Dubia roach question

[unkempt1]

I think Heatheranne was saying squeeze juice on the cubes, not on the roaches. And Yoshimi mentioned the babies in the separate bin don't get heat, but that his adults do. Not trying to be a jerk, just pointing out that both their points look fine.

I would also like to add my experience and two cents. I haven't found any solid proof that oranges provide any extra incentive to breed, I think it's more about hydration, which most fruits provide anyway. That being said, blaptica dubia really don't mind being a little cramped, as long as you practice the proper husbandry.

This is just my personal experience, but when I feed my roaches it's the adults that get to the dinner table first. When I come back to remove what's left a few days later, it's the babies I see sucking the last drops from the rind.

[demon amphibians]

I think Heatheranne was saying squeeze juice on the cubes, not on the roaches. And Yoshimi mentioned the babies in the separate bin don't get heat, but that his adults do. Not trying to be a jerk, just pointing out that both their points look fine.

I would also like to add my experience and two cents. I haven't found any solid proof that oranges provide any extra incentive to breed, I think it's more about hydration, which most fruits provide anyway. That being said, blaptica dubia really don't mind being a little cramped, as long as you practice the proper husbandry.

This is just my personal experience, but when I feed my roaches it's the adults that get to the dinner table first. When I come back to remove what's left a few days later, it's the babies I see sucking the last drops from the rind.

What you said is totally true about hydration. They need a good amount to reproduce effectively, However one of the pet store owners i sell to and I got in an argument about the orange mystery. And he conducted an experiment to prove me wrong. He had the same view point as you. He said it was the water in the oranges that made them breed better. So he took 60 females split them into 3 containers with 20 females and 7 males in each the temp was maintained 95 degrees F in each. In container one he put in fresh apples, in container 2 he put in fresh watermelon, and in 3 he put fresh oranges. every container had the same set up with water crystals and dry food. He conducted this experiment for 2 months, which would allow each female to have one cycle of birth. what he found was the oranges was the least favored of the 3 fruits, with the apple being the most favored. Apples have close to as much moisture as oranges and watermelon which has much more. The apple bin had 480 something young, the watermelon container had 460 something young, and the orange container had roughly 600 something.( i cant remember the exact numbers.) But i won the argument. The hydration in the oranges play a huge factor but it is not the only thing. This was only one experiment so if tried again it may differ. To this day i haven't a clue why oranges influence them to breed quicker and birth larger numbers but I do know for a fact that they above all fruits are best for breeding. But you can never go wrong by using other fruits and vegetables and I am sure even if you never use oranges you will still have a great production of nymphs due to the extra hydration that they require.

Now separating the young from the breeders is also proven to be more effective i myself have seen the difference. When you have a smaller colony anywhere from under 100 to 1000 it really doesn't make a difference but when you produce them by the tens of thousands it makes a huge difference. (For efficient breeding) Now for your feeders you can cram many numbers into one bin and they would be fine until they start smothering each other which has happened to me, so i had to get a much larger bin.

This information may mean nothing to someone who is only breeding to support a few pets. However I am in the middle of preparing to breed a few species of toads and also add new frogs to my family. So i am looking to breed the dubia in the millions to be able to care for thousands of small toads until i can sell them off to 5 pet stores in the local area where i live. And I do sell roaches to pet stores on occasion when they give me excellent offers. I also like helping other frog owners out on this form and give them a few 100 with no charge. But most of all I like to give good advice to new breeders as well.

I believe everyone has good advice to give. I don't know everything about the dubia and I have never met anyone who does. But at the rate that I breed I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. I can also give you detail on exactly how overpriced roaches are to buy online and the products that they sell.

(this information only pertains to the Blaptica dubia although some species maybe very similar)

[yoshimi]

The hydration in the oranges play a huge factor but it is not the only thing. This was only one experiment so if tried again it may differ. To this day i haven't a clue why oranges influence them to breed quicker and birth larger numbers but I do know for a fact that they above all fruits are best for breeding. But you can never go wrong by using other fruits and vegetables and I am sure even if you never use oranges you will still have a great production of nymphs due to the extra hydration that they require.

(i'm trying a new thing with quotes here, please bear with me) What if, as weird as it sounds, the smell of the oranges gets their motors reviving? Mine only nibble at the orange slice, and the rest just contributes to humidity. I have other things in there; carrots and water crystals, roach chow, three different types of cereal, apples (they didn't care for them), cat food, and recently bug burger (they only nibbled that too, but with all the choices, that makes sense.). Something I did worked, cuz I was surprised to find one girl preggo less than 2 weeks after the 1st male did his final molt. Not sure how long she's been in the family way, as she may have just been airing out her ootheca when I opened lid. I have 24 females (would be 25, but one immature lady died inexplicably at the very beginning), and 10 males. None had matured when I got them Dec 28th, and a small few still have not. But different stages ensured that I wasn't getting old bugs. I think this might be too much for my one toad, but we'll see. At least it will be spaced out.

Now separating the young from the breeders is also proven to be more effective i myself have seen the difference. When you have a smaller colony anywhere from under 100 to 1000 it really doesn't make a difference but when you produce them by the tens of thousands it makes a huge difference. (For efficient breeding) Now for your feeders you can cram many numbers into one bin and they would be fine until they start smothering each other which has happened to me, so i had to get a much larger bin.

This makes total sense. Rats, for one, won't give birth if it's too crowded, and it stands to reason that roaches won't either.

However I am in the middle of preparing to breed a few species of toads and also add new frogs to my family.

What species? Breed some American Toads so I can have a friend for Banjo! I know, no one breeds those, but that'd be awesome.

[demon amphibians]

Yoshimi, that is a very good question the scent may very well be what it is or maybe the vitamin C was also one of my theory's. I just wish there was more information out there on the subject. I have tried lemons and limes with them as well and the roaches want nothing to do with either.

I am breeding cane toads. Which I will admit, they can easily be confused with an American toad they look very much alike. A pet store was selling them a few months ago and I thought they were cane toads i was super excited I told the employee I wanted all the cane toads in that tank and he corrected me and said they were American toads. when they are about an inch long they look almost identical. Well I thought so anyway. But i have considered getting them because they are a very cool species. None the less if you want a cane toad when i breed them you can have as many as you like.

[yoshimi]

cane toads are huuuge. ok, maybe not huge but large as adults. my banjo should grow to be only 2 to 4 inches long, depending on what gender he turns out to be (still don't know, he's a youngin, but almost 2 inches already cuz he's spent his hibernation period eating and growing.). they do look a lot alike when they're small. but they need warmth, i think, whereas Banjo could overheat. i'll look into cane toad care, now that i'm curious. so surprised someone was selling american toads in a pet store. no one around here does. good luck on breeding them and i'll be interested to see your progress!