Here is a picture of a female dubia laying an egg sack

[dmglakewood]

So I discovered last night that males CAN and DO fly!!

I am never friggin with my roaches at night time but since I got a baby leo I throw in a couple babies with her during the night so she can hunt....last night it was around 10 and I went to go the roach bin and there was 7 males hanging off the screen top :shock: WTF??? How in the world did they get up there?? Since my egg crates are nowheres near the top of my bin.

So I pinged them all off and got what I needed and put the cover back on, when I came back to check again there was 4 more stuck to the top...so I pinged them all off and sat and watched.....to my amazement they were going to the top of the crate and flying to the screen.....then one male flew from one side of the bin to the other and all you could hear was wings flapping then seen him go by the screen to the other side!

This freaked me out a bit, I put ANOTHER layer of screen over top of the existing one, I use aluminum screening but really don't want them to somehow chew their way out, we're also going to towntoday and buying another, bigger rubbermaid and Im going to do it up like a normal roach bin but set my bin inside it....I'm paranoid now, it makes me feel better with alittle extra protection since my house is HOT and HUMID all Summer long, I really don't need any to get loose!

Are you sure they are dubias? I have never witnessed a male fly or even attempt it. Wouldn't they make the attempt when I'm cleaning their tank? Can you take a picture of your roaches? Maybe they are
A> Not actually dubia roaches
B> Maybe you have a few other roaches mixed with your dubia

 

[Momto3boys]

I have had them since Sept and I have NEVER noticed them flying either....

They ARE Dubia's, I've posted pics of them before but here ya go

The only thing I can come up with is they were getting too hot and the males were the only ones that could kinda escape the heat or there was too many males (I dont know if this is even possible) but my bin was swarming with males, I took a crazy amount out yesterday and gave them to my friend who feeds them off and last night I checked a few times and there was nobody hanging off the top.

I do remember reading here somewheres that a male can and will fly short distances and I didn't believe it because mine had never done it.....now that I've seen it, I know it's true.

 

[DragonMomSandy]

BUMP!

Yes, the males actually can catch some air under those wings, but, their bodies are too heavy for them to really fly any distance so any flight is very short.

 

[Bradleyv1714]

Do any of you cut off the wings of the males when you feed them to your beardie's?

I was feeding my bd's today and I randomly thought that the wings have no meat so they are probably just wasted space, or could probably cause impaction.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

No the wings are fine.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Just adding in there that I agree the males can shudder their wings and get some air but not enough to go far. :wink: Also did an experiment and the bins where set up the exact same way, I added just fruit and or veggies for hydration and the same food I have been using and the colony did not produce the same baby ratio! Remember folks add in water crystals or water pillows cause they need the hydration and it will be gone. Also an orange every week cut in half and on the other days you can give them a sweet treat and use an apple but don't forget the food! Hope this helps....... :wink:

 

[Trogdorpheus]

the colony did not produce the same baby ratio!

Did you have the same number in each bin? Supposedly they breed better when its more densely populated. Not overcrowded, but far from empty.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Yep I had exactly 400 in each bin. And it took forever to count! :lol: Everything was the same in the bins from food, temps and ventilation. It seems they do better with moderate humidity. Of course it all depends on the life cycles to. Anyways I am still doing more research. :wink:

 

[wes]

Very interesting, Lance. What was the actual difference in the numbers of babies?

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Well I am still testing but it seems as if there where 200+ more babies but then again it all depends on the life cycle they are in and if some of them where or where not preggo befor I started the tests. Or how many the female actually laid because I found a few sacks in one of the bins.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Bump.

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Figured this would be a good place to get an answer rather than starting a new post. Let's say I find an eggsac on the ground of my tub, but it doesn't look whole... it looks hollow and burst open. Is that normal? I mean do the babies come out and then the mommy just drops the empty sac then? I would imagine if this is the case that the babies would munch down on it, most other animals in the wild will eat that kinda stuff right after the baby is born to get some nutrition back so I was just wondering if this is the case... and I just caught it at a rare moment before it was devoured. If so then yay I have 20-30 more babies, if not then aww... 20-30 dead babies...

Edit: Well I went and checked on this thing again, and turns out it doesn't look as hollow as I thought... sad day. But still broken open... wonder if there's still a chance something came out of it...

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Hey Matt, there could be a chance of them emerging from the sac only if they are a day away from being born if it stays warm inside where they are at. If not them yes it is a dead dropped sac. You will also sometimes see the babies eating off of the sac to get the rest of the nutrients. Out in the wild some other critter will in fact eat the sac. Just how it goes in the wild. Hope that helps ya....

 

[DragonMomSandy]

BUMP!

 

[AndyT]

This is a great thread, I read the whole thing throughout the past few days, great pics and info. Since I finished all my reading, I thought I would ask a question. I have recently started a ridiculously small colony, and I was wondering- is 1 adult pair and 100 babies enough to actually start a healthy colony? Or will I have to buy more adults later? Also after reading this thread, I realize that my ONE female has recently dropped her egg sack, so no babies for me i think I have to bump up my temps. Will she be able to breed again, or does her dropping it mean she's done forever?

Thanks for a great thread!

Andy