Dubia shedding and feeding questions

[FishboneNC]

I bought a 1000 roaches from someone on craigs list, it was a good deal and my colony is not producing enough...most were kinda big to feed to my 7 month old so I separated them into two colonies according to size, one colony around 3/4" and larger and another bin of nymphs from my original colony and the smaller ones from the craigs list batch.

The first bin is around 85 degrees and around 65% humidity, around 550 roaches, mostly 3/4" and larger.
The 'carcasses' I'm finding are dried out, shells with legs....a LOT of carcasses!
They don't eat as much as the next bin I have.

The next bin sits on top of the first (I only have a heater under the bottom bin) the temp is around 72 degrees and humidity is around 70%, around 1000 roaches, around 700 are under 3/8" nymphs the rest around 3/4". Very few carcases.
In this bin they are eating 3 times the amount as the nearly adult size bin!
A half orange disappears overnight! 4 tea spoons of chow (the same chow for both bins) is gone in a day!

Do roaches shed the whole body, shell and legs etc?
Or just the shell?

Why the HUGE difference in food consumption?
I though smaller roaches kept at lower temps would eat less!

Maybe too many males in the first bin?
Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Soulwind]

When they molt, they leave behind an entire empty shell.

You can usually tell the difference between an actual carcass and a discarded molt though.

A carcass will be much more substantial (even if it's been eaten on a little) than a molt.
A molt is pretty much completely flat and dried up.

I also tend to find the bigger molts in groups (ie a whole bunch, probably from the same or near
same birthing time, all molt with a few days of each other).

I think you're probably seeing old molts left behind as they grow. The larger they are
the more visible of a molt they leave behind (the little ones just tend to get mixed up into the frass).

As to eating, well 1000 are going to eat more than 500. Plus the smaller ones (ie rapidly growing) are
going to eat more than the adult/near-adult bin would (those are more concerned with getting that final
molt to adulthood and then breeding).

 

[Lindz0518]

I can always tell the difference between a molt and a dead roach because the dead ones have black legs and the left over molt had whitish legs.

 

[FishboneNC]

Thanks Soul, I thought the little ones would eat more, there's more of them and they're more active, didn't think they could eat THAT much more!

Thanks Lindz, they must be molts, they have whitish legs and are completely flat and dried up!
That's a relief, I was worried I was having a massive die off!

Thanks again!

 

[unkempt1]

Sounds like you're doing the right thing. Your breeder bin is seeing lots of molts, which is what you want considering not all of them are adults. Feed your feeders and your breeders right (with the right breeding environment), and you should be golden. Sounds like you were able to snag up a gem on Craigslist!

The only question I got is about your female to male ratio. As long as its around 5 females to each male you should be ok. You just want to make sure it isn't like 1:1 because the males will spend most of their time killing each other!

 

[Beardedjax]

I got a bearded around 7 months ago and he's eating like crazy he eat 4dozen cricket in 2 day what should I do?

 

[FishboneNC]

I got a bearded around 7 months ago and he's eating like crazy he eat 4dozen cricket in 2 day what should I do?

First, I would feed him Dubia roaches, they're more nutritious and more filling... 3 crickets equal 1 roach.

Someone asked the same question.
Read this:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=183996

 

[FishboneNC]

Sounds like you're doing the right thing. Your breeder bin is seeing lots of molts, which is what you want considering not all of them are adults. Feed your feeders and your breeders right (with the right breeding environment), and you should be golden. Sounds like you were able to snag up a gem on Craigslist!

The only question I got is about your female to male ratio. As long as its around 5 females to each male you should be ok. You just want to make sure it isn't like 1:1 because the males will spend most of their time killing each other!

Thanks, I feel better now that I know it is molts and not a die off.
Yes, it was a good deal.

I took a quick peek and noticed a few males with chewed up wings!
I'll need to spend some time counting!

Thanks