversion to veggies. And then I’m just the weird guy on the block with a bin full of roaches. :lol:

Thank you! You have been such a big help!!
I already get disgusted looks from friends and family lol

I noticed a couple of the males have wings that look crinkled. I thought it was just new wings. Would this be from fighting?