Dubia colony questions

[fish4all]

Jeff, babies dead outside the bin? Sounds like they die pretty quick then if they find their way out?

[JeffreH]

Jeff, babies dead outside the bin? Sounds like they die pretty quick then if they find their way out?

I assume most of the escapees hide somewhere out of sight and ultimately die from lack of food and water. Plus the basement where my roach racks reside sits around 66 degrees F. The dead babies I find outside the bin are the result of the nymphs finding their way into the cobwebs and spider webs I've allowed to remain untouched down there... roach + web = quick death haha

It isn't that uncommon to see a random roach or two escape every now and then for me, but seeing a couple of dozen newborn dubias trapped in a single web was a pretty big red flag that something was wrong in my setup ; )

[unkempt1]

Jeff, babies dead outside the bin? Sounds like they die pretty quick then if they find their way out?

Oh no, trust me it's the other way around. You will see that they are almost impossible to kill. One time I saw a baby nymph on its back next to my frog's cage. It wasn't moving, so I assumed it escaped and died. Well, the doorbell rang and I forgot about it. I came back to feed my frog three days later and saw it again, still on it's back. I went to pick it up to throw away and it was still alive.

[fish4all]

Okay unkept, that DOESN'T make me feel any better with my wife's aversion to roaches. We just won't tell her that story, lol.

I like the idea of the 10 gallon tank, I could ever take a razor blade and trim the silicone around the top edges so the nymphs have a harder time climbing. Line it with the slippery tape and should keep them in place for the most part.

Heather, where do you keep the tank? Dark closet, in a dark box or do yours seem to care about being in the dark all the time?

[JeffreH]

I hope this doesn't get taken the wrong way, just wanted to give my experience using glass for snakes and roaches...Glass aquaria are expensive, don't hold heat and humidity well, and are very heavy to move around. Unless you use a lamp, it can be difficult to attain the temperatures you want using a UTH or heat tape depending on ambient room temps. I prefer heat tape because it is much more cost effective and energy efficient (60 watt light bulb puts energy into light and heat, while a 10watt strip of heat tape can get to 110-115 degrees on surface). Aquaria are OK for a colony or two - but become immensely impractical for anything more.

Not saying they won't work - obviously Heather is having excellent success = )

There are a variety of ways to keep these guys and everyone has their own methods that work - you'll just have to decide whats best for you. As mentioned earlier, they aren't rocket science to keep. If you can keep crickets alive, you can keep roaches...the only major difference is heating requirement.

Also....

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! = D