Dubia dying???

[plantkisser]

I ordered a shipment of 5 male and 10 female roaches and have had them for about 2 weeks- I am trying to start a feeder colony. Last night when I checked their food and water, I noticed a female pushing out an egg sac. Once they push that out, they are supposed to take it back and later give live birth. However, when I checked this morning she was laying on her back dead/dying and the egg sac was a few inches away from her. Is there any reason for this? They're in a 10g tank with a heat matt on one end and they have a big dish of water crystals and eat bearded dragon pellet food (I would never feed that stuff to my lizards... Yuck!) and salad leftovers from the dragons. I try to spray the tank once every few days to keep humidity up and I check for mold daily. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[Soulwind]

A few deaders here and there isn't unusual. It's only when you start
seeing a consistent death pattern that you really need to worry.

FYI - 10 females will take you a LONG time to get an established colony
running. A faster (and MUCH cheaper) alternative is to buy a largish quantity
(300-500) large nymphs and just let them grow up. It will shave several
months off of getting a running colony with that few adults in it, and buying
several hundred nymphs is usually cheaper than just a few adults.

 

[plantkisser]

A few deaders here and there isn't unusual. It's only when you start
seeing a consistent death pattern that you really need to worry.

FYI - 10 females will take you a LONG time to get an established colony
running. A faster (and MUCH cheaper) alternative is to buy a largish quantity
(300-500) large nymphs and just let them grow up. It will shave several
months off of getting a running colony with that few adults in it, and buying
several hundred nymphs is usually cheaper than just a few adults.

Okay great, thanks so much!!!