Dubia Roach setup before/after

[Kreamcheese]

So when I first set up my dubia bin I was having a problem getting the heat to stay up. It's getting colder at night here and the only place I can keep them is in the garage.


This was how my set up looked before I was given some ideas on insulating the bin. Very basic and had too much ventilation at the top, with no insulation to trap the heat.




This is my new setup. The inside has hardly changed but I did remove some egg crates to keep them less spread out. Only have about 80 roaches atm but I have a few hundred more coming within the next few days.
First pic is my modified Gatorade bottle. I cut the top of the cap and glued some screen. I then tape this above the heat mat and it will evaporate, giving some humidity (The tape keeping it secure so it wont tip and spill when I open the bin).



The next two pics are where I placed the heat mats. I have them both attached to the zoo med rheostat so I can adjust the heat on them as needed.




And the final two pics are the finished product. I insulated the bin with some nice thick blankets. The inside bin has a cut out on top with screen. Now my temps are staying close to 100 and then the 90 range even at night, also about 45% humidity...very happy about the end result.




Any suggestions on anything else I could/should change let me know. Would like to thank Steest, Sublime, Monsterpyxie, BG, ViperJr and anybody else that has been so helpful the past few days

[JeffreH]

Needs more roaches, then it will perfect = )

Just to save you or anyone reading a little cash, I know those zoomed rheostats often sell for upwards to $20-25 at pet stores. You can just use a simple lamp dimmer (rheostat) picked up from a hardware store like Lowes or Home Depot. They sell them for $8-10 or so. I know it was discussed in another thread, but heat tape is also a very economical option due to overall cost and electrical consumption - approximately one square foot only uses about 12 watts and will peak out at 120 degrees F. The UTH's work great though as well!

You may end up playing around with the humidity factor as your roach colony grows, seasonal changes, etc. If you are noticing improper molts, increase the humidity by adding another bottle or keeping a larger constant supply of water crystals available. Being in the garage, they will be subjected to more humidity changes throughout the year as well as temperatures; just keep an eye on condensation buildup and the molts. Too dry - inability to molt properly. Too damp - you'll notice hypopigmentation. If you start getting condensation buildup on the sides and top, its likely too damp and you'll start seeing roaches that appear light orange and red in coloration. These roaches are more delicate due to the negative effect of their molting; same thing can happen to those who are injured during a molt. Furthermore, as the colony grows and a greater rate of respiration is achieved, you'll have less need for supplemental humidity. Your setup looks great, just wanted to give a little tidbit in case you notice any of these issues so you know the proper means to correct it over time.

It's my experience that B. dubia and those in the Blaberus genus like to be crammed together; so removing a few egg flats might have been a good call. You should have enough in there where every roach can hide out of view when disturbed, and it still looks fairly cluttered with em on the insides of the flats. Not so much that they are swimming through each other to get from point A to point B though ; )

Congrats on getting a setup to work out for inside the garage! I know this will be a valuable resource to many who only have this as an option, be it due to parental or spouse rules... I've actually had a younger customer ask me to mark "Beetles" on a package due to their parent's phobia lol!

[Kreamcheese]

Damn could've saved a few bucks on the rheostat! Well now I know in case I need another in the future. Luckily both of my UTH I got for about $15 a piece(Normally $32). And that's funny about marking beetles on the package. I actually still live at home so I had to show my parents some "Documented Proof" comparing the advantages of roaches to crickets. Thanks for the response

[Sublime]

@Andrew That's a nice inexpensive way that you fixed your problem insulating with blankets. Looks good, setup is all clean - good job. I see you used around a whole roll of foil tape to seal the UTH's to the side lol. Did you get your UTH's on Amazon? They sell them so cheap on their compared to retail stores. I'm in the same position as you, roaches get such a bad rep. Crickets don't, it's annoying. I tried explaining many times about how there could be no infestation even if these tropical roaches got out, they didn't buy it. Plus even if some did, it would only be a few if anything - not saying I would even let any out. It's so easy to keep them in compared to crickets. Crickets get out and it sounds like a god damn camping trip all over again. I told them the advantages of B. Dubia's compared to the brown cricket as well, they bought it haha.

@Jeff Very good information. I didn't think the lamp dimmers would of worked the same as the ones designed for under tank heaters. I thought they would only work on actual lamp fixtures with a bulb, now I know that for next time (Thanks for the tip). Out of all the research I've done on B. Dubia I've never come across hypopigmentation - that's good to know. Never would of thought they could become injured from a molt resulting from too much humidity, just knew about how they could have unsuccessful molts due to low humidity causing them to die. I probably won't have to worry about too much moisture as I'm trying to reach a desirable moisture level. A bit on the lower moderate side for humidity, want to get it a bit higher to raise production up.

Yeah right now I'm mostly raising the moisture level by just adding mounds of water gel crystals in there. I'm definitely going to buy a roll of that heat tape though, very economical. Want to raise the temperature up a bit as winter is approaching and use this same technique as Andrew did for insulating the heat. Then I will be all good . The patience level is hard to keep high when you want to already start feeding your pixie frog or any other type of frog you're keeping to give them one of the best possible dietary staples you could ever feed a herp in captivity with all the positives compared to the brown cricket (acheta domesticus).

[Kreamcheese]

I actually bought mine at a pet store called kahoots. They sent me 50% off any one item coupons. Had one for September, one for October. Both bought my heaters. And I did use a bit of foil tape to secure them in the spots I wanted haha. The bin has some awkward shape to it so the UTH weren't getting as close of a connection to it as I wanted.

[Sublime]

Oh ok, cool. Yeah I know what you mean about the bins where you can't apply the adhesive on where it has an ergonomic design . It's always the roughneck heavy duty Rubbermaids that are like that.