Escape Dubia Roaches

[kgallego]

I'm learning more and more that it's inevitable. No matter how high of precautions are taken, eventually those crafty little bastards find a way out, and then they show up in the house somewhere.

Tonight I found out that they can even live for long periods of time in your house (contrary to what most people say). I've kept an accurate count of adult males & females and large nymphs in my breeder bin for the past two months. The only other roaches I have are very small babies. I just found a very large adult female in my laundry room. This means she has to have been living in my house for a minimum of two months now.

I'm sure glad I found her instead of my fiance. Wew! She would have been mad as hell!

 

[xxzmmorexx]

Hahahaha thats wild! I was under the assumption that they die off real quick if not in a reallu warm enviroment

 

[kgallego]

Hahahaha thats wild! I was under the assumption that they die off real quick if not in a reallu warm enviroment

The problem is that they find a warm environment. I'm sure the hot water hose going to my washing machine will give them all the heat they need. Who know's what's living underneath my dishwasher!

 

[xxzmmorexx]

Hahahahahahahahaha

 

[didyousneeze]

Ill buy a few every once in a while to feed right away.. but thats the precise reason theyre not my primary feed haha My gf ever saw one of those in the house, my cham and I would be packed and out the door=P

 

[crocky]

Yep I use to find them pretty frequently but I have to say the times I find them, they are all dead. But it worries me to think which ones were able to make it to some place warm before they died.

I think the reason I had so many is that my dragons are messy eaters and they tend to fling them out of their bowl when eating like a pig in slop then they find their way out of the cracks in the enclosures....I don't see them much anymore though as I got deeper bowls and now I feed larger roaches so they tend to find the mouth a little better.

I don't think I lose any from my bins although I could be wrong. I have a ton so if there were any missing I would never know unless I saw them out.

 

[Moosma]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Oh Lord!!!!” is not really what I want to say! I love Phi to pieces, and his little sister... I am afraid of roaches to the point of panic attacks, but they are better for the chameleons...
God, I cannot bear the thought of escapees, OMG! OMG! OMG! a jillion times!

 

[KiloTheChameleon]

to think
I WOKE UP FROM A SLEEP,
TURNED THE KITCHEN LIGHT ON FOR A COLD POP
OH LORD JESUS ITS A DUBIA ROACH!!!!!!

 

[KiloTheChameleon]

AINT NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!!!!!!!
AHHHH omggeeee Today i cleaned the cricket bin, omgeee!! it was rediculas!!!

I scooped them 1 by 1 2 by 2.. ugh so i was like "i'll use my hand"

I grabed 5-6 in a hdnful, they crawled up my arm like spirders and i shrieked and cried and fell to the floor, i rolled over them so they didnt escape... I felt the need to share this only because this cant never get back to my "in real life" hehehe!

[beware jasmine]

 

[Jon114]

Weird. At one point in time I had 2,000+ dubia in a 50 gallon tub and never suffered from a single escapee. Maybe your bin isn't secure enough. Dubia can't climb smooth surfaces so maybe yours have an access point somewhere. Mine certainly wasn't 100% secure but I was perfectly fine.

I also disagree with others that say tropical feeder roaches can't survive long in a house. While a roach like a dubia certainly won't thrive, they can still last a LONG time with minimal water and little to no food. I know this because I kept several adults in a 10 gallon tank that was ment to be for show. I scrapped the idea and put them in a closet in my room, and forgot all about them! 8 months later I rediscovered them, only to find almost all the them alive in well! Granted, they were severely dehydrated and near-death, but they were alive.

 

[drcrossfire]

the males can flutter a little bit.

i actually found a dubia IN my dishwasher. lol.

now thats one clean roach!

 

[dociledragons]

I know this because I kept several adults in a 10 gallon tank that was ment to be for show. I scrapped the idea and put them in a closet in my room, and forgot all about them! 8 months later I rediscovered them, only to find almost all the them alive in well! Granted, they were severely dehydrated and near-death, but they were alive.

Interesting

 

[winterbones]

I haven't had Dubia for nearly 4 months. Literally just a few hours ago I found a fully grown adult female in my room haha! I live in Scotland so it's almost always freezing here as well.

 

[MelissaB]

I haven't had Dubia for nearly 4 months. Literally just a few hours ago I found a fully grown adult female in my room haha! I live in Scotland so it's almost always freezing here as well.

ACK! I'm going to pretend I didn't read this...lol.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

Yeah I've found two so far around the basement. I think they escape from his food dish I leave in the cage, he tends to slap a couple out with his tongue, or if he has too many in his mouth at once he will drop one or two. I just really hope they don't breed amongst themselves out of their container

 

[drcrossfire]

i usually find the males escape.. since they can flutter their way up a couple inches

 

[kgallego]

They seem to be able to live outside their ideal environments. But the don't breed or infest. I'm still pro-dubia 100%, and my wife (fiancé when this thread was started) is coming around. She still hasn't found any escapees though - but I've found a couple dozen.

 

[little leaf]

I have read post before on them getting out- I am SO worried one will get out of the big f/r - once Olive dropped one, I know they can not get out, before I set it up, I sat in it, let a roach lose, and watched to see if it could get out, part of the building materials I used, were picked just because a dubia could not climb it - lol but if I am hand feeding OR cup feeding them- I still stab them with a toothpick - they die in like 3 hrs - but the chams always eat them before that happens - lol if my husband ever found one lose - that would be it - they would all be gone to the fire pit

 

[happiness]

I've yet to have an escape dubia. I always see a few crickets running around the room though.. They find a way.

 

[DanSB]

Dubias breed far too slowly, are not climbers, and are predictable as to where they will go. Even if your entire roach bin was tipped over and they scattered you could have them all gone in a month. If you were keeping Turkish, or German roaches you would be tenting your house in a month.

I sprinkle a borax sugar mix along the walls behind the roach bins and warm appliances. The sugar attracts them and the borax destroys their exoskeleton so they can no longer retain moisture. Another option is to toss a few roach motels in strategic locations.

In most places there is always a threat of general roach infestation not from your feeders but maybe a house guests luggage, a used appliance or antique furniture etc... It doesn't hurt to take precautions regardless of your choice of feeders.