What is this? - roache help

[Damicofam6]

I noticed these two things when I was getting roaches out of my colony. One picture attached looks like maybe the female is laying an egg like thing almost. The other I noticed down at the bottom of the bin I'm not sure what it is.

 

[Chamifornia]

A female dropped their egg sack. It happens sometimes

 

[MeruJack]

A female dropped their egg sack. It happens sometimes

I though Dubia gave birth to live babies. ?

 

[Damicofam6]

I though Dubia gave birth to live babies. ?

That's what I thought too

 

[MSMorgan]

That's what I thought too

With dubia, the females carry an oothica (egg sac) in them until the babies hatch. When the nymphs hatch, it appears that the female is giving "live" birth, but in reality the nymphs are incubated in the egg sacs until they are ready to hatch. When they are ready, the oothica bursts and the female pushes it/them out. Do a search on youtube to check out multiple vids of this.

 

[Andee]

Usually females drop their ooths when they are stressed. Did you just clean your bin? Or is your ratio out of balance? A lot of times if there are too many males compared to females and too little territory they will drop their ooths.

 

[Spyro]

Female roaches carry their eggs inside something we term as the ootheca. This holds all the eggs together and in a safe place. Some roach species leave them in random places and others carry them the whole term.

 

[MeruJack]

With dubia, the females carry an oothica (egg sac) in them until the babies hatch. When the nymphs hatch, it appears that the female is giving "live" birth, but in reality the nymphs are incubated in the egg sacs until they are ready to hatch. When they are ready, the oothica bursts and the female pushes it/them out. Do a search on youtube to check out multiple vids of this.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Damicofam6]

Usually females drop their ooths when they are stressed. Did you just clean your bin? Or is your ratio out of balance? A lot of times if there are too many males compared to females and too little territory they will drop their ooths.

How would i balance out the males and females? I'm new to having this colony.

 

[Andee]

Males need a ratio of 3 females to every male. I preferably keep 4 to every male. I feed off some of my males to my adult panther. He's a good chewer and likes the wings. I also by large groups of females once every year or so, to add new blood and even out the ratio.

Edit: my males love when I add new females. They start courting the new ones right away. It's adorable.

 

[Damicofam6]

i may just have to sell my colony or give it away, not sure yet. roaches just dont seem to be my thing. I got the colony when i picked up my most recent chameleon and he likes them but my other panther wont touch them, also i dont know much about roaches. I'll see how it works out

 

[Chamifornia]

They're pretty easy . I had a colony for 3 years and my panther never ate any. I rarely put food in there and they got to easily around a couple thousand. I ended up selling it a while back but started again with a couple hundred earlier this year and it's easily tripled in size already. I HATE crickets so I prefer roaches for sure.

 

[Andee]

Roaches are easy no matter the type, except for some of the colossal species

 

[Damicofam6]

Males need a ratio of 3 females to every male. I preferably keep 4 to every male. I feed off some of my males to my adult panther. He's a good chewer and likes the wings. I also by large groups of females once every year or so, to add new blood and even out the ratio.

Edit: my males love when I add new females. They start courting the new ones right away. It's adorable.

What do you do with the males that you take out to keep an even ratio? The adults seems way too big to feed to my chams. Sorry if I'm asking dumb questions, I'm new to having the colony and I want to keep them the best I can. Thanks for all the help

 

[Andee]

You can sell them. Or cull them. I prefer selling.

 

[Damicofam6]

You can sell them. Or cull them. I prefer selling.

thank you for all the help!

 

[Andee]

Of course

 

[MSMorgan]

What do you do with the males that you take out to keep an even ratio? The adults seems way too big to feed to my chams. Sorry if I'm asking dumb questions, I'm new to having the colony and I want to keep them the best I can. Thanks for all the help

Selling or trading is the way to go. I have a friend that I trade chicken eggs for adult dubia males. In turn, his chickens eat them and provide me more eggs. It's a win-win situation.

 

[Damicofam6]

Selling or trading is the way to go. I have a friend that I trade chicken eggs for adult dubia males. In turn, his chickens eat them and provide me more eggs. It's a win-win situation.

i dont know how i didnt think of that! haha i have 8 chickens

 

[MSMorgan]

From what I understand, chickens LOVE dubia. Let me know how it goes.