B. dubia

A

Allpetroaches

Macropanesthia
Posted by Terry on 6/6/2006, 8:55 pm

68.92.113.1

Let me start off first by telling you about my setup. I have a 10 gallon rubbermade containter that has been covered all over with black felt for insulation. I have cut two vent holes in the sides and top and have covered them with screen. I used 12x12 egg flats standing vertically for the roaches to hide in. There is about 1 inch of sand substrate. I keep the cage at about 87-90 degrees using an under cage heater and a 25 watt RED lightbulb. There are about 130 roaches. I feed them ground dog food, lettuce, apples, oats,etc. and I use water gel crystals. I bought my first batch of roaches about a month ago. There were several adult females and males. Since that time I have built up my colony to 130 roaches. I can't understand why I have not seen any babies yet; also, I very seldom see the roaches eating; I rarely even see the roaches. In the month since I got the first roaches, I had to alter the cage several times, disturbing the roaches. Could this have stressed the roaches out to where they cannot breed? It also seems like I have a high mortality rate. I have found around 8 dead roaches, most of them around 3/4" long.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do or what I am doing wrong? Also, if I do happen to see babies, what is the best way to get them out without totally disrupting the rest of the colony? I would appreciate any help I can get. Thanks.

Terry

okiedopey@yahoo.com

 
Posted by DAVE on 6/7/2006, 10:06 am, in reply to "b. dubia"

68.186.122.2

Hey Terrie, your setup is pretty much the same as mine , I thought I was doing something wrong at first, becasue I had no nymphs for a long time, loner than a month for sure. they seem to take a bit to get going ,but once they do , they really go for it. The only thing different for my dubia is the temps are at 83-85, I heat the room instead of the bins and thats about as warm as I can stand it.All of the roaches breed like madd at this temp. But I cant explain the die off, they are usually pretty tough. Patience will have to be exersised in getting babies, Dave

davegrimm1@yahoo.com

 
Posted by Terry Womack on 6/7/2006, 5:53 pm, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

68.92.113.1

Hey Dave,

Thanks for the reply. The one thing I've always been short of is patience! I hate to think how many times that little fault has gotten me in trouble.

I live in a small one bedroom apt. and I am ill. I cannot keep the rooms that warm so I have to heat the enclosure. It seems like everyone has a different opinion about the temp. Some say mid eighties, some 90 to 95 and yet another says 100 degrees. I thought 90 sounded like a good in-between.

Thanks again for the reply. It is good to know maybe the roaches are slow at procreation instead of something wrong with my care.

 
Posted by Digby Rigby on 6/7/2006, 8:34 pm, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

207.69.137.26

Get rid of the lightbulb. Generally if roaches are dying at the same time or size you dont have sufficient humidity. Incandescent bulbs will dry out the air. Also keep them dark. Do you have alot of empty space in the bins you are keeping them in. If so add more roaches or move them to a smaller container until the the numbers increase. An increase in humidity seems to be iin order that should stop the deaths

DigbyRigby@exoticfeeders.com

 
Posted by Terry Womack on 6/7/2006, 10:28 pm, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

68.92.113.1

Thanks for the info about the light. I'm broken hearted. I found two of my big females belly up just a few minutes ago and looking at them, they do look like they are dried up. I thought misting the cage twice a day would keep the humidity up.

What really bothers me is I doubt these dead roaches ran out into the open to die for the benefit of dying where I could see them. I shudder to think of how many dead roaches are where I can't see them. I DON'T want to disturb the cage again. Which nobody has answered my question of how to get the baby roaches out assumming I ever have any.

Wish me (and the roaches) luck

 
Posted by Digby Rigby on 6/8/2006, 1:40 pm, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

4.233.17.153

Terry I feel your pain. I had similar humidity issues with green tree monitors and other monitors. How to keep heat and humidity in. As the temps rise the air gets more humid and the humidity like the heat also rises. If it is not prevented from leaving the container then it dries out. That is why aquariums with screen tops do so poorly at keeping humidity and heat in it all just escapes through the screen top. The goal is to retain heat and humidity. If you liken the cage to an upside down bucket (since heat and humidity travel upwards)it makes it easier to see how to retain heat and humidity. One thing I do is to have a vent on the cool side up higher and the vent on the hot side down lower this helps to keep in humidity and heat or even have both vents down lower. Also a water container with cotton in it so the roaches cant drown will also help as will increasing the humidity in the room itself. If you have any questions about anything in this post please feel free to ask.

DigbyRigby@exoticfeeders.com

 
Posted by orin on 6/8/2006, 10:10 am, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

4.224.189.22

A water dish is the normal method of offering water to roaches. It is lower maintenance and a consistent source unlike misting. B.dubia often do poorly at normal temps which is why I wondered how some people would offer them saying they are such great breeders. You would have done better to invest in B.discoidalis or B.fusca that breed quite well at room temperature.

elytraandantenna@lycos.com

 
Posted by Olivia on 6/9/2006, 12:44 am, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

67.64.41.221

Some roach species have specific humidity requirements, but B. dubia isn't one of them. You shouldn't have to be misting at all. It's actually probably not a good idea to keep it humid if your intention is to build a large colony; otherwise, you will end up with a lot of other bugs and mites making themselves right at home with your roaches. My suggestion is to take out the sand substrate. Dry sand and especially warm sand is very dessicating. It's why mummies are preserved so well in desert regions. The sand sucks nearly all the moisture right out of them, so they dry out before they have time to decompose. Good luck!

Link: www.BugChick.com

 
Posted by Terry Womack on 6/9/2006, 10:24 am, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

209.30.231.170

Hey Olivia,

You know, I've decided that there are as many opinions on raising roaches as there are people raisng roaches. I've heard so many different stories in response to my post! I think I will try and folloow two people with a proven track record. You and a lady named Emily.

I've gotten rid of the sand substrate and the light and I've turned the heater off and I've stopped misting the cage.

I might not have as large a mortality rate as I thought. I saw a lot of dead bugs. They were as flat as a quarter and about 3/4" long. What threw me were the legs. I did not know the molt the legs tooo.

A couple of weeks ago when I had the roaches out, I had six grown males. Yesterday I had about 15. I also have 4 monster females. I have a feeling these are gravid females who will be having babies soon. What do you think?

The roaches diet consists of ground dog food, rooled oats, romaine lettuce, peaches and apples.

If you have any help or suggestions. I really want to know if you think about the females. They are about three times bigger than two weeks ago. After the nymphs are born, how do I catch them?

I'll be waiting to hear from you and getting your ideas.

Thanks,

Terry

 
Posted by Olivia on 6/10/2006, 1:16 am, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

67.64.41.221

You ought to leave the heat on. Otherwise your roaches will not grow as quickly, and the gestation period will take much longer. As long as the heater is covering less than half the cage, then you don't have to worry about overheating your roaches because they will simply move over to the cooler side of the cage. My B. dubia (especially the adult females) are perfectly fine hanging out on the 100+ degree hot side though. You don't need to mist or provide light, but I highly recommend that you don't bother your roaches by counting them. If you can provide exact sex ratios of your adults, then that's a sign that you're bothering them too much. Don't try to look for babies everyday either because that will be very counter productive in producing them. It's pretty easy to collect the babies. Once you start producing them, you'll see that they tend to hang out in the same area. Cut up the egg cartons into smaller pieces (quarter size of the regular flat) and stack those in separate corners of the cage, especially on the cool side. That way, you can collect the babies from the smaller stacks without having to disturb the main part of your colony.

http://www.BugChick.com

 
Posted by Perry Adkison on 6/12/2006, 4:44 pm, in reply to "Re: b. dubia"

24.136.230.14

Here's a place for reasonbly priced undertank heaters. They assemble them for you from 11" heat tape. I use these with a lamp dimmer and an extension cord for 3 bins of roaches. Cost was $11 apiece for 3 shipped (more per unit for just 1).

http://www.reptilebasics.com/store/home.php

adkisonp@mindspring.com

 
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