Dubia roaches hasn't mated? no results yet

[unixmiah]

Hi,

I recently purchased Dubia roaches to start a dubia roach colony to save money everything time I buy $$ crickets at petco or petsmart.

I ordered the Dubais from one of our sponsors from chameleon forums but I ended up getting shorted probably by mistake. They have great reviews and I contacted them but nothing yet-- no response.

I ordered 10 females and 5 males and I only got 7 in total- when I looked to see if they've reproduces I don't see any. Some had wings and other adults didn't. I also ordered small 50 babies so I threw them all in the same box.

How long does it take for the Dubias to mate? when do you start seeing the little ones coming out?

I have them in a Container from Target I recently purchased/a clear container with small holes I've made for air flow.

I have 3 layers of egg thingies with water crystals in a screen cup. In each of those egg container recycled paper indent I have
Dubia munch/their food and I keep it under a futon/dark.

Any clues anyone?

When I get home today from work I'll take picture of the setup and the Dubias. I don't see anything multiplied. Do they need to bask? any heat? light? can I do anything to speed it up?

 

[SSimsswiSS]

What are you feeding them? Dubia munch

 

[distortionz]

I started with 10 males and 30 females back in January.. And I just now in August have a good producing colony... It doesn't happen over night.. Be patient... And make sure you have the temp around at least 85-90 Fahrenheit or they won't breed.. You will probably start seeing nymphs after a month or so... But to get a colony going that you can actually feed off.. your talking 6-9 months..

 

[AESara]

They need heat to breed, around 90 degrees F. It's actually one of the advantages of this feeder: escapees aren't going to breed unless it's really hot where you live constantly.

Here's a thread with some heating suggestions: https://www.chameleonforums.com/dubia-colony-heating-108821/

 

[unixmiah]

I'm giving them this thing that smells little like crushed green tea that I got from dubiaroaches.com -- it looks like this green grounded stuff. Dubia munch I guess.

 

[unixmiah]

Ok-- so I don't need lights-- which I don't want to use because I already have 4 lights running for my 2 chameleons-- so a heating pad get it to 90 Degrees?

No one in the Dubia colony video mentioned any heat or light bulb heat or heating pad heat-- it was only to breed crickets.

Show I get a heating pad from Target or Walmart? vs. getting Flex Heat tape? which one would save money on electric?

 

[unixmiah]

aaaaha--- this makes sense now. so heat, timing, food/water crystals is all I need?

Should I keep them in the dark? or it doesn't matter?

 

[unixmiah]

Holy Christ 8 to 9 months for a Colony?!

 

[distortionz]

To get a good producing colony you can consistently feed off of it takes a while yes..they take like 4-6 months to mature to breeding age.. And I think each female can have like 30 nymphs a month.. So until the babies they have now are old enough to start breeding you won't have a consistent supply.. And I use a heating pad or a ceramic heat bulb.. no light.. They like the dark... And I use cut up oranges it feeds and hydrates them and supposedly makes them breed more.

 

[unixmiah]

nice i have a huge bag of tangerine i'll cut up and put it in there. -- they look really gross-- i need to get used to looking at them.

are they cleaner than regular roaches? what is dubia? is that a roach term? are they cleaner type of roaches because we feed them roach chow?

 

[nick barta]

Holy Christ 8 to 9 months for a Colony?!

I believe Christ set the incubation time, you can ask Him…

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[Andee]

All roaches are clean if you feed them the right stuff. The only thing that causes roaches to pass on germ and diseases is eating molding foods and bad foods. Technically you could raise a german roach colony and have it just as "clean" as a dubia roach colony Dubia is a species of roach... You should do some research... like there are different kinds of crickets and chameleons there are different kinds of roaches...

Adult males are the only ones with wings, adult females have wing stubs but no wings. But still look quite different than the nymphs. They are less smelly than crickets, less cannibalistic, less aggressive in the long run, and easier to breed... I don't get why everyone is grossed out by roaches. They are just bugs. But alas people have issues. Crickets are more likely to bite your cham and YOU in the process of feeding, they are more likely to escape.

I personally, dislike crickets... I don't HATE them, I'm not afraid of them. I can deal with them, I just would never raise them. I love roaches, I find them adorable, grind my own food for them and raise my own oranges for them.

Dubia give a type of live birth, but I always suggest getting around 50 adults to start your colony after you make sure your cham will eat roaches. And then getting around 100 nymphs. But that's just my thoughts on the whole roach thing *shrugs*

 

[ridgebax1]

You are definitely going to have to be patient! I am not sure where the name Dubia comes from exactly but it is part of the scientific name Blaptica dubia; (It drives me crazy when people call them Dubai.. that is a place not a bug). I think people are generally creeped out by bugs and most people know roaches as pests. The dubia roach is actually from the tropics which is why they need heat in order to breed. The females do carry the fertilized eggs in her body and then expels them when the nymphs hatch. This is called ovovivaparous. There is no connection between the babies and the mother (no placenta) they are nourished by a yolk sac. The females will produce 20-40 babies a month under the correct conditions which primarily means heat; I use a ceramic heat emitter and am planning to add an under tank heater this winter. Roaches will eat anything including each other. I had a colony that was put into a spare room and forgotten for at least 6 months which means no food or water was provided. There were still live roaches when the bin was rediscovered. Many people feed them dog food because it is cheap but it does not provide the proper nutrition to use the bugs as feeders for chameleons. It is too much protein. Many people use a commercial chow and there are many recipes for dry gut load on the forums. In addition people supplement the dry meal with fruits and veggies. I keep water crystals for them and dry gut load at all times. I will give them fruit and veggies occasionally but you have to be careful with that. I had an infestation of fruit flies because they did not eat the fruit fast enough. They are preferable to crickets because they do not fly, climb, jump, bite, make noise or stink. I clean out my bin every 4 months or so. I don't mind picking up the nymphs but the adults gross me out, I just can't make myself touch them. I also don't like them to actually crawl on me at any size. I am fortunate that CJ loves them. A lot of chams don't because they are not as active as other feeders. Also you need to keep them in an opaque container as they prefer the dark. Here is a link to the wikipedia article about them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaptica_dubia.