Dubia Just not breeding properly

M

mw73

Ootheca
Well I really don't know what to do now.

I have 2 x 80l tubs with 500 adults in each one (400f x 100m)

Temps at 83-89

humidity 40%ish

Their chow consists of ground up oats,bran flakes & dog biscuit.

They have a constant water supply

they have access to apples, oranges, banana's most days.

they also get a slice of white bread twice a week.

Each tub, even if the females only have 20 young a month, should be producing at least 5-8000 a month.

I'm lucky if im getting 800-1000.

I only harvest the nymphs every fortnight, so it's not as if im disturbing them all the time.

I really do not know what else to do. Both tubs have breeder females, not females that have just moulted from nymphs.

ANY help would be great as I don't know what else i can do.

Thanks guys.

 
Give 'em a little more water. Mist them with a spray bottle every night, stop if the frass gets damp. (Which it shouldn't.) They can survive dryer conditions than most roaches, but prefer moister conditions.

Do you remove all the frass when you clean? If you do, leave some. Nymphs love burrowing into frass.

How much protein is in the dog biscuit? Consider upping the amount of protein you feed them- I'm talking cat food. I did an experiment where I fed nymphs different diets, the cat food ones not only grew at least 3 times faster than the oatmeal ones, they also grew faster than the control nymphs that had access to cat food, oatmeal, frass, and sugary cereal at all times. I don't know for sure that more protein would increase reproduction, but it would definitely increase nymph growth. It seems that the more protein you put in, the more protein you get out.

 
It's baffling me. Growing the nymphs has never been a problem although I may try the catfood only test on a batch to see if they do grow quicker.

It's the breeding adults thats the problem. I've never misted as I have always been worried about the egg trays getting soggy.

I really can't understand why they just won't breed properly, especially when I see you tube vids of people breeding by the thousands and all they do is chuck a few scraps in.

 
Well eggcartons dry up real fast in my experience, so you shouldn't worry about them getting soggy.

 
Yeah, I mist heavily every single night. There's about 2 inches of frass but it's all bone dry. Even if they did get soggy, take the lid off for 2 days and they'll be dry again.

 
Even if it is the breeding adults, if the nymphs grow faster you'll have more food for whatever you're feeding them to in less time even if they are breeding slow. And I see no reason why females that eat plenty of protein wouldn't produce more babies more often.

 
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