Dubia Frass Health Risk?

[Shard]

I started breeding dubia roaches at the beginning of the year and they've been THRIVING over the summer, but after recently doing a full cleaning of their bin I started to get extremely sick. I was on antibiotics for a sinus infection, and not even a week later it's back in full force. I'm worried it might be linked as I keep my beardie & her roaches in my room, and ever since my health started declining a few years back I've been more prone to illness.

...Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if Xion's feeling it too. The bin is situated right below her tank and she's been hiding in her cave all summer. I'm not sure if it's brumation since she's usually awake enough to give me The Glare, and she's been eating roaches, but refuses greens now.

I'm gonna play it by ear and see if I can take more precautions with cleaning but I'm worried it could be the end of the line. Are there other good staple feeders that are cleaner/don't pose as much of a risk?

 

[xp29]

I started breeding dubia roaches at the beginning of the year and they've been THRIVING over the summer, but after recently doing a full cleaning of their bin I started to get extremely sick. I was on antibiotics for a sinus infection, and not even a week later it's back in full force. I'm worried it might be linked as I keep my beardie & her roaches in my room, and ever since my health started declining a few years back I've been more prone to illness.

...Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if Xion's feeling it too. The bin is situated right below her tank and she's been hiding in her cave all summer. I'm not sure if it's brumation since she's usually awake enough to give me The Glare, and she's been eating roaches, but refuses greens now.

I'm gonna play it by ear and see if I can take more precautions with cleaning but I'm worried it could be the end of the line. Are there other good staple feeders that are cleaner/don't pose as much of a risk?

I'm not sure about dubias but superworms trigger my allergies if I don't wash my hands after handling them.

 

[Shard]

I'm not sure about dubias but superworms trigger my allergies if I don't wash my hands after handling them.

I always wash my hands after handling the roaches or Xion!

For now I switched to a more naturalistic setup at the suggestion of some people on discord and I now wear a face mask any time I mess with it. That way the frass doesn't kick up into the air, it stays in the substrate. The roaches seem to LOVE IT, and now it smells like autumn in there instead of roaches.

We'll see how I fare with the potential allergy!

 

[Claudiusx]

Dubia frass is known to cause allergic reactions in some. Always wear an N95 mask or respirator when cleaning the bins. You shouldn't be feeling any ill effects from them just being in the room (unless you're really allergic to them) but exposing your respiratory tract to the frass when cleaning will definitely irritate it.

More than likely, it's just bad timing with the sicknesses you've had.

-Brandon