question regarding my dubia colony

[wontbme]

i've had my 500~ nymphs for about a month now. they are in a glass 30x20" reptarium. I'm using one of the zilla heating mats on the side of the glass container, but inside it to keep it warmer. they cant climb it.
i didn't have enough crate to keep it vertically up so i shredded them to like 4 eggs per carton (2x2) so it covers about half of the container. this way they have more room to roam.

problem is, i dont know how to feed them. Only way i've been able to do it is just to randomly place some fruit in the container, but fruit is moist and it makes the carton sticky. So what can i use?

also, is glass safe? they cant climb it so...
my largest roach is maybe an inch. but no adults yet... although im still seeing some tiny roaches, why is that?

can i use freshwater fish food for gutloading aswell? it's tetracolor fish food. probably the best i could find in petco, i use it for my freshwater goldfish, so i figured it'd be good for the protein, what about cat food? my sister has two cats and some of the kibbles escape the bowl, so i was thinking i could use those and grind them up. (theyre picky cats)

my cham wont eat them if theyre in a bowl, so what do i do to feed her? she only eats free roamed or hand fed (roaches are too quick to hand feed)

i just recently cleaned my roach enclosure using a cleaned trash can, could the rapid swap between enclosures stress and kill off the baby roaches?

 

[wontbme]

also, i have a reptifogger and sadly it isnt working anymore. the water wont travel through the tube. so i put it inside the tank (luckily the mesh lid has no corners so cables run through it just fine without making holes in the lid (for escapees) ) so...

the fog will keep up humidity AND heat. is this good? i have it on low power because without the hose water jumps out, and its pretty hot. so low power is just low-fog. it'll turn off at night on its own.

 

[Rottsko]

I think a glass container is fine as long as you have good air flow. I wouldn't gutload with fish food or cat food. I use cricket crack, bug burger, and fruits and veggies. I just leave them in the floor of their enclosure.

Mine wouldn't eat the roaches for a while but as soon as they realized it was food, they devour them on sight now. You can try tapping the bowl so they move and even put some crickets in there too.

 

[Rottsko]

Not sure about the fogger...I don't use one. Just a heat mat

 

[wontbme]

she doesn't even look at them, i put them in the light so they run around like idiots but the cham just looks and then looks at me like "...really? you've had me for a year and your not letting me catch my own food?" oh it was my chams birthday the 28th. shes 1 year old!

i cant make her eat out of the cup. if i let them roam she'll hunt for them. but roaches hide and they probably will never come out, till shes asleep.

 

[wontbme]

Not sure about the fogger...I don't use one. Just a heat mat

the fogger is pretty warm. i've looked up dubias in several guides and what-not. so humidity would severely improve their living conditions, and it would also prevent dehydration. A humid roach grows faster and breeds better. but i was mostly asking if it could do more harm than good (idk maybe the fogger releases something... it's water from those 2 gallon baby water stuff, i can't beleive i dont remember the word for it)

 

[Rottsko]

she doesn't even look at them, i put them in the light so they run around like idiots but the cham just looks and then looks at me like "...really? you've had me for a year and your not letting me catch my own food?" oh it was my chams birthday the 28th. shes 1 year old!

i cant make her eat out of the cup. if i let them roam she'll hunt for them. but roaches hide and they probably will never come out, till shes asleep.

Id keep trying. Mine didn't eat them at first but they eventually ate them...

 

[wontbme]

i mean cup fed. i just tried again and she looks with desire but to no avail. i once left her some worms in a cup and she NEVER ate them. somehow the cup spilled and then the worms were no where to be found. i'm guessing that she knocked it over and let them roam around.


also, i switched the container to a 15"x6"x5" container, it's a small tupperware covered by shredded egg flat. I read that the smaller the container the better the breeding for these types of critters.


The heater mat fits perfectly and i feel like it'll maintain a higher level of warmth. i plan on cutting the tupperware top to put some old screen mesh i have laying around. This would improve humidity seeing how the gels are resting ontop in a dixie cup. with some orange slices for food. (one of those tiny oranges, ezpeel or w/e)

the person i bought these roaches from said it was 500 nymphs.. it looks nothing like it but what do i know lol.

I plan on waiting till my dubias are adults to transfer them to the larger glass one. Seeing how they'll probably die off in such a small space. That little one might be my nymph container.

 

[wontbme]

still need some opinions.

why are some of my adult-looking roaches not mature yet after a month?

why are some still looking like newborn nymphs?

 

[K9Luvn]

I'm certainly not a dubia expert but I am learning as I go. I do know they take awhile for nymphs to grow. I have stopped feeding the ground up cat food mix that I used to use... I have started giving cut up fruit and veggies. I have noticed that given the opportunity they went for the real food over the cat food crunch. I put shallow plastic lids in the bottom of my rubbermaid tub for the food and water crystals. I tear peices of egg crate to help tiny nymphs climb into the lids to eat. Because of the heat and humidity I have to make sure I check the fresh food so that it does not mold. Its my understanding that mold can kill a roach colony.

Alot of my roach stuff was taught to me by Xanthoman on this forum, and also "The Roach Hut" on youtube. The Roach Hut shows to put the food on the top... but I have done better with putting the food on one end of my tub and just throwing a couple pieces of eggcrates horizontal over the food so it is dark. I'm sure if you PM Xanthoman he will be happy to help you.

I am still working on getting my young Chameleons to eat them.