Hey everyone, long time no see, missed you ! :wink:
I got a question first. As i live in a small place and dont have any other choice but to keep dubias/mealworms/superworms with me, i mean, really close to me, few steps from my kitchen, few steps from my bed, few steps from my working area, etc...i had to start thinking bout what to do with em. And with it i mean a) smell b) allergy.
Its a fact that they even in perfect condition give a mild smell. Well, i dont want any of that. Also, dubias in big numbers are known to cause allergy, even if mild one. Dont want any of that also. :mrgreen:
Soo my idea is this:
Big wooden closet, airtight. 2 holes, 1 on the bottom left, 1 on the top right. The bottom one is smaller then the top one. 1 fan in each hole ( again, bottom fan is smaller then the top fan ), bottom one blowing air in, top one pulling air out. Filter is put over the bottom fan just to make sure no allergens can leave the closet for whatever reason AT ALL ( dust, mites, skins, etc., like i said, for whatever reason, even though fan is blowing the air in, its good to be safe ). What kind of filter ? Well, prolly the one you usualy put over your mouth would be good, i need to buy one like that aswell, and use it everytime i deal with roaches.
Allright, soo to continue. The top hole would be connected with a hole in the wall and that hole goes to the roof and out of the building. The idea is that constant air movement would take most of the smell and particless out of the closet, also the fact that closet will always be a few degress hoter then the outside of the closet will help, hot air moves up, soo since air in closet is hotter then the fresh air that comes inside closet should help.
Ok soo lets talk about this, what do you think ? I deal with computers for many years and i work a lot with cooling solutions....and this closet, if u think about it, is really much like computer case. Bottom fan in, top fan out, .... i think it should work. If nothing else, closet will be airtight as far as air leaving from closet to room is concerned ( the only way air can leave closet is the hole leaving the building ). Soo if nothing else, there wont be as much smell/particles as long as the closet is closed, i will only open it when i feed roaches or take em out to be fed to something...and thats like few seconds every few days.
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Now its time for my idea, errrr. Well lets face it, its both idea/question, just as the previous text.
I love my dubias and my mealies, they are much fun to raise. But both have a few downsides.
- Mealworms are known to die and become very hard. Soo hard that other mealies cant or wont eat them. Well, its not much of a problem but still, why go to waste. And here comes the solution. Dubias love dead mealies ( dry healty ones, not the black stinky ones ).
- Dubias .... almoast perfect critters. But ..... a big colony makes a big mess. Its easy to clean their fecals, since they are soo small, you can use a strainer to get rid of fecals and still not lose any baby dubias. But what about dead skins. Or even worse. Dead dubias, which instead of getting dry, get all moist and stinky....very stinky...even 1 is stinky....and with many many dubias, many will die of old age...many stinky dubias. Well i got the solution. Wait for it...Mealworms ! They eat dubias skins, and more importainly, they eat dead dubias. They LOVE dead dubias. If you make sure mealworms dont get any quality food, they will eat dubias skins for breakfast, and if u make sure they get no moisture, they will eat dead dubias in seconds. Nothing will be left behind exept 1 or 2 pieces of shell that is too hard to eat. How to make sure mealworms dont get any quality food/moisture ? Well, they arent as good climbers as roaches are. Soo its quite simple. A few steep walls, maybe a material like plastic that is gently grinded.....its just a matter of testing.
Soo you ask, why mix dubias and mealworms together, cant they both clean their own cr*p ? They can but they arent very efficient at it. Like i said, mealworms dont tend to eat their dead friends, unless they are soft. Which they usualy arent, they are hard as stone. Their skins arent a problem though, they take care of em. But dead melies are eaten by dubias. And dubias dont really like their skins much in my experience. And they rarely eat their dead friends, only if you deny them food/moisture for a long time, which isnt really what you want, if u want dubias to grow fast.
And last thing, u probably think that mixing mealies and dubias will mess everything up. Well this idea is for dubias only. Meaning, mealies in this colony wont be used for food, only dubias will. And if u use adult dubias, mealies wont be a problem when u pick dubias out, since they are soo big. You still have to have another box for mealworms, cause it will be very hard to pick them out of dubia colony, but thats not their job anyway, their job in dubia colony is simple. They are garbage men and women ( and children ). They clean the roach neighbourhood, cause roaches are lazy punks who just eat and sleep.
ps: in the end....mites.....we all hate them. But here is a thought. Mites contain moisture. Mites are small, but not as small as flour parts. And mealworms have no problems eating flour. Soo why wont they eat mites when they are hungry, at least small mealies who have small mouths and keen eyes ? But in anycase, mealworms should help in preventing or removing mites from dubia colonys, since moisture level on the ground will be practicly zero. And mealies are perfect for this job. They dont NEED moisture. But if moisture is avalible ( like dead dubia ! ), they will deal with it like profesionals.
Soo, if ur eyes are still attached to your head after reading this, please comment !!
Much Luw, goblinsly :wave:
I got a question first. As i live in a small place and dont have any other choice but to keep dubias/mealworms/superworms with me, i mean, really close to me, few steps from my kitchen, few steps from my bed, few steps from my working area, etc...i had to start thinking bout what to do with em. And with it i mean a) smell b) allergy.
Its a fact that they even in perfect condition give a mild smell. Well, i dont want any of that. Also, dubias in big numbers are known to cause allergy, even if mild one. Dont want any of that also. :mrgreen:
Soo my idea is this:
Big wooden closet, airtight. 2 holes, 1 on the bottom left, 1 on the top right. The bottom one is smaller then the top one. 1 fan in each hole ( again, bottom fan is smaller then the top fan ), bottom one blowing air in, top one pulling air out. Filter is put over the bottom fan just to make sure no allergens can leave the closet for whatever reason AT ALL ( dust, mites, skins, etc., like i said, for whatever reason, even though fan is blowing the air in, its good to be safe ). What kind of filter ? Well, prolly the one you usualy put over your mouth would be good, i need to buy one like that aswell, and use it everytime i deal with roaches.
Allright, soo to continue. The top hole would be connected with a hole in the wall and that hole goes to the roof and out of the building. The idea is that constant air movement would take most of the smell and particless out of the closet, also the fact that closet will always be a few degress hoter then the outside of the closet will help, hot air moves up, soo since air in closet is hotter then the fresh air that comes inside closet should help.
Ok soo lets talk about this, what do you think ? I deal with computers for many years and i work a lot with cooling solutions....and this closet, if u think about it, is really much like computer case. Bottom fan in, top fan out, .... i think it should work. If nothing else, closet will be airtight as far as air leaving from closet to room is concerned ( the only way air can leave closet is the hole leaving the building ). Soo if nothing else, there wont be as much smell/particles as long as the closet is closed, i will only open it when i feed roaches or take em out to be fed to something...and thats like few seconds every few days.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now its time for my idea, errrr. Well lets face it, its both idea/question, just as the previous text.
I love my dubias and my mealies, they are much fun to raise. But both have a few downsides.
- Mealworms are known to die and become very hard. Soo hard that other mealies cant or wont eat them. Well, its not much of a problem but still, why go to waste. And here comes the solution. Dubias love dead mealies ( dry healty ones, not the black stinky ones ).
- Dubias .... almoast perfect critters. But ..... a big colony makes a big mess. Its easy to clean their fecals, since they are soo small, you can use a strainer to get rid of fecals and still not lose any baby dubias. But what about dead skins. Or even worse. Dead dubias, which instead of getting dry, get all moist and stinky....very stinky...even 1 is stinky....and with many many dubias, many will die of old age...many stinky dubias. Well i got the solution. Wait for it...Mealworms ! They eat dubias skins, and more importainly, they eat dead dubias. They LOVE dead dubias. If you make sure mealworms dont get any quality food, they will eat dubias skins for breakfast, and if u make sure they get no moisture, they will eat dead dubias in seconds. Nothing will be left behind exept 1 or 2 pieces of shell that is too hard to eat. How to make sure mealworms dont get any quality food/moisture ? Well, they arent as good climbers as roaches are. Soo its quite simple. A few steep walls, maybe a material like plastic that is gently grinded.....its just a matter of testing.
Soo you ask, why mix dubias and mealworms together, cant they both clean their own cr*p ? They can but they arent very efficient at it. Like i said, mealworms dont tend to eat their dead friends, unless they are soft. Which they usualy arent, they are hard as stone. Their skins arent a problem though, they take care of em. But dead melies are eaten by dubias. And dubias dont really like their skins much in my experience. And they rarely eat their dead friends, only if you deny them food/moisture for a long time, which isnt really what you want, if u want dubias to grow fast.
And last thing, u probably think that mixing mealies and dubias will mess everything up. Well this idea is for dubias only. Meaning, mealies in this colony wont be used for food, only dubias will. And if u use adult dubias, mealies wont be a problem when u pick dubias out, since they are soo big. You still have to have another box for mealworms, cause it will be very hard to pick them out of dubia colony, but thats not their job anyway, their job in dubia colony is simple. They are garbage men and women ( and children ). They clean the roach neighbourhood, cause roaches are lazy punks who just eat and sleep.
ps: in the end....mites.....we all hate them. But here is a thought. Mites contain moisture. Mites are small, but not as small as flour parts. And mealworms have no problems eating flour. Soo why wont they eat mites when they are hungry, at least small mealies who have small mouths and keen eyes ? But in anycase, mealworms should help in preventing or removing mites from dubia colonys, since moisture level on the ground will be practicly zero. And mealies are perfect for this job. They dont NEED moisture. But if moisture is avalible ( like dead dubia ! ), they will deal with it like profesionals.
Soo, if ur eyes are still attached to your head after reading this, please comment !!
Much Luw, goblinsly :wave: