dubia roach colony questions

[maudie]

Anybody got any tips? Would they do alright/breed at room temp if I kept the humidity up? Are water crystals good to use? What should I keep them in?? I was thinking I'd start with 20 medium roaches and see how that goes. I just want a small colony, ya know

I'm planning on feeding them to my several and hopefully having a thriving colony by the time I get my monitor in 6 ish months

Correct me if I'm wrong about anything please!

 

[Tomoran]

When I first started my colony, I had read that they wouldn't reproduce if not kept in the 80s or so. Well, we keep mine in the T room where it's in the 70s much of the year (about 72 as I type this), and they are reproducing fine. I'm sure that warmer temps would lead to more babies, but I'm having no issues with my numbers. As for moisture, we give them fresh fruit and vegetables a few times a week, and I'll sometimes mist the veggies. That has worked great for me.

 

[Meludox]

My colony also began to reproduce at room temperature, it's usually about 75 degrees in my room. I keep my males, females and nymphs all in separate kritter keepers. Offer roach chow and water gel daily, as well as occasional veggies. I have never found a dead roach and I bought them back in May.

 

[MassExodus]

I've used small heat mats for my roach colonies from the start. I put a thin layer of substrate over one half of the enclosure and moisten it occasionally.the other half is egg cartons and a food dish and a water dish with rocks in it that I fill occasionally. They don't really need a water source when you feed fresh fruits and veggies periodically. Roaches can go a long time without water, I just give it as a treat, they swarm on it. I also keep a dish of ground up high protein quality dog food like blu buffalo or victor, whichever my dogs are eating. All of my colonies are doing well and reproducing. I think my secret is giving them occasional human food, like a sausage biscuit or leftover pizza Lol. Roaches are easy to please. They're also kind of interesting to raise and breed, and dubia have been my spiders main staple for a long time. They solve all problems of prey size: Once your colony is going well, you will have every size prey you need. Couldn't recommend them more. B lateralis are quickly becoming a favorite feeder as well.

 

[Kymura]

Every time I read that you've given them pizza it makes me chuckle, roaches are resilient though and absolutely opportunistic eaters, makes perfect sense to me. No wonder your T's like roaches more than mine, organic veggies don't have anything on pizza

 

[Scoolman]

70 seems to be about the cut off for good reproduction, below that and they will stop. Like mentioned, keeping them closer to 80 will get you more faster, but 72 will be fine if you are not feeeing them off too fast.

 

[micheldied]

I started with 18 individuals, and ended up with tens of thousands in about two years. I tried to slow it down by not feeding them, but they continued to reproduce (honestly, I don't know how they did it). I lived in a tropical country at the time, so they were kept pretty warm. IME these things won't die once you have a colony going. They seem to fill whatever container size you have. I moved mine to a 2.5 foot long storage bin after they hit the hundreds.

I provided all kinds of fruits and vegetables, cheap cat food/fish food, and water crystals, although they may be unnecessary if you always provide fresh fruits.

 

[eminart]

I give fruits and veggies which takes care of the water, and I feed a dry food - usually baby chick starter mash. I also sometimes add dog food, cereal, bread, or just whatever is laying around. The last time I went to a reptile show, my daughter, wife, and me all got bags with tons of trial packs of turtle, fish, etc. food. That went straight to the roaches. I keep mine in a large sterlite type bin, with a heating pad under one end. I started with a few adults last year and I have thousands now. This is my second time having a dubia colony, and I've had the same results both times.

 

[Therasoid]

Posting a couple pics of my B. lateralis colony. Stopped keeping dubia years ago.
Roaches will eat nearly anything you provide them, been around millions of years, most feed vegetables and fruits. For dry food, I crush plain bran flakes with cornmeal and oats mixed together. I provide a small dish of water crystals 2-3 times a month.
The dropping of the temperature, culling the males or removing laid ootheca will keep numbers in check. Entirely dependent on how much effort you're willing to do.

 

[MassExodus]

Posting a couple pics of my B. lateralis colony. Stopped keeping dubia years ago.
Roaches will eat nearly anything you provide them, been around millions of years, most feed vegetables and fruits. For dry food, I crush plain bran flakes with cornmeal and oats mixed together. I provide a small dish of water crystals 2-3 times a month.
The dropping of the temperature, culling the males or removing laid ootheca will keep numbers in check. Entirely dependent on how much effort you're willing to do.

I like that rack, never thought of doing that.

 

[kormath]

what do you guys use for cleanup crews?

I ordered some black beetle larvae but the beetles all fly and i can't have that. So now i have to move all the roaches to a new container, it'll be easier than trying to clean out all the beetle larvae.

I was going to use spring tails but got a better price for these. what a mistake that was.

 

[MassExodus]

I just let the nymphs take care of clean up. I do clean and change the enclosure every six months or so though. I'm intrigued by isopods though, I still need to try those in my moist enclosures.

 

[kormath]

so far my nymphs have been like a lazy teenager. That's why i got the beetle larvae but i can't have flying beetles in the house any time i open the lid to get a feeder.

Guess i'll have to take it outside this weekend after the snow storm and swap the roaches to a new container and dump the debris and beetle larvae.

Unless I can feed the larvae to the smaller Ts?

 

[Rockpython]

Posting a couple pics of my B. lateralis colony. Stopped keeping dubia years ago.
Roaches will eat nearly anything you provide them, been around millions of years, most feed vegetables and fruits. For dry food, I crush plain bran flakes with cornmeal and oats mixed together. I provide a small dish of water crystals 2-3 times a month.
The dropping of the temperature, culling the males or removing laid ootheca will keep numbers in check. Entirely dependent on how much effort you're willing to do.

I keep both dubia and lats. Both have pros and cons... dubia are easy to work with, but bury and play dead, and some Ts hate them.

Lats are lightning fast, but don't bury or play dead. All of my Ts eat them with the exception of my odd ball B. emilia

 

[Therasoid]

what do you guys use for cleanup crews?

I ordered some black beetle larvae but the beetles all fly and i can't have that. So now i have to move all the roaches to a new container, it'll be easier than trying to clean out all the beetle larvae.

I was going to use spring tails but got a better price for these. what a mistake that was.

Actually, I've never used any cleaner crews. Nymphs will do the cleaning up of waste. Every 6 months I remove the rack, catch the remaining roaches and give the enclosure a thorough cleaning. I do place >1" of sifted topsoil in the bottom, 1/2 moistened, change the egg crate and then put the roaches in.
After posting saw Mass already posted my answer. Lol!

 

[Scoolman]

Plastic tub, egg crates standing vertilce, dish of ground catfood with oatmeal. fresh greens, apples, oranges given a couple times a week. I dont use a water dish; no pizza. All fruits and veggies are cleaned to ensure no residual pesticides.
Your tarantulas are what you feed them; your feeders are what you feed them.

 

[MassExodus]

Plastic tub, egg crates standing vertilce, dish of ground catfood with oatmeal. fresh greens, apples, oranges given a couple times a week. No water dish, no pizza. All fruits and veggies are cleaned to ensure no residual pesticides.
Your tarantulas are what you feed them; your feeders are what you feed them.

Roaches are highly adaptive omnivores. Yes, I give my roaches human food... I'm only stopping because I believe its contributing to a slight smell. Prey is not gut loaded in the wild..while it doesn't hurt to feed them what you think is healthy, I'm fairly certain I could feed mine pure fruity pebbles and not have any issues. I've never had a tarantula die stuck in a molt, or from any other issues that might be caused by diet. I've also heard stories of roaches drowning in water dishes..I have yet to see that as well. Maybe if they wash the pizza down with water, its ok...

 

[Scoolman]

I dont do water dishes just because I dont want the extra hassel. I never an adult drown in a shallow dish, occasionally a nymph would but not enough to be a concern. I just dont like cleaning the water so often. My roaches get their moisture from the produce. I do not go out of my way to buy them food either. They eat the cat food my cat gets, and I give them veggie scraps from dinner prep, or they share the bearded dragon's salad greens.
Actually, in the wild their prey lives off their natural diet which would be the optimal form of gut loading.

 

[MassExodus]

Doesn't moisture in the environment have an effect on breeding? That's the only reason I do it, I want them well hydrated and they really do swarm on it when I give them water, they really seem to appreciate it.

 

[Scoolman]

Mine are bone dry and they are breeding fine (I actually had to cool them down last winter to slow down production). I do on occasion spray a little water on the egg crates, but no too much or too often. The egg crate will break down and mold if allowed to get wet too long. When I spray all the roaches will come out of hiding and swarm the surface of the egg crates to drink water droplets.
We are dryer in the winter do to the heater. But, in the summer we run the swamp cooler and humidity in the house rises dramatically.