For the dubia know it alls!

[dociledragons]

Ceramic heaters and bulbs tend to dry out the air. As long as you aren't finding nymphs dead half molted though, you should be fine. As for the chick mash, don't even need to grind it. I just toss it on the floor of the bin in a corner and they eat away and also the little guys love to burrow in it and sleep. It doubles as substrate too. Just make sure it doesn't get all wet. And you should be able to find it at any feed store or farm store. Doesn't necessarily need to be organic but I would say corn free is nice since it seems a lot of stuff uses corn as one of the main ingredients and we all know corn really has no nutritional value and is more filler. Just make sure to get the starter chick mash which is the stuff for like up to 8 week old chicks since it should be finer but hey if you got a blender and wanna grind, more power to you. I'm just lazy and rather just scoop a couple handfuls out every few days and throw it in my breeder and feeder bins.

None of the babies are dieing just the adults. I keep the humidity at 40-50%. Thanks for the tip on chick chow.. b/c they don't seem to be eating the ground dog food.

 

[Sauzo]

No problem. And yea, 40-50% humidity should be fine. I keep mine at regular house humidity which i'm gonna guess is close to that as well. I just know bulbs and CHEs will dry the air a lot but hey, if it works, it works.

 

[dociledragons]

No problem. And yea, 40-50% humidity should be fine. I keep mine at regular house humidity which i'm gonna guess is close to that as well. I just know bulbs and CHEs will dry the air a lot but hey, if it works, it works.

You are right, Which is why I put a small container of water over the heating pad. But, I will be able to turn the heating element off once summer comes back.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Bump

 

[mortitia]

Oh silly question time.
How can you tell the difference between a dead roach & a molt?
How do you remove the small nymphs from the tank?
Cheers
Mort x

 

[SkeptiBee]

A molt won't have the weight that a dead roach will have. When you pick it up it feels like paper: thin, weightless, and usually there is a hole somewhere on the body where the roach pushed out.

Does anyone here use a humidifier for their roach tanks? I live in a very dry climate and during the winter humidity can drop to 30% even when I'm spraying water twice a day. I figure something more automatided could keep the colony hydrated more consistently than using a spray bottle. If anyone does use one, what brands do you use?

The colony I have is doing very well, I have tons of little nymphs running around in the bin now! I'm worried about some of the breeding females though. At least two that I could see have part of their egg sac partially poking from their body and it looks very dried out. It might be the humidity problem though so if I can get that fixed perhaps I can prevent any further females from having similar problems.

 

[Sauzo]

I don't use anything to raise the humidity. I just have them in the same room as my reptiles and have a dish with water crystals in their bin, both for breeders bin and feeders bin. I have no problems. The oothecas you see poking out of the females is their way on regulating their temps and moisture. I'm assuming you see lots of little babies running around? If so, I wouldn't worry. Dubia roaches are pretty hardy. If you are really worried, just cover the bin except for a small opening so it holds in more humidity and heat but like I said, I have never sprayed my roaches or anything since their substrate is chicken mash. I just leave a dish of water crystals and have the top about half open and I got babies all over.

 

[mortitia]

Thank you SkeptiBee.

I am finding these little creatures amazing, I just love to sit and watch them, especially when they molt (I thought it was a dead one) how all the legs are still there too & then you have a white roach roaming around.

I have progressed to handling the little ones, will work up from that.

I suppose that if I am finding roach shells lying around, it means the humidity must be ok?

 

[SkeptiBee]

Okay thanks! I'll just keep doing what I've been doing then. The bin they are in has an opening with mesh covering it, so the lid stays sealed tight. I have two cats, the one very fascinated with watching the bugs so she jumps on the bin a lot. They also have four separate aluminum containers, each filled with something different; one has veggies and fruit, two their roach food, and the last water crystals with a sponge on top. For a roach colony, they have a fairly organized set up. lol I generally check them once a week to see how they are doing. It's nice to see when more nymphs are scurrying about!

My colony is also super active. I'll being gaming and can hear the males fluttering their wings as well as running around. Every time I open the lid they've managed to rearrange their tubes they hide in.

Also, grats mortitia for getting the courage to handle your roaches! I know they can be really nasty for a lot of people. I find them just as fascinating really! I wish to a certain degree I could see what they do socially during the day and when they mate, gestate and give birth. They are pretty neat bugs!

I forgot to mention earlier too, as far as separating goes, I've seen some people use the gallon sized buckets with holes drilled into the bottoms so that the babies can fall through into another bucket below.

 

[Sauzo]

I would remove the sponge personally as sponges tend to be breeding grounds for bacteria. Just use the water crystals. They will eat the crystals for the water so then you can wash the dish and refill. With the sponge, it will just keep being used and if your roaches are anything like mine, they walk all over the water crystals and in the dish and poop in there too so the sponge will just harbor all that old poop and stuff.

 

[JTF801]

Whats your set up for your dubia roaches? I have a 1 year old bearded dragon and I was thinking about starting a colony.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

I have them for sale in the for sale section.

 

[Baldwin]

Whats your set up for your dubia roaches? I have a 1 year old bearded dragon and I was thinking about starting a colony.

Not to be rude, but did you bother to read this thread? The first post gives plenty of information to get started and the next 11 pages provide even more information and answers most questions.

Your question does not seem to be addressed to any one in particular and is very vague. If you have specific questions that have not been answered, then please feel free to ask and this community will bend over backwards to help.

-Jim

 

[dociledragons]

Whats your set up for your dubia roaches? I have a 1 year old bearded dragon and I was thinking about starting a colony.

Not to be rude, but did you bother to read this thread? The first post gives plenty of information to get started and the next 11 pages provide even more information and answers most questions.

Your question does not seem to be addressed to any one in particular and is very vague. If you have specific questions that have not been answered, then please feel free to ask and this community will bend over backwards to help.

-Jim

Thanks, Jim for making that point. So, many times people don't read or search prior posts. As another example I posted a local add stating "bearded dragon for sale only no cage". Yet, people still ask if there is a cage. grr.

 

[SkeptiBee]

Silly question, but have any of you had dubia nymphs dying off because they decided to bury themselves into the water crystals? All of the babies seem to really really love digging into the water crystal tray and camping in there.