Adding more Roaches?

[iNyan]

I bought 50 Dubia today, the guy who was talking to us said they had another month to go before they can breed. Can I buy some ready adults and get the colony to start faster? (I will try to add a picture of the setup)

Also: Do I need a heating pad? My room is about 71 degrees.

 

[Soulwind]

Yes and Yes.

If you're looking to start a colony, you'll most likely want quite a few more.
Either adults (for faster starting) or a bunch of mixed nymphs (for less cost).

There's lots and lots of threads around on Dubia's, I'd try to go read a lot of them,
and go through several "caresheets" too.

I started my colony with 50 Adult Females, 10 Adult Males, and 250 large Nymphs.
(at this size, it should take me about 2-3 months before I can start feeding from it at all,
and probably 4-5 months to be completely sufficient for a young dragon)

You definately need an extra heat source. Dubia's need it to be 85-95 F to breed.

 

[iNyan]

Okay thank you for clearing that up My dad and I were going to get a heating pad today, but one said for glass only and I was concerned about it burning through, the there was a Flukers, but it said it ran at 100, and I have to keep my tank on carpet in my room (Yeah they're not allowed anywhere else >.> ) There is a local petstore that sells them so I will get some adults tomorrow.

 

[iNyan]

This is the where I have the colony. Does this setup seem okay?

 

[unkempt1]

Cartons look fine. Food dish is ok as long as the nymphs are big enough to get in. I used some similar to that and found the smaller ones were slipping off the sides and couldn't get in. Some that got in couldn't get out. :lol: I also noticed it looks like your water crystals are colored. Did you add juice or coloring to them?

I would recommend using an opaque tub... yours looks see-through. They will stress and won't come out often, if at all, which also means they won't spend time breeding either. I got a tub a little bigger than yours at Walmart for less than six dollars.

I can't tell if you have tape around the sides at the top. I'd recommend putting duct tape around the sides because nymphs WILL climb up to the top.

Also, what does your lid look like? Not a bad setup overall, just some things I'd tweak if it were me.

 

[iNyan]

The water crystals are from Flukers and are just colored blue. If I keep the tub behind my door, which is always open and it's dark behind there is that okay? And I'll get that tape, cause I do not want escapees in my room XP Thanks for the tips!

 

[unkempt1]

The water crystals are from Flukers and are just colored blue. If I keep the tub behind my door, which is always open and it's dark behind there is that okay? And I'll get that tape, cause I do not want escapees in my room XP Thanks for the tips!

You can try it out, but in my short experience they like their privacy, and even the smallest interruption of that freaks them out for awhile. Give it a shot. If in a month or two you don't see their numbers increasing then invest in a colored tub.

With the Flukers I'd recommend getting dry water crystals instead. You will save a LOT of money making them yourself. Usually you can buy the dry crystals for literally 10% of the cost of the premade ones. Just make sure you buy regular crystals and not ones with fertilizer/pesticides in them (they make some that way because some people actually use them for what they were invented for and not for giving roaches something to drink :lol: )!

Oh, and you are most certainly welcome. Ask any questions you like. I'm always happy to talk about my experiences in raising these fascinating little critters.

 

[iNyan]

Just another question, how can I tell when the roaches are fully grown? I can tell the difference between male/female I just don't know when they're full adults.. How can I tell them apart? And another question, some seem to have grown alot, but I am seeing some that are the same exact size as they were a month ago, how come some are growing and others are staying the same size?

 

[Soulwind]

The adults look radically different from the nymphs and from each other (sex-wise)

Adult males have wings and are long and thin.

Adult females do look similar to the large nymphs but are black and shiny-looking
with little tiny wing stubs.

The nymphs all look like various sized roly-poly bugs, and are a matte color
and not really shiny at all.

Once you get used to seeing them, you'll distinguish between them all easily.

 

[unkempt1]

Hey you, I remember this thread! How is the colony growth-wise? Is the tub working out? I ask because I still think you should get an opaque tub. You can still use the one in the pic as a feeder tub for your babies.

 

[iNyan]

Well the roaches have grown, but have yet to start breeding, and all of the adult/almost adult ones look to be female.I haven't seen any yet that even slightly resemble males at all ._. And I have only a couple left that are still little. And I am going to get a solid tub soon, I think it'll help, but of my dad will be moving the roaches, I will not partake in touching them, I will just watch from afar :lol:

 

[unkempt1]

I'm sure they're all just large nymphs. As they get closer to adulthood, they all do look female with the little nub wings. It would be incredibly rare (as in pretty much impossible) if you had 50 female roaches in total out of 50. Most roaches are male, which is one of the reasons females cost more and are more valuable to a colony. It's also why long-time colony owners feed male roaches to their dragons... they usually have too darn many! :lol:

 

[iNyan]

Oh good, I was worried I'd have to order more :shock: I've had them for over a month, but they still give me the creeps sometimes, I can't wait to open the bin and show my sister the roaches in while when I have a ton and watch her expression :lol:

 

[iNyan]

I have a question, I took a flashlight to the side of the tub to look in (I couldn't help it I wanted to check them out.. oops) And on the egg crate I saw something little and pink and dried up looking. Could that have been a dropped egg sack-thing?

 

[unkempt1]

I have a question, I took a flashlight to the side of the tub to look in (I couldn't help it I wanted to check them out.. oops) And on the egg crate I saw something little and pink and dried up looking. Could that have been a dropped egg sack-thing?

Can you take a pic? If you think it's an ootheca you can also look on google images, there are a lot of decent pics of them there.

I hope it's not one. If it is leave it in there for awhile, sometimes they still hatch.