Dubia issues

[steph2one11]

I recently started breeding dubia and one of my dubia finally had babies last night! , but this morning when I woke up half of them were dead and my zoo med heating pad on the bottom of the tub was extremely hot the temp inside the tub was 120 (the highest it's ever been before this was 101 and the temp is usually regulated around 90-98) so I unplugged the heat pad, I checked on the dubia around 11am and without the heat pad the temp in the tub was 67 so I plugged the heat pad back in, I just now checked on it at 5pm and the temp was 135!!! All my babies were dead and there was an egg sack in the middle of the tub by itself(not stuck to a mommy dubia). What the heck is up with my heating pad?

I used to have it floating on top of a 15 gallon tank(I moved it two days ago), but the tub is see through so I moved it under my beardies tank on the ground in the dark, could that be why it's getting to hot?

Or does it being hot have nothing to do with the babies dieing?

 

[randommonks]

That sounds way too hot and is probably the cause of the high dieoffs. I've read that temps should be around 90F or so to maximize breeding. I personally never had a heat source in my bin (when I had one) and my dubias still bred very well at around 80F in my closet. Have you tried a CHE instead or a heat pad?

 

[steph2one11]

I have a heat pad and that's what was acting wacky, and I don't have a Che :? I have been saving up my money for a month just to buy the correct bulb for my beardie, I don't have a job and I have to do manual labor for my grampa in his workshop to earn money, and I only get ten dollars an hour, ( I work an hour and he barely has work for me so I only work when he needs me too) so poo, now I have to find a new way to heat my dubias :?

 

[randommonks]

Ahh that stinks. You've probably already checked this but does the heat pad have a dial where you can adjust the heat? Could you put a few layers of towels or old clothes between the heat pad and the dubia tub so it can dampen the heat a bit? Not sure if this could be classified as a fire hazard or not though...

 

[4roTwenty]

Sounds like you might need a new heat pad. I recommend a standard human heating pad, they will never reach temps that hot. I purchased one off amazon for 22 dollars. Hooked to a thermostat, my temps stay 88-90 constantly. Zoo-med types get to hot. And make sure there is no automatic shut off.

 

[steph2one11]

My heat pad pooped the bed :? :lol: , I'm going to try heat tape, I've read about it on several other posts but if no luck there I'm going with the human heating pad, wish me luck :lol: , haha thank you for all the help to the both of you it was very much appreciated.

 

[Burra]

I use a Sunbeam brand human heating pad on low with no problems. Just make sure you get one that does not have automatic shutoff. I spent around $19 total with shipping from Amazon for mine, and it's also oversized.

Let us know how the heating tape works, I've heard of people using it but never heard "real life" experience.

 

[Brieana]

Maybe try putting the heat pad up on its side next to the bin, instead of underneath? Either way, it sounds like it needs to be replaced.

 

[steph2one11]

I put the heat tape on today, so far temps have been in the steady 70's, I have put there bin next to my wood stove and temps are at 80-83... I'll keep you updated about the tape

 

[wykd]

cant beat the human heating pad, 3 colonies up for over 2 yrs all 3 running on sunbeam heat pads

 

[steph2one11]

I think I'm deffinatley going to get the heat pad, none of my dubia have had babies since the first time when they all died so I order more so I could at least have a couple more males, this will put me at 20 female 6 males in a bin about 7.5 sqf I'm think, hopefully this will get the colony going.

 

[wykd]

just a tip.... with that few of dubias, use a small container that will just hold 1/2 a egg crate and provider a small area for food. I would just feed them oranges, no water or anything else. They will get their hydration from the oranges and something about oranges get dubias breeding nicely.

When I start up a colony that is how i do it. I firmly believe in having at least 3 colonies going. 1 to feed, one to rest and one breeding/starter. I keep one small bin of nothing but 30 females & 5 males, I put their offspring in the colony thats off rotation and not fed upon.

Sooner or later you will have a surplus of adult females/males and you can start expanding the size of the bin's. They dont need alot of room and love to be cramped and on top of each other. I keep over 5k in a 10gal container and your talking about a few adults in a 7gal. thats to much space imo to get the best results, drop down to a smaller container (3-5gal) and just feed it dont feed off it.

if you use the sunbeam heating pad: get one that has the 24hr on override and does not shut off every 2hrs. I just turn them on setting 6 (max) and let it go, the max temp i ever got off one was low 90's which is just right. also not sure if you have enuff humidity in there or not, they like humidity over 40% to prosper/molt. You can use a small bowl and put some screen over it and keep it full of water to help raise humdity in the bin also.

 

[steph2one11]

Thank you so much for all the tips I will deffinately look for a smaller bin on my next trip to the store, and no joke, every time I go grocery shopping whether it's on the list or not I forget oranges :roll: :lol:, I should go shopping tonight, oranges will be the first thing I grab haha :lol: