Dubia colony infested?

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Darkestfallen

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Beardie name(s)
darkestfallen
So I got a large dubia colony and about 600 feeders from south Texas dragons. I have been working on this for about 4 months now. I got a heat tape pad on one side, feed them ground dry chow, water Crystal's daily. Oranges once a week. I dont think their health is an issue with feed or water.
What I am seeing are these little 1/4" fuzzy caterpillar looking things and one or two tiny black beetles in the colony. I dont think the colony is doing well because a have a few die offs and the numbers are just not really growing as fast as expected.
Any help will be appreciated.
 

kmwilson042182

Hatchling Member
They are probably Dermestid Beetle larvae and I am pretty sure they are perfectly fine for your colony. They are the cleaning crew. I don't have my own colony though so maybe someone with some more experience with one will chime in.
 

Darkestfallen

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
darkestfallen
I looked up dermestid beetles and that's exactly what they are. So I have to figure out what else is going on. I'll be feeding crickets for a while.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
How many adults are in your colony? I started with mixed sizes of about 500 or so and it took about 4-5 months for me to start seeing a new generation appear. The dermestids shouldn't cause any harm and will actually help keep the colony a bit cleaner.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
OK with that many adults they should have started breeding by now. What are the temps in their main housing area? They tend to do better with warmer temps. You might try an overhead heat source like a CHE or heat projector bulb that will spread heat through the bin a bit better than heat tape will. I'd also try subbing in some hydrating veges to their diet instead of water crystals. They LOVE eating squash and pumpkin so I'd offer them pieces of that and see how it goes.
 
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