Isopod/roly poly bugs as cleaners for dubia

[fluffpuffgerbil]

So I've caught some isopods/pill bugs and want to use them for cleaner bugs. Problem is, I have 3 of the ones that roll up into a ball (1 of which I know is female, unsure of the others) and the rest look just like them, stone grey, just flatter and don't roll up, but still isopods. Can I use both of these as cleaner bugs?

 

[Taterbug]

Yep. They are just different species. Are your dubia in a dry bin setup? Isopods require humidty/dampness.

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Oh, I also just found more rolling ones, so now I have like 6! I might just breed them for the fun of it.

And yeah, it is pretty dry in there... Hmmm. Might not work since I did read that they need the moisture to breathe/thrive. And all I feed my roaches anymore is carrots, whole wheat bread, and other things occasionally. I've had terrible luck with mold, so I have one batch of roaches in a medium critter keeper and another batch in a ten gallon glass tank to reduce so much moisture.

Right now my isopods are in a mason jar with a cloth lid to allow airflow, a piece of rotting wood, a stick to climb on, a leaf, and a some pinches of dirt I grabbed with the bugs. I plan to mist them. But I rather not mist the roaches...

I am thinking of getting some hissers as pets and giving them a moister setup, so maybe I can use them in there. (My mom thinks I'm weird for wanting pet roaches but I just love them!))

 

[Taterbug]

I just setup a roach terrarium in my living room so not weird to me anyway. yeah, I wouldn't advise adding moisture to a breeding colony unless you keep them on substrate (which is an option) it can make the frass super nasty.

Dermestid beetles/larvae can be used in dry setups but you want to make sure they don't get out.

It's still worth feeding your roaches better, the better they are fed the more nutritous they are. Mine like squash and it doesn't seem to mold too badly, or feed them less.

For the isos mine like to hang out under rocks and leaves, which also helps trap moisture. They are pretty charming on their own

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Yeah, I know I need to get my roaches some better food rahter than just carrots and bread scraps. Oh, I give them bananas as well when we have them. I was thinking of looking at the store for maybe a corn-based cheap dog food? Something without toooo much protein in it that I can easily feed them(and moisten the food slightly so they can eat it better). I used to give them mustard green extras but it makes them smell awful. At least the carrots make them smell sweet-ish.

But I've not had the best luck with my dubia for some reason haha. I've been sort of over run with them since I don't feed them off very often. I have two adult beardies and just got a baby.... One adult eats maybe 5 or 6 large nymphs(can't feed off my males anymore since I only have a few), my other adult is on a salad-only diet with a leftover roach here and there since he needs to lose weight, and my baby is eating maybe 10-15 nymphs a day, aprox. the size of the space between his eyes, which doesn't really affect much.

I had so many roaches I had to fill a huge bin with them and put them in the garage and keep a feeder bin in my room(which turned into a breeder bin... my room is warm enough apparently that they don't need an extra heat source to breed)... and well, I accidentally forgot about my roaches downstairs. Just the other day I went down and salvaged as many as I could, and I'm just going to discard the extras I can't get out of the frass. So now I have my two bins in my room and I'm trying a lot harder to keep them clean.

I'll try to get them some more nutritious food too.... I also gave them a small piece of leftover cheese pizza and boy did they eat that up! The next day I was feeding my juvie and teasing that he was getting cheese-filled roaches haha

Also yeah, the isos are pretty fun to watch =)

 

[Taterbug]

I have rabbit food for when I can't feed fresh. I offer it with water crystals. It's also really inexpencive.

I offer wet food and veg on a big plastic plate, if I don't it soaks into the frass more and things get gross. I don't know how it will make them smell, I havnt been around them so much to notice changes like that.

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

What type of rabbit food? The alfalfa pellets? We have a rabbit and he gets those pellets along with his greens, so if it's the long greenish pellets, I can steal some of those for the roaches

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Can mealworms work for clean up crew? Would they eat dead roaches along with clean up the food remains the roaches are done with? Someone mentioned mealies for cleaners, and at least then I could feed them off to my leo if I got too many.

 

[Taterbug]

Yep, the alphas ones.

Mealies and supers can serve as cleanup crews (in soil though) but im not sure how well they would or wouldn't do in a roach colony. I suppose you could try. Are they dead roaches or just molts?

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

I've sworn off supers since they are mean buggers and make my lizards fat (they're why my adult bearded is on a diet) haha, so I'd go with mealies. Also right now, I don't think there are any dead ones in my critter keeper at least since I just cleaned it, so if anything, there will be molts since I have a lot of young roaches in there. I think there's like one dead younger roach, but he might have gotten hurt by a rolling carrot (oops...)

Not sure if I have many die offs in my glass tank either since I just completely cleaned that one as well. I was hoping to get some cleaner bugs to help me with the upkeep in the future =P

 

[Taterbug]

I've sworn off supers since they are mean buggers and make my lizards fat (they're why my adult bearded is on a diet) haha, so I'd go with mealies. Also right now, I don't think there are any dead ones in my critter keeper at least since I just cleaned it, so if anything, there will be molts since I have a lot of young roaches in there. I think there's like one dead younger roach, but he might have gotten hurt by a rolling carrot (oops...)

Not sure if I have many die offs in my glass tank either since I just completely cleaned that one as well. I was hoping to get some cleaner bugs to help me with the upkeep in the future =P

Ok well the molts aren't as nasty as bodies. Hope it work for you! I'd be interested to hear about it

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Alright, so it looks like I will get a batch of mealies(probably just from petco) and toss them in with one of my roach bins, and I'll continue to try and raise the isos/breed them maybe so I can put them in with some hissers if I get them. If not, I have pet isos, which are cool in themselves. I've really been getting into invertebrates lately.

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

I went ahead and bought some dog food from the store today, along with some oranges to feed them and an acorn squash which I can feed to both the roaches and the dragon =) The dog food is 18% crude protein, hopefully that will not be too much for them, though I would have preferred 16%

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Reading up more on the diet for roaches, I think that the dog food will just be a supplement, not a main source of food for the roaches, too. =) I don't want to give them tooooo much protein or other corn or soy things which are in the dog food