Dubia Roaches/heat mat?

[Kreamcheese]

I bought a 30 gallon tote from walmart and have a 30-40 gal zoo med heat mat. Can I use this heat mat on the bottom or will it melt the tote? I know the mat says not to use on plastic but I've seen plenty of people do it, just wanted to more advice.

[Sublime]

Plastic totes are usually made out of high density polyethylene and are food safe. For common commercial grades of medium and high-density polyethylene the melting point is typically in the range 120 to 130 °C (248 to 266 °F). The melting point for average, commercial, low-density polyethylene is typically 105 to 115 °C (221 to 239 °F). If you have a durable Rubbermaid or Sterilite tote, there's no need to worry... I've been using mine for a week now with a heat mat at 110°F on the bottom with no problems of degrading, melting, fumes on a 22 gallon with the same heat mat you're using 30-40 gallon zoo-med. All the warning labels say that because they have to put it for the one person that puts it near something unsafe or puts it on some type of plastic that doesn't have a high melting point. Best advantages of using plastic totes over glass tanks for breeding is: Holds humidity better, cheap, doesn't break if dropped. You're good dude.

[Kreamcheese]

Thanks for the good advice as usual. So I had it going for most of the day and had it between 84-82. But now at night its at 76.

[MonsterPyxie]

Thanks for the good advice as usual. So I had it going for most of the day and had it between 84-82. But now at night its at 76.

those temps are "ok" for the dubia, but will not promote good breeding. Some WONT breed at that low of a temp.

Lowest I keep mine are around 88f at night and highest can be 105 during the day. I keep them in my bathroom and heat the room with a space heater, so the temp can very pretty extreme sometimes.

[Kreamcheese]

During the day I'm able to get it between 90-98. It's much hotter at the bottom because of my heat mat and so there is gradient of heat as you go up in the tub. Still at night though it goes to the lower 80s. Can I cover up the top mesh part at night with some Styrofoam to try to insulate the heat or no? They are in my garage and I cant have them anywhere else.

[BG]

I keep them in my boiler room. The water heater is on and keeps the room at 80. Pretty soon the heat will kick on.The house is warm to begin with. I,m lucky in a way. The room the frogs are in is 77 cause its next to the boiler room. .In my room i keep the turtles, monitor,and geckos. They use lights. Oh the whites have a 25 watt blue night bulb..

[Sublime]

During the day I'm able to get it between 90-98. It's much hotter at the bottom because of my heat mat and so there is gradient of heat as you go up in the tub. Still at night though it goes to the lower 80s. Can I cover up the top mesh part at night with some Styrofoam to try to insulate the heat or no? They are in my garage and I cant have them anywhere else.

You could try insulating it with a blanket wrapped around part of the top and sides, just make sure it's safe you know. If you can't insulate the heat enough, you'll probably have to pick up another heat mat, preferably the internal one I was talking about putting it inside or wrapping it around the outside.

[Kreamcheese]

I ordered the control to turn up the heat on my zoo med pad. The big zoo med pad i have wrapped on the side, then have an electric back heat on the bottom. Think my temps are pretty good now. Did you try the water bottle thing?

[Sublime]

I ordered the control to turn up the heat on my zoo med pad. The big zoo med pad i have wrapped on the side, then have an electric back heat on the bottom. Think my temps are pretty good now. Did you try the water bottle thing?

Yeah I poked a bunch of needle size holes on the top of the cap. It doesn't seem like a lot of water has evaporated out of it, but I didn't place it directly on the heat pad which would probably help. I put the water bottle in the corner because I don't want to put it in the middle where the heat pad is in case it fell over. It's probably brought the moisture up a little, with the water gel crystals I have placed over the heat pad. Still better than nothing right.

[MonsterPyxie]

Yeah I poked a bunch of needle size holes on the top of the cap. It doesn't seem like a lot of water has evaporated out of it, but I didn't place it directly on the heat pad which would probably help. I put the water bottle in the corner because I don't want to put it in the middle where the heat pad is in case it fell over. It's probably brought the moisture up a little, with the water gel crystals I have placed over the heat pad. Still better than nothing right.

what is your humidity percentage at?

if water crystal, and misting isn't enough, you probably have way to much ventilation. try covering some holes with tape, or screen with a cloth.

[Sublime]

what is your humidity percentage at?

if water crystal, and misting isn't enough, you probably have way to much ventilation. try covering some holes with tape, or screen with a cloth.

I really don't know yet, I need to buy a humidity gauge. I figured it was at least 20%, I don't mist though... Don't want to make a mess in there. I do have a good size ventilation cut out, if I find out that the humidity is escaping too fast I'll use a cloth on the screen like you said. The temps are perfect in there though, 105-110 on the floor and 90-99 on the bottom of the egg flats going up to mid 80s moving up the crates. I think I saw 2 brand new clutches of babies so hopefully I produce 500 out of this month. I don't know how old the females are that the guy gave me, but 3 of them have died already. I have about 200 adults with some baby nymphs in the mix now, he gave me mostly females too so I'm pretty stoked on the colony right now. Is that what you do to bump the humidity a lot is misting the sides of the enclosure inside? I want to get the most out of these adult females before they die.

[ViperJr]

I just want to add that in my experience, humidity is not something you need to think about, ever, when breeding dubias. I never mist, I don't have a water bowl, I don't use water crystals. The only source of water I have is the cucumber pieces that I put in there once a week. That's generally enough water for the colony. Of course, you need to adjust how much cucumber according to the population.
Also, the lid I use is basically a screen mesh, so it does not contain any humidity at all, that somehow got in there in the first place.

[Sublime]

I just want to add that in my experience, humidity is not something you need to think about, ever, when breeding dubias. I never mist, I don't have a water bowl, I don't use water crystals. The only source of water I have is the cucumber pieces that I put in there once a week. That's generally enough water for the colony. Of course, you need to adjust how much cucumber according to the population.
Also, the lid I use is basically a screen mesh, so it does not contain any humidity at all, that somehow got in there in the first place.

Yeah I've heard that dubias don't require substantial amounts of moisture in the air, they can do fine in drier climates. Just a few people from experience including "MonsterPyxie" said that the higher the humidity was for them the more the dubias started to breed at a faster pace. I know that they do require a little bit of moisture though to molt through their cycles without have an unsuccessful molt and dying off. I'm sure there's enough humidity in mine as of now, I just wanted to get optimal range for humidity to bump up the breeding process since my temperature is perfect. Thanks for the clarification, is your colony really thriving? How many are you up to right now after you started out?

[MonsterPyxie]

It's pretty dry here in Colorado, so maybe thats the issue, but I wasn't seeing any breeding, and my dubia where not eating that much. Found my humidity was around 30%. So I started misting daily, water crystal, oranges, and now im around 50-60% They have started eating about 1 cup of the ground up "roach chow" in about 2 days, where before it was over a week. I also seem to notice new babies, or females with egg's hanging out there butt just about every time I look in there now, where before I didn't.

it could just be my super dry climate, but so far im seeing great results.

Mark, I only mist the sides and egg crate lightly. enough for the water to bead up on the sides, but not enough for it to run down the sides and puddle on the bottom.

[Sublime]

Oh ok, yeah my roaches seem to not eat that much roach chow. I switched it up yesterday and made a different blend with some dry breakfast cereal for a little bit of sweetness, so hopefully they like that stuff more. I've read dubias love sweet foods, they eat all the oranges I put in there though. I'll try the light misting. You also have a colony of like 1200 and mine is 200 so that's probably why I'm not expecting great results from the food being eaten really fast. 50-60% humidity is perfect, I would like to get in that range hopefully.

[ViperJr]

Yeah I've heard that dubias don't require substantial amounts of moisture in the air, they can do fine in drier climates. Just a few people from experience including "MonsterPyxie" said that the higher the humidity was for them the more the dubias started to breed at a faster pace. I know that they do require a little bit of moisture though to molt through their cycles without have an unsuccessful molt and dying off. I'm sure there's enough humidity in mine as of now, I just wanted to get optimal range for humidity to bump up the breeding process since my temperature is perfect. Thanks for the clarification, is your colony really thriving? How many are you up to right now after you started out?

I don't really have any numbers for you, but perhaps around 600. And yes, they're breeding. I usually see one female with eggs every other day.

Sidenote about the food: I've read hundreds of different opinions on what to feed them. I just use the cheapest dog food there is and it's working do far.

[Kreamcheese]

I plan to use cat food. Any difference in nutrition between cat and dog food for the roaches?

[Sublime]

I don't really have any numbers for you, but perhaps around 600. And yes, they're breeding. I usually see one female with eggs every other day.

Sidenote about the food: I've read hundreds of different opinions on what to feed them. I just use the cheapest dog food there is and it's working do far.

The roach chow I made at home with a coffee grinder is: Beneful dog food, Fancy Feast dry cat food, Oats, Grape Nuts cereal.

I could add some more to the ingredients like powdered milk, etc., but I don't want to go overboard with it. That's cool that it's working out for you though.

[Sublime]

I plan to use cat food. Any difference in nutrition between cat and dog food for the roaches?

Cats have a much higher protein requirement then dogs, so crude protein in cat food is going to be higher than most dog foods. Also cat food is going to have a lot more meat products in the ingredients including essential vitamins that dogs don't need or can convert. Dog food will have higher grain products with the addition of meat and plant products.

[Kreamcheese]

So which do you think is better? Just a mix of both? 50/50? I mixed some oats with the cat food.