Dead Dubia. Help? :S

[SamusTheDragon]

So I recently got some adult dubia introduced into my colony of nymphs. There were 50 female (adult) And 25 adult males. Today I found two dead females. A few questions
1. Is this normal, do they normally die off?
2. What should I do with the dead, leave them, trash them? Or can I feed them to my dragon

Here's the colony setup. 20 gal bin with screen top. Black 75 watt bulb, temps range from 80-95 (normally never 95, but I did see it a while ago, just once). And humidity around 60%-80%. Food: Water Gel Soil moist, and half oranges, also ground up cat food (meow mix seafood flavor I think). Maybe I'm just overreacting but I'm not sure if there are more dead females... it just bothers me because they're expensive to start up. Thanks for reading, please leave me you thoughts and suggestions.

Oralie

 

[Claudiusx]

It is possible that the females just died from old age. You don't really know how old the females you are getting are unless you buy large nymphs and then they turn into adults.

With your set up though, it the bulb at the top shining down? I ask because you still want there to be a temp gradient so they can get cooler if they want. If the coolest the bin gets to is 80-95 (which is a pretty big gap... lol ) then you might want to look into other ways of heating. The bottom of my bin stays around 86, but the top gets to be about 78 or 80. That way if they want to cool off, they can just climb the egg crate closer to the top. And I do see them hanging around up there sometimes.

Hopefully, you didn't buy a bunch of past-there-prime females :| but, I would keep an eye on it, and change your heating method if there are no cool spots in your bin.

You can leave the dead in there until you clean out the bin, or you can take them out right now. either way it doesn't matter so much.

-Brandon

 

[SamusTheDragon]

It is possible that the females just died from old age. You don't really know how old the females you are getting are unless you buy large nymphs and then they turn into adults.

With your set up though, it the bulb at the top shining down? I ask because you still want there to be a temp gradient so they can get cooler if they want. If the coolest the bin gets to is 80-95 (which is a pretty big gap... lol ) then you might want to look into other ways of heating. The bottom of my bin stays around 86, but the top gets to be about 78 or 80. That way if they want to cool off, they can just climb the egg crate closer to the top. And I do see them hanging around up there sometimes.

Hopefully, you didn't buy a bunch of past-there-prime females :| but, I would keep an eye on it, and change your heating method if there are no cool spots in your bin.

You can leave the dead in there until you clean out the bin, or you can take them out right now. either way it doesn't matter so much.

-Brandon

Hmm never thought about the heat thing. Yes the bulb is shinning down at them. I could use another probe therm for the bottom, just to check. and I'll let you know the status of that. The person I bought them from said they're not very old. I think one even laid during shipping. Also, do you think their getting enough protein? And is 20 gallons big enough for 500 nymphs and like 75 adults? I eventually need to clean the bin, it's been two weeks. How often do you clean yours? Sorry for all of these questions but thanks for letting me pick your brain

 

[Claudiusx]

I hardly ever clean the bin tbh. Maybe once every 2 months, or more if I notice fruit got left in there too long.

I am not sure, as long as there are enough egg crates, that should create enough surface area for them.
If your females are old, at least you have nymphs that can grow and molt into adults that will be young and healthy

-Brandon

 

[SamusTheDragon]

I hardly ever clean the bin tbh. Maybe once every 2 months, or more if I notice fruit got left in there too long.

I am not sure, as long as there are enough egg crates, that should create enough surface area for them.
If your females are old, at least you have nymphs that can grow and molt into adults that will be young and healthy

-Brandon

True but that takes forever. And I'm more of a do it now kinda gal =P , but I understand the dubia need patience.... then you feed them off by the dozen :twisted:

 

[Mach10X]

The females may have been injured in shipping, or sometimes they just die for no reason. I leave them in, the rustling of the other roaches make the dead drop to the bottom of the bin where they are usually eaten by other roaches and eventually become a dirt like substance. I clean out only once every 5-6 months. BTW the females don't lay anything as they give live birth (perhaps that's what you meant).

 

[SamusTheDragon]

The females may have been injured in shipping, or sometimes they just die for no reason. I leave them in, the rustling of the other roaches make the dead drop to the bottom of the bin where they are usually eaten by other roaches and eventually become a dirt like substance. I clean out only once every 5-6 months. BTW the females don't lay anything as they give live birth (perhaps that's what you meant).

Yeah, some gave birth, not laid... sorry bout that lol. There was another thread that I saw where the roaches became cannabalistic, I really don't want that to happen they creep me out enough Btw, I really like you sig!

 

[Mach10X]

Thanks, I like yours too. Hey just a quick question, did you properly rinse your roach bin before placing them in? Sometimes the fumes from the plastic can kill off some roaches.

 

[SamusTheDragon]

Thanks, I like yours too. Hey just a quick question, did you properly rinse your roach bin before placing them in? Sometimes the fumes from the plastic can kill off some roaches.

No.... I never even though of that. Gah, Should I remove them all and do it today? I got the bin from lowes and it's made from recycled stuff. I think its like ecobin or something like that

 

[Mach10X]

I would just watch for now, if you start to get significantly more die offs then take them into a temp bin and wash the roach bin out.