Dubia colony questions

[Angela]

Never in my life would I have thought I'd be posting about concern for the wellbeing of my roach colony that I am raising in my home... Dear God, the things we do for our dragons!

So, I have officially started my dubia colony! (meep!) They're in a nice, big dark tupperware with many, many holes poked in the lid and a heat pad underneath. Temperatures are regularly checked and seem to be in the 90s most often.

My concern right now is Ive gone to check on them a few times throughout the last 3 days - and I never see any of them in the food/water crystal bowl. They're always hiding away in the egg crates. Im a little worried they may not be eating... I'd hate for them to just start dying off of starvation when I have food and water right there!

But maybe they're just being sneaky roach ninjas? Is this normal behavior? Do most of your roaches tend to stay tucked away in the egg crates or are they more active and crawling about when you open the lid?

Thank you for the feedback and input! Keep an eye on this thread as Im sure I'll be posting more dubia colony questions as they come along.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Never in my life would I have thought I'd be posting about concern for the wellbeing of my roach colony that I am raising in my home... Dear God, the things we do for our dragons!

So, I have officially started my dubia colony! (meep!) They're in a nice, big dark tupperware with many, many holes poked in the lid and a heat pad underneath. Temperatures are regularly checked and seem to be in the 90s most often.

My concern right now is Ive gone to check on them a few times throughout the last 3 days - and I never see any of them in the food/water crystal bowl. They're always hiding away in the egg crates. Im a little worried they may not be eating... I'd hate for them to just start dying off of starvation when I have food and water right there!

But maybe they're just being sneaky roach ninjas? Is this normal behavior? Do most of your roaches tend to stay tucked away in the egg crates or are they more active and crawling about when you open the lid?

Thank you for the feedback and input! Keep an eye on this thread as Im sure I'll be posting more dubia colony questions as they come along.

First off don't worry your roaches are fine... Dubia are nocturnal so it's rare to see them eating/drinking. And it's hard to tell if they are eating as well their mouths are tiny I promise you they are eating and they are drinking yes they are being sneaky roach ninjas
However....if you want your roaches to produce you need to stop checking on them Only go in the tub to replace the crystals, replenish the chow and give them fresh oranges... Don't go thru the egg flats as you will only disturb them and if by chance you stress a female that is regulating her egg sac (outside of her body it is a red tube looking thing they have the ability to extend it and retract it back into their body) she will drop the egg sac and those will never finish.
Which brings me to this question.. You do have a separate tub of roaches that are your feeders? If you don't you need to so your not always going into your colony to get roaches to feed to your beardie.
Once your colony is established there really isn't much you can do they will just keep producing, I go in and remove the nymphs weekly and it hasn't changed their production.
feel free to ask anything..

 

[Angela]

That is definitely good to know! Thanks for the reassurances.

Ive only been opening the lid just to check temperatures to make sure my heating implement is working the way I want it to and to see if they've been eating. Ive been careful not to disturb the crates as I've been worried I might startle my females.

Which I guess does lead to my next question - how do I know when I have some little nymphs? About how long does it usually take for this to happen? I have two breeder females and two males in my tub right now and a mix of various other sized dubias. I am almost out of feeders for my dragon that I bought and kept in a container seperately so I was going to go into the colony and pick out a few from there but sounds like I need to just let them be. Just sort of curious about how much longer it might take before I can begin using my colony and relying on that completely.

Also, how do you go about sorting your nymphs when the time comes? I have heard about the paint bucket idea with drilling small holes and 'sifting' them out. Is this what you would recommend?

Thank you, as always, for your patience and counsel!

 

[Hdrydr31]

That is definitely good to know! Thanks for the reassurances.

Ive only been opening the lid just to check temperatures to make sure my heating implement is working the way I want it to and to see if they've been eating. Ive been careful not to disturb the crates as I've been worried I might startle my females.

Which I guess does lead to my next question - how do I know when I have some little nymphs? About how long does it usually take for this to happen? I have two breeder females and two males in my tub right now and a mix of various other sized dubias. I am almost out of feeders for my dragon that I bought and kept in a container seperately so I was going to go into the colony and pick out a few from there but sounds like I need to just let them be. Just sort of curious about how much longer it might take before I can begin using my colony and relying on that completely.

Also, how do you go about sorting your nymphs when the time comes? I have heard about the paint bucket idea with drilling small holes and 'sifting' them out. Is this what you would recommend?

Thank you, as always, for your patience and counsel!

You are very welcome.. I also never thought I would have roaches in my home.....I've got close to 1k now and 1 dragon lol so I'm slowing mine down. You may need a few more adults the ratio should be 3:1 female to male. It will take 6-8 weeks before your colony to get busy you should see little tiny babies (nymphs) if they are within 24 hours of birth they will be white it takes them 24 hours to turn black.
Make sure you don't clean the poop out (frass) the babies will eat and hide in there..
Since I take the nymphs out weekly its pretty easy as I just go thru the egg flats and brush them into a dish to put in my feeder tub.
I do have tubs with holes drilled in and it does work but I rarely use them

 

[Angela]

I realize this is the million dollar question here - but what do you use for your heating?

I bought a heatpad but unfortunately it is not heating up the container enough. I have a pretty thick, heavy-duty container I'm keeping them in.

Right now I have a small space heater turned on it and that seems to be doing the job really well for now but I didn't know if there was something else I should be considering or if that might be a good alternative for me.

I cant really afford anything pricey so I'm looking for something low-budget.

Also, do you keep any special heating on your feeder tub as well or are they okay to live in room-temperature for the couple of weeks they'll be in there?

 

[Hdrydr31]

I realize this is the million dollar question here - but what do you use for your heating?

I bought a heatpad but unfortunately it is not heating up the container enough. I have a pretty thick, heavy-duty container I'm keeping them in.

Right now I have a small space heater turned on it and that seems to be doing the job really well for now but I didn't know if there was something else I should be considering or if that might be a good alternative for me.

I cant really afford anything pricey so I'm looking for something low-budget.

Also, do you keep any special heating on your feeder tub as well or are they okay to live in room-temperature for the couple of weeks they'll be in there?

(sorry to get back to you late had some family business to take care of)
My roaches are in our basement we have a small room that also has our sump pump so it's moist and easy to regulate the temp.. I use a space heater in there and several red heat lamps pointed towards the end that the egg crates.
I actually have 3 bins 1 for my colony, 1 feeder bin that the nymphs and any extras and upstairs (because I limit going up/down stairs due to my health) I have a 10 gal that I have the smallest UTH on the side of the glass...

 

[jarich]

I realize this is the million dollar question here - but what do you use for your heating?

I bought a heatpad but unfortunately it is not heating up the container enough. I have a pretty thick, heavy-duty container I'm keeping them in.

Right now I have a small space heater turned on it and that seems to be doing the job really well for now but I didn't know if there was something else I should be considering or if that might be a good alternative for me.

I cant really afford anything pricey so I'm looking for something low-budget.

Also, do you keep any special heating on your feeder tub as well or are they okay to live in room-temperature for the couple of weeks they'll be in there?

What does your enclosure look like? Is it solid top or screen? One way to save costs is to use the heat you already provide for your dragon. If you have a temp gun this is easier, but a regular thermometer will work too. Take the temperature of the top of your enclosure directly above the basking area. Its often warm enough to heat your roaches. If so, simply place the bin so that part of the bin is over that heated area and part is off to the side so that there is a gradient.