why are my Dubias celibate? They are NOT breeding...

[Fredsdad]

Wondering why my Dubias aren't breeding...temps are 90-95, they are in a large bin with lots of egg crates. I dont mess with them unless Im spraying the walls or feeding them. Im putting Navel oranges in and they are tearing them up, but Im not seeing ANY babies. Been about 45 days since I have had them. Just wondering if there is anything I can do to speed this up.

There are around 20 females and 15 males in there.

 

[anamlgrl]

Try adjusting the ratios of males to females. I believe it should be 1 male to every 5 females. Too many males may stress out the females.

 

[clear]

I wouldnt worry about the male:female ratio. The last thing you want to have happen is to kill your potential production because all your males one day died. Once you get 100+ adult females is when I would typically recommend the lower ratio. I keep my breeder room at 85F. I never noticed a production growth when temps reached 90-95 so I keep them at a warm 85F. Your only at day 45 and only have a hand full of females. I wouldnt stress if you dont see any babies just yet, give it time.

 

[Claudiusx]

I'm with clear, I usually keep my bin at 85-87 and it seems to be optimal. When I had it in the mid 90's I was seeing practically no babies.

-Brandon

 

[wes]

A while back, I took a small sample (12 females, 3 males) of adults who had become mature within a few days. It took almost two months until babies appeared. So I suspect you'll start seeing babies within two weeks. Temps I had were in the mid-80's F.

 

[Fredsdad]

Temps now 82-85. Going to leave it there for a while to see.

 

[Fredsdad]

Also, i read somewhere that they breed better with nymphs already in the bin and not JUST adults. Any truth to this? I have about 400 small nymphs and I could put 100 or so in the bin with them if that would help...any thoughts on this?

 

[clear]

Also, i read somewhere that they breed better with nymphs already in the bin and not JUST adults. Any truth to this? I have about 400 small nymphs and I could put 100 or so in the bin with them if that would help...any thoughts on this?

Once a month I pull all the babies out that I can. I have spoke to other breeders that leave the babies in, but by comparing numbers I dont think it really matters much.