Male dubia agression?

[gregorydragon]

Why would my male dubia's wings be destroyed? I read another thread a while ago about a males wing's being chewed up, but now I can't find that one. I have seen 2 so far. I just now looked in my tote and saw a bright white male with his *@!$% wings already chewed off :shock: . As I stared at him, I realized that he was running away from another male! What would cause this? Temps are consistently 85-88 degrees. I have a heating pad underneath. I don't know the exact humidity, but it feels like rainforest humidity every time I go in there. It is usually well above 40% humidity outside anyway. The dishes are stocked with water crystals and Jason's roach chow. I probably have around 400 nymphs and I don't know how many adults (I'm counting them next weekend). It seems like I have a lot of adult males though. If there were more adult males than females, could this cause the agressiveness?

 

[gregorydragon]

I've been racking my brain all day trying to figure this out. I have emailed lots of people that would have info on roach behavior and came across a few links for anyone that is interested:

http://www.blattodea.net/showthread.php?t=82
http://www.blattodea.net/showthread.php?t=160

 

[dawnki]

You should have about one male for every 5-10 females. If it gets overcrowded with too many males there will be more competition and aggression. I culled lots of males and fed them to my turtles---poor boys----but what can ya do??

good luck!

 

[gregorydragon]

You should have about one male for every 5-10 females. If it gets overcrowded with too many males there will be more competition and aggression. I culled lots of males and fed them to my turtles---poor boys----but what can ya do??

good luck!

Just at a glance, I think I'll be "disposing of" at least 15 or 20 adult males. They are everywhere and my beardie is only 3 months old so he can't eat them. like you said "what can ya do??"

 

[dawnki]

Yeah, my dragon is still too young to make a meal out of the adults, too.

 

[1happymommy]

I thought I read that they can live 1.5 yrs. So you may want to put them in another container and keep them for the future.

I'm having problems with the roaches being to big for my 9 week old. He has eaten all the ones for his size. Now he's eating PW until my next shipment gets in. My colony hasn't really started to breed yet. I can't wait for them to get busy.

Can adult beardies eat the adult size males? They seem so big. How many would you give him in one sitting?

 

[dawnki]

I thought I read that they can live 1.5 yrs. So you may want to put them in another container and keep them for the future.

I'm having problems with the roaches being to big for my 9 week old. He has eaten all the ones for his size. Now he's eating PW until my next shipment gets in. My colony hasn't really started to breed yet. I can't wait for them to get busy.

Can adult beardies eat the adult size males? They seem so big. How many would you give him in one sitting?

Yes, adult dragons can handle eating adult male dubias. Some folks actually cut off their wings prior to feeding. I couldn't do this personally. :|