All dubia owners please respond :)

[PaganDragons]

Question About misting. I live in Las Vegas and its hot and dry here. The water crystals dry out pretty fast I never see any type of condensation in my bin. I have been giving the bin a light misting every few days. good/bad?

 

[nenders]

I live in relatively humid NC. My concern about misting is that the egg flats will get moldy or it will contribute to mold i food bits or pop. If I lived where you do, I would probably mist.

A question to others, if you do mist, what do you spray it on? Egg flats, walls, little babies?

 

[SlabOMeat]

You shouldn't have to mist as long as you are keeping a full bowl (or two) or water crystals in the bin all the time.

Misting runs the risk of mold and will make the bin much more odorous.

 

[Alon93]

I mist their substrate (Peat moss in my case), it gets dry quickly because I use an under tank heater and if I dont remember to mist it they cant shed properly.
I also keep my tank without a lid so there's no mold.

 

[ajkry2]

bump :mrgreen:

 

[clear]

I live in relatively humid NC. My concern about misting is that the egg flats will get moldy or it will contribute to mold i food bits or pop. If I lived where you do, I would probably mist.

A question to others, if you do mist, what do you spray it on? Egg flats, walls, little babies?

I live in NC and never mist or worry about humidity.

 

[healthybeardie]

Great informational thread! I am awaiting the arrival of 100 Adult Dubia! I still havent made my mind up as to where to put the bin: Our house is cramped as it is. The basement is the coolest place in the house and we have no closet space! Putting the bin upstairs in the bedrooms (warmest part of the house) just doesnt seem right (lol)

Today I bought an 18-gallon Rubbermaid dark blue bin, aluminum screen (as I heard the roaches can eat through fiberglass), and a screen cutter thingy. I have the glue gun already, chow and water gel. I guess I better put it together and figure out where to put the bin as they're going to be here any day now!

 

[jeschardies]

Hahaha, I have our bin in our closet in our room. a) no one sees it or knows it exists b) it doesn't get too cold or warm, perfect with a heat pad c) that side of the closet doesn't open often and stays dark amost the entire time....

 

[healthybeardie]

Just received 120 adult dubia! It is plenty hot enough outside in Maryland today (the high was 105! almost unheard of). I am keeping the bin this summer in our shed as it dark and should be able to maintain 80-90 degrees. I'm wondering if it may be too hot during the afternoon hours? Does anyone know what the average time is before the babies start arriving?

 

[dmglakewood]

Just received 120 adult dubia! It is plenty hot enough outside in Maryland today (the high was 105! almost unheard of). I am keeping the bin this summer in our shed as it dark and should be able to maintain 80-90 degrees. I'm wondering if it may be too hot during the afternoon hours? Does anyone know what the average time is before the babies start arriving?

I would purchase a cheap temp reader and monitor the temps. You should be fine in the shed, but 105 will be too hot inside a shed I think. Also roaches are nocturnal so the best time to have their bin around 90 degrees would be the night. If it's 90's during the day that's okay, but it's not needed. If it drops down to 70's at night it will slow the baby making process. Some people have proven that they will still breed in 70's but most people believe they wont breed as quickly.

120 Adults is a good amount. Depending on how many are females you could have a decent colony in 2-4 months. That's all depends on what you feed them, their temps, male:female ration etc.

 

[healthybeardie]

Thanks dmglakewood !

I used my therm w/probe and put the probe about 1/2 way down the tote and got a measurement of 85*. The outside temperature when I did this was 95* I'm feeding high-protein cat chow mixed with oats and water crystals and will be adding fresh veges/fruit a couple times a week. I hope they're fast breeders - very anxious to make the switch! (from crickets to dubia)

 

[dmglakewood]

Thanks dmglakewood !

I used my therm w/probe and put the probe about 1/2 way down the tote and got a measurement of 85*. The outside temperature when I did this was 95* I'm feeding high-protein cat chow mixed with oats and water crystals and will be adding fresh veges/fruit a couple times a week. I hope they're fast breeders - very anxious to make the switch! (from crickets to dubia)

That sounds just fine then. Don't get too anxious as you will dip into your supply like I did. If you dip into the supply to early you will have to wait all over again.

 

[healthybeardie]

I vow not to tap in to the dubias until they are well established! I imagine a lot of people are in the same boat I am -- anxious to make the switch away from crickets. What an exciting little project - starting a colony.

I checked in on them just to make sure there werent any dead ones and spotted that two have molted already. I still can't tell the difference too much between the male and female. I believe I did see one or two that were definitely males because they had the long wings.

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

I see that a lot of people use a heating pad under their plastic bins. Does this not cause a fire hazard? Or melt the plastic?

I'm going to be getting a bearded dragon to have as a class pet and use in our science curriculum (I teach 4th grade) and have heard that it is much cheaper to breed your own feeders. So I'm looking into having my class breed dubias (donations for class project always welcome :wink: ), but I'm worried that having a heating pad under plastic could be dangerous. I would hate for it to cause a fire and burn down the school or something!

-Alisha

 

[healthybeardie]

What an awesome idea to have a bearded dragon as a class pet and grow your own feeders. The kids will just love it!

I think as long as it is cushioned with a cover it will be okay. It doesnt get that hot. Most "human heating pads" do have a cover and a Low-Medium-High setting. Since its summer I havent used one yet but am curious on how just a heating pad will maintain a temp of 80-90 degrees.

Good luck!