Dubia Colony rebirth!

[Cowabunga]

I don't know where you've gone to ask for egg flats but I got mine from the local Denny's. If you have kids you can send them in, ask for the manager, and say they are doing a project and if egg flats could be saved. I went back every 3 days for a couple weeks. You end up tossing out about half of the flats cause of so much raw egg and other ickyness on them but I ended up getting a little over a hundred good ones.

I definitely plan on hitting them up again. Last time they had just thrown them out but now I have a few of them plus friends who have restaurants saving them up for me. I'll be offering them for when I start selling some of these so I figured the more the merrier. I finally found some for dirt cheap on line and was ready to commit but I figured I'd use craigslist first and it actually panned out.

So now I have another source which is cool and more than enough to finally get started on the breeder bin. I ordered my Flexwatt the other day and it should be here soon. When that finally arrives then I will be set. I'm positive the production for this few weeks of roaches will be LOW. I removed about half of their egg flats because they were bad-bad and with only about 15 or so in the bin its not NEARLY enough. Over crowded as can be and situations like that keep the females from being happy. I planned to have them rehomed a few weeks ago but figured I better not disturb them again after I lost a lot of egg sacs last time. The colony is just too big to move around on a whim.


With possibly 4 new dragon babies on their way I will have a LOT of demand and I don't doubt that I'll be praying for a good turn out for this time Febuary. Fingers crossed..

 

[AllanonsWrath]

I've been following the thread, and so far I'm loving how you set up your bins. As you're an engineer I thought I would ask if you thought it would be possible to have a breeder bin that "automatically" harvests the baby roaches when they drop off mom? Maybe a double decker type thing with small holes in the bottom of the top bin so that babies would fall through into the bottom? I dunno, was just a random thought I had. Thought I would ask.

 

[nahuelarg86]

I like this post, very instructive!

 

[Cowabunga]

I've been following the thread, and so far I'm loving how you set up your bins. As you're an engineer I thought I would ask if you thought it would be possible to have a breeder bin that "automatically" harvests the baby roaches when they drop off mom? Maybe a double decker type thing with small holes in the bottom of the top bin so that babies would fall through into the bottom? I dunno, was just a random thought I had. Thought I would ask.

Thanks for the props.

I'm not sure if you have had the chance to breed a colony but I can tell you just a couple basic issues you'll have.

1) The nymphs tend to stay packed in their own spaces on the egg flats eating what frass remains. Very rarely do they walk on the floor bottom unless they can find zero frass in the comfort of the egg flats.

2) There is more to 'seperating' the nymphs than just the process alone. When I seperate out my nymphs from the adults and large nymphs I am getting a count on my colony and or keeping track of my male/female ratio. Also this is a chance to clean out the dead bugs and believe it or not get the roaches more familiarized with me.

That last comment might be an odd one for others to grasp but it naturally happens with just about anything that you handle. I leave mine alone but when I want to stick my hand or tongs in their to grab one out they aren't as finicky. They are easier to catch (not that they were ever very hard) but the females especially will come right up to my hand and or when I open the bin they use to all scatter but when I do they know its dinner time and they actually start coming out. Its kind of funny. I am not specific on their genome but they seem to have a memory as to the process of things that as I keep them on a regular schedule they follow it. I have opened the bin late to feed them and there are a few hundred literally sitting in front of (Not IN) their food dish waiting for me to feed them.

lol, these guys would suck in the wild. :lol:

So to not get too off topic, it is a good idea to some degree but might be more work than its worth. Either way you will have to physically shake and sometimes beat the egg flats to get all of the nymphs off. Even if the bin shook it self some colonies are so dense that the pure amount of adults moving around on the bottom will prevent many from going all the way through.

Great idea though. Keep on the path of figuring new things and eventually you'll hit the nail on the head.

I like this post, very instructive!

Thanks a bunch

 

[Youngyoshi]

Sorry for off topic but curious what you drive. See the nos bottles in the flats pic

 

[Cowabunga]

Sorry for off topic but curious what you drive. See the nos bottles in the flats pic

I have a nice "stable" of cars I suppose. Those 2 bottles are out of my AWD DSMs. Single digit AWD cars, one black one white. I had another one that was in a different pic, a white NX bottle out of my Kenne belle lightning. I run a zex kit in the 72 Camaro and the Nova runs NOS brand as well..

Wow I didn't realize how many nitrous vehicles I have but there are always a few bottles sitting around since I rarely use it. On the white DSM its only for spool, the black one is setup to use it full track but I don't. The Truck has never used it, big 496 block Camaro hasn't. I think the only Nitrous junkie car is the Nova but it rarely sees daylight.

There are a few other vehicles I have that aren't nitrous but are mainly driven by the wife. The accord an 6 series is her's but I don't mind dropping the top on it and ridding around enjoying the CA weather.

:lol:


How bout you? You a car guy yourself?

 

[Youngyoshi]

Two evos a VII AND a newly acquired X

 

[Cowabunga]

Two evos a VII AND a newly acquired X

Gotta love the 4G63 and the 4B11.

I assume you're not in america? Where are you located?

 

[Youngyoshi]

I am lol ohioan all the way. Very few evos around here. Tuner scene extremely dead

 

[Cowabunga]

I am lol ohioan all the way. Very few evos around here. Tuner scene extremely dead

How'd you get ahold of an Evo 7?

 

[Youngyoshi]

It was a american prototype. A friend of mine who was in the army works for mitsu and i had to come off a pretty penny to get it

 

[Cowabunga]

It was a american prototype. A friend of mine who was in the army works for mitsu and i had to come off a pretty penny to get it

American prototype? Interesting. Any pics?

 

[SimplySammy]

Special heat reflective tape used instead of regular clear packing tape-

WHERE did you find this? I have called my local hardware store and lowes and they have never heard of it nor do they know who would sell it.

I would like to use this idea but I have no idea where to get it.

 

[Cowabunga]

Special heat reflective tape used instead of regular clear packing tape-

WHERE did you find this? I have called my local hardware store and lowes and they have never heard of it nor do they know who would sell it.

I would like to use this idea but I have no idea where to get it.

I get it through work but I am sure there are other tapes you can use. There are also other pure foil heat tapes that could get the job done as well.

I've been following the thread, and so far I'm loving how you set up your bins. As you're an engineer I thought I would ask if you thought it would be possible to have a breeder bin that "automatically" harvests the baby roaches when they drop off mom? Maybe a double decker type thing with small holes in the bottom of the top bin so that babies would fall through into the bottom? I dunno, was just a random thought I had. Thought I would ask.

I just wanted to take a chance to revisit this post since on my recent browse through Youtube I actually found a lady who has an odd setup but seems similar to yours and the idea seems to work well for her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jw5UZ3G4BM

As I mentioned before, I am sure not ALL of the babies will fall through but under the right conditions any of them venturing for food certainly will. This would also illuminate frass from your breeder area? Definitely an option.

 

[Cowabunga]

__________

Today SHOULD be the day that I get the big bin FINALLY sorted. As I showed pics before I received my egg flats and now this gem came in the mail the other day-

Its my flexwatt order. (sold by the foot) I got 3ft of it roughly 30X11 will go under the full length of the main breeder bin and the remaining 6X11 piece fits PERFECTLY in the recessed area under the feeder bin. What this will do is allow it to breathe and work as it should. I will be possibly moving the heat wire to the darker small bin where all of my spare adult males will be transferred. (IF ANYONE NEEDS ADULT MALES LET ME KNOW!)

The reason I say "SHOULD" is because I have a LOT of work to do today. Right now I need to finish some polishing on some port work I did to a supercharger so it can get in the mail today and I also need to get the dimmer switches for the flexwatt so that I can adjust the temps. Even with that much left to do I need to start picking up supplies for my 4 (yes you read that right FOUR) new beardies that will be showing up Tuesday (being shipped Monday) And I plan to have all 4 of their stackable vivs built by then. (the custom backgrounds I am having made wont be done on time but either way I put in a big order with Petmountain ans their 48" reptisun bulbs and other goodies should all be in on time)

So we shall see. The Dubia are on the bottom of the to do list since I still have my bin of nymphs completely packed from the last cleaning. (Enough that if you putt an apple in their they will devour the entire thing within half an hr or so.. Nothing compared to the adults who will gut a bag of them within the same amount of time if allowed to..) Busy weekend ahead and everyone expect a big dragon thread posted and a possible unboxing of my bundles of joy.