Bioactive Dubia Colony

Mine are on top of a Viv so gets its heart source from there.

I love it when I mist and put food in as they come from everywhere. They have lots of egg boxes to hide in and I know they like the dark

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They’re in the dining room which is used as a storage area. My dog is never near there and she doesn’t have any flea or tick chemicals (ie repellent collar). I used unused egg cartons and new eco earth substrate. I never misted it and it was getting dry which I think was the problem, especially since females were dropping their egg sacs.

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I have read that dubia require citrus fruit in several places, but I have no idea if that’s true or not. I give mine the jellies from Roach World, and they really like them, but I don’t know if they’re necessary. Maybe try offering some organic citrus & see if there is an obvious positive effect?

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If anything I’ve given them too much citrus, I feed them oranges about every other feeding. I am going to try some premade roach bran and I will also give them some bug burger and see what happens. They’re still reproducing quickly so I’m wondering it the dying ones were just old :man_shrugging:

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Possibly, maybe try a more varied diet.

Ours have apples, potatoes, bananas, romain lettuce, strawberries, carrots, grapes, dog food, pear…

Anything that are okay for your reptiles, I tend to avoid citrus fruits like oranges but that’s because they aren’t very good for cresties.

When I put food in, I also mist and they all come out looking for the food so maybe try that as it might be the food is sitting there a while before they get to it and maybe not as tasty so they are less likely to want it?

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How often do you feed? Do you feed daily and each day take the old food out?

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I feed every other day, taking out old food as I put in new food. I forgot to add banana skin, it is a favourite with my dubia roaches.

Although I might do it more regularly in summer to stop flies etc.

I tend to put food in one section so it’s easier to remove.

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Also I don’t bother them.

My husband will once a month will go through what is small enough to use for my Cresties and then I don’t bother them again till next month, other than to remove and place food

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When left to their own devices do you think that they will still keep their sex ratio (ideal 1:7-9) or do you have to sometimes remove adult males?

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I haven’t yet, but I have read a 3:1 ratio is best.

We’re due to check them this month & that is something we will be starting to look at. I’m hoping to have more females than males :crossed_fingers:

From most of what I’ve read 5:1 Females:Males is the minimum I’ve seen but the recommended is 1:7-9. Otherwise the number of males will stress out females by trying to breed and they stress each other out by competing. Too little and there isn’t any healthy competition.

I apologise, I was meant to say minimum not best sorry. I’m multitasking as middle of the night with a sick child.

Thank you for letting me know about the ratio difference, I’d obviously rather something like 7 or 9:1 ratio but I will keep in mind min of 5:1 ratio.

I hadn’t done much research in that area just yet as they were still to small, other than when I was first buying the breeding colony. I started with 15:5 and was a slow start, now I know why.

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No need to apologise, we all make mistakes. I’m just trying to learn what’s best for my animals (including roaches). I always wonder about different information in different countries too. Hopefully we can all learn something to improve our husbandry.

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I agree. I’m glad you mentioned the ratio as that will help me when it comes to sorting them out.

I just need to decide what to do with the extra males when I get them.

I definitely recommend leaving them be as much as possible at the beginning as they are more likely to feel comfortable to breed.

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I’m going to essentially “forget” about the colony for a few months until I get gecko hatchlings to eat them so the dubias will breed and will be extremely prolific. I’m going to sex the baby dubias when I collect them and feed off most of the males to prevent an excess of adult males. If I do get adult males I’m likely going to sell them for people who have larger animals (monitors) so they can feed them. Or even better I will get a garbage disposal (snapping turtle, monitor, etc.) that I will feed excess items.

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I might need to do don’t research on which reptiles eat them :grin:

I’m not sure how it works with selling roaches but it might be worth looking into it I get lots.

I’ve been trying to feed off what look like the males but as I need nympths to small size, it’s quite difficult so will have to see how I’ve done lol

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I’m going to be vending tables at expos when I get hatchlings and I’m planning to sell a ton of supplies like feeders from my colonies, reptiles, hides, enclosures, supplies, etc. So it would fit right in.

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Apparently I’ve reached my limit on likes so I can’t like your comment!

That makes sense, I’m not one for selling at expo, I’m more for buying at expos :grin: It gets way to crowded and busy for me.

I’m more of a collector! Although I plan on breeding Cresties and ball pythons in the near future :crossed_fingers:

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Last week I’ve added buffalo beetles. As soon as I put them in they started to climb up the sides. After I added another barrier of sunflower oil most can’t climb but I’ve seen a couple running around the room. :shushing_face: After I’ve started keeping the tank humid the death rates have significantly decreased and I’ve seen a lot more babies. As soon as the current babies are adults I’ll likely start feeding off some of them.

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Any update on the pothos? Did your dubias eat the pothos or leave it alone?

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