Roach colony moving along slowly...

[burt1016]

I bought 150 mixed dubia 5 months ago. Around the 1 month marker I was seeing babys, I thought I would have a sustainable colony in no time. Now, I have many many large nymphs but after cleaning out the bin, I haven't seen any babys for at least 2 months. I know they are not in there, because I honestly haven't seen one dead or alive even after sifting through the poop. I did notice that some looked much larger and much flatter and had black legs. I remember having a discoid colony a while ago, and after finding a lot of dubia/lobsters/discoids at the bottom of some exo earth, I added all the dubia-looking ones into the roach bin. I was wondering if the black legged-flat large roaches were discoid nymphs?

How can I speed up the breeding? The bin is right next to a heater and I have been feeding them oranges for weeks. NO BABIES! I saw at least 3 full grown females.

 

[wes]

I don't think your temps are high enough. After 5 months, most of your 150 nymphs should be adults if the temps were in the mid 80's. If you're temps are too low, it will really slow down their reproduction. Also, you need adults, especially females, to get a colony going. I hope you have more than the three.

 

[burt1016]

Im sure I have more than 3 females, It was a quick glance and that's how many i saw. I know the temps are in the mid 70s. How can I raise the temps further?

 

[jon21388]

temps can be raised using a heat mat if you are already not using one. Temps can also be risen if you cover some of the screen on the top of your bin up. This will also change the humidity around so watch out for that also.

 

[essenm25]

I just bought a heat pad for under my bin do I keep it on high? I also can't find anyone that carries a heat pad that doesn't have an auto turn off!

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

I got mine at CVS.

 

[keen77]

i found a good hating pad on amazon too

 

[doopie]

I disassembled the timer on the pad and then removed it and hardwired. Have had it in my bins for the past year and no issues.

Good luck