Dubia Roach Care

[Little Louis]

I'm getting my Chameleon in less than a week. I'm not exactly an expert on Dubia Roaches but every time I get them they start either dying off or I find blank shells just laying around with no roach inside. I don't really know what to feed them... I've been giving them some Escarole Lettuce. I'm assuming the food has something to do with this. But honestly, it could be anything about the way I keep them. I keep them in a plastic container so they can't climb the walls. In the lid, I used a thumb-tack to poke 25 holes or so. They climb over an egg holder and daily I drop in some Lettuce.

Let me know if there is something I can do/change/stop doing to help preserve them. ]

Thank you.

 

[NashansCamos]

I'm getting my Chameleon in less than a week. I'm not exactly an expert on Dubia Roaches but every time I get them they start either dying off or I find blank shells just laying around with no roach inside. I don't really know what to feed them... I've been giving them some Escarole Lettuce. I'm assuming the food has something to do with this. But honestly, it could be anything about the way I keep them. I keep them in a plastic container so they can't climb the walls. In the lid, I used a thumb-tack to poke 50 25 holes or so. They climb over an egg holder and daily I drop in some Lettuce.

Let me know if there is something I can do/change/stop doing to help preserve them. ]

Thank you.

what temps do you keep them at

 

[Little Louis]

what temps do you keep them at

Room temperature. About 75 degrees.

 

[Mrjamwin]

They do like it much warmer than that. Here's a link to show you some foods to gutload them with. https://www.chameleonforums.com/images/ccr/care-images/chameleon-gutload.jpg

 

[coastal_chameleon]

if you don't wanna breed them room temp is fine .make sure you bin is not a clear one and try to keep them in the dark . they can go a long time without eating as well .. add more holes for air flow . as for food they love carrots and oranges oats and many other thing .. you can find a gut load list on here somewhere ! I mist them down every now and then too .. not to much thought or you might get mites .. so I let it dry out completely before misting them down a bit again .... the empty shells are shed lol they shed just like you cham .. that's why you see freshly shed white roaches .. I use water crystals to help with humidity as well ...

 

[coastal_chameleon]

I forgot I had some dubias in a cup for about two weeks and they were all still alive living in calcium powder with no water so they are kinda hard to kill ..

 

[coastal_chameleon]

should I add the roach whisperer ?? @jamest0o0

 

[nightanole]

Its not hard...

Throw dubia in bin
throw some cleaner crews (i use like 3-4 sizes of "meal worm" beetles)
Throw something on the bottom of the bin for them to hide in. I use brain, so i dont get grain flies
Throw in some cardboard egg cartons
Throw in juicer pulp/veg peels/old uncooked veg

Never clean the bin

Throw out half the frash after it gets about 1" thick.

If its above 70f, you get more roaches. If its above 95f, you get a lot more roaches. If its below 70f your colony will be on cruise and no new roaches, but babies will continue to grow

 

[coastal_chameleon]

Its not hard...

Throw dubia in bin
throw some cleaner crews (i use like 3-4 sizes of "meal worm" beetles)
Throw something on the bottom of the bin for them to hide in. I use brain, so i dont get grain flies
Throw in some cardboard egg cartons
Throw in juicer pulp/veg peels/old uncooked veg

Never clean the bin

Throw out half the frash after it gets about 1" thick.

If its above 70f, you get more roaches. If its above 95f, you get a lot more roaches. If its below 70f your colony will be on cruise and no new roaches, but babies will continue to grow

meal worm beetles will eat dead roaches or just uneaten food ??

 

[NashansCamos]

Never clean the bin

? ? ? whattttt i've had to stick my hand in that bin and clean all the ? out twice bc there was so much.. I only have like 70-100 in there curently

 

[nightanole]

? ? ? whattttt i've had to stick my hand in that bin and clean all the ? out twice bc there was so much.. I only have like 70-100 in there curently

The babies live and eat off the poop...

If you keep your frash dry, it wont clump or stink. its only when you get a bunch of wet veg in the frash/cardboard that it gets bad.

 

[nightanole]

meal worm beetles will eat dead roaches or just uneaten food ??

both. And mold. I have never found a single shell. Darking beetles are also called "skull cleaners" etc. Most breeds will strip a cow.

 

[jamest0o0]

both. And mold. I have never found a single shell. Darking beetles are also called "skull cleaners" etc. Most breeds will strip a cow.

I agree, but the skull cleaners are dermestid which are different from darkling beetles. At least that's what I thought.

 

[nightanole]

I agree, but the skull cleaners are dermestid which are different from darkling beetles. At least that's what I thought.

Hmm

Infraorder:

Bostrichiformia

or

Infraorder:

Cucujiformia

So ya different families. I use Alphitobius diaperinus (lesser mealworms) , Tenebrio molitor (meal worm), and Zophobas morio (super worm) for my cleaner crews. I did have like 10 real derestid worms, but i just left them in the super worm bin thinking they would all get along. They didnt...

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I'm not exactly an expert on Dubia Roaches but every time I get them they start either dying off or I find blank shells just laying around with no roach inside. I don't really know what to feed them... I've been giving them some Escarole Lettuce. I'm assuming the food has something to do with this. But honestly, it could be anything about the way I keep them. I keep them in a plastic container so they can't climb the walls. In the lid, I used a thumb-tack to poke 25 holes or so. They climb over an egg holder and daily I drop in some Lettuce.

Let me know if there is something I can do/change/stop doing to help preserve them. ]

IME (not claiming to be an expert, but I manage to keep these little buggers alive for many months).

Those holes are too small; they may be sealing up again and the roaches may be suffocating.
I keep mine in re-used sherbet tubs. I drill (not punch—you want to make sure the material is removed and the holes clear) about 100 1/16" holes in the lid. Inside, I stack TP tubes vertically—later they work like cricket tubes—very handy. I drop a baby carrot in each tube as necessary, supplemented with whatever's available from the gutload list.

As far as cleaning, if the frass gets yucky, I clean it out before it starts to stink, and replace the tubes.
I'm small scale (less than 1000) so I don't bother with cleaning crews, etc.

A few dead husks happen—even in a new bag from the breeder—but usually less than 2%.

I still have some alive from an order in January.

 

[SourGrape4u]

Cut a square out and hot glue screen on. I do not use that cricket feed any more that pic is from months ago.

 

[nightanole]

Cut a square out and hot glue screen on. I do not use that cricket feed any more that pic is from months ago.

View attachment 274807

Ah yes "banana". I should have wrote that on all my glass lamps on the ceiling. Never could make the thing escape proof.

 

[SourGrape4u]

Ah yes "banana". I should have wrote that on all my glass lamps on the ceiling. Never could make the thing escape proof.

They only escape from me when i feed if i give them the flyer adults.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Das a lotta bugz...