I am in HUGE trouble! This is serious:(

[shaunaroxanne]

My new refrigerator was delivered today and guess what was under the old fridge? Yep, a big, fat, female Dubia. My husband was furious, especially when he lifted the plywood and found her babies. This is NOT good. I'm guessing a pregnant female escaped and had her babies there, and it's warm enough under there to survive. I am frantically searching the kitchen and entire house to make sure there are no more, but I am freaked out.

I PROMISED my husband this wouldn't happen, that they can't infest a house, blagh, blagh. But now I'm not so sure. Yes it gets cold here in the winter, but there are warm spots, like under the fridge. So how do we REALLY know they can't infest a home?

I'm not sure what to do now to convince him to let them stay in the house. And do I even want them here?

 

[ISA my Veiled]

oh wow, big problem. Umm honestly what I would do is kill her and her babies if you can find them all. Just get rid of them then make it as cold as you can in your house to make them dormant and you can search a little harder. My bet is that they are under things similar to the fridge so I would look there first. This sucks!! I would be freaking out too.

 

[Swayne8998]

They need hot (85-95 degree) temps to breed rapidly. They need slight humidity to molt.

I have never heard of dubias infesting a house... set traps. They should be fairly easy to get rid of, since they are tropical roaches...

 

[ISA my Veiled]

They need hot (85-95 degree) temps to breed rapidly. They need slight humidity to molt.

I have never heard of dubias infesting a house... set traps. They should be fairly easy to get rid of, since they are tropical roaches...

Yeah so I would imagine she has been there for awhile...

 

[shaunaroxanne]

Yeah so I would imagine she has been there for awhile...

She couldn't have been there too long, I've only had the colony for a few months. I just searched under my stove, under the dishwasher, under the kitchen cabinets, and in every nook and cranny I could access. I didn't find any more. I have central air and it is usually a constant 68 in the rest of the house. The only other warm spot would be the water heater, but that's in the basement and it's way too cold down there. I am hoping and praying this was an isolated incident.

 

[Psychobunny]

Not 2 worry, they cant get far to breed and hunt down food w/o high temps.
They will all die.

 

[maxttu]

She couldn't have been there too long, I've only had the colony for a few months. I just searched under my stove, under the dishwasher, under the kitchen cabinets, and in every nook and cranny I could access. I didn't find any more. I have central air and it is usually a constant 68 in the rest of the house. The only other warm spot would be the water heater, but that's in the basement and it's way too cold down there. I am hoping and praying this was an isolated incident.

You remember the old commercial: For every roach you see, there are 200 more that you haven't seen.

Seriously, if you've looked everywhere around that vicinity and haven't found another one, you're probably going to be ok. I noticed that you live in Pa? You'll freeze 'em out shortly enough!

 

[Benton1576]

Put a heat mat down then during the night when the temperature drops they will go to it to stay warm. You can find any that are left behind then! Thats what I do when crix escape.

 

[ibdragons]

Put a heat mat down then during the night when the temperature drops they will go to it to stay warm. You can find any that are left behind then! Thats what I do when crix escape.

Hell of an idea Benton!!!!then make sure u have a fly swatter for when u find them. They must all be destroyed,don't re use them they can pick up something bad when they were roaming around.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

Put a heat mat down then during the night when the temperature drops they will go to it to stay warm. You can find any that are left behind then! Thats what I do when crix escape.

That is a brilliant idea! I sucked them all up in the Dyson, then took them outside, WAAAY across the street, and sprayed bleach on them to kill them. I will use the heat mat idea if I can persuade my husband to let me keep the rest of my colony. I don't know though......he's not very happy with me at all right now

 

[Montium]

Do you free feed? is it possible it escaped from the cage and not your container? Any of the ones I have found loose have come from the chameleon cages. I guess I'm one of the folks that don't mind them. Palmetto bugs on the other hand bother me since they tend to fly on you lol.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

Do you free feed? is it possible it escaped from the cage and not your container? Any of the ones I have found loose have come from the chameleon cages. I guess I'm one of the folks that don't mind them. Palmetto bugs on the other hand bother me since they tend to fly on you lol.

I usually don't, but I have in the past. I think you are right, I'm almost certain it didn't come from the bin. I'm trying to convince my husband that since the old fridge was overheating and causing condensation issues, the excessive heat and moisture will not be an issue anymore since we have the new fridge, and future escapees will not be able to survive. Wish me luck, I'm not sure if he's going to buy it!

 

[Benton1576]

I aim to please!

You could also try putting something sticky on there to trap them, syrup or honey? It may work, if not it will aid in attracting them to it. Also, dont put the heatmat on the floor, they dont work too well that way, try to put some polystyrene underneath or cardboard.

 

[chameleonkev]

They can infest a home no problem, I've got crickets under my fridge now, I've just learned to live with it lol

 

[Trillian]

Any escapees in my house get a special Raid gutload... especially when the noisy sodding crickets get behind the kickboards in the kitchen.

 

[sandrachameleon]

can't hurt to put a sticky roach trap under the new fridge, under a sofa etc. just in case.
they may need 78F+ to breed, but the survive just fine at room temp.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

can't hurt to put a sticky roach trap under the new fridge, under a sofa etc. just in case.
they may need 78F+ to breed, but the survive just fine at room temp.

Good idea

 

[SliK JiM]

I must have had a small colony living in the radiator in my chameleon room as when I opened it to clean it out, I found a lot of dead baby dubias that had been eaten by a now very fat spider!

Was a little surprise, but haven't seen many since (saw one molt downstairs) but nothing else. They don't do too well without nice cosy conditions!

 

[shaunaroxanne]

I must have had a small colony living in the radiator in my chameleon room as when I opened it to clean it out, I found a lot of dead baby dubias that had been eaten by a now very fat spider!

Was a little surprise, but haven't seen many since (saw one molt downstairs) but nothing else. They don't do too well without nice cosy conditions!

Ok, good, that makes me feel better! The dishwasher comes out tomorrow for a new one, I guess if there are none under there, I'll be ok. If there are some under there, anyone local to Hershey can make a quick trip over here to pick up a free colony

 

[shaunaroxanne]

Welp, I'm out of the doghouse! We pulled out the old dishwasher today, and NO ROACHES!!! It was gross under there so I'm sure I would have found some if they had somehow multiplied. Whew....I feel relieved!