# B. dubia



## sbugir (Mar 10, 2010)

Hey,

Well, I decided to begin a colony so I could be independent from crickets.

The last reptile expo we had here, I decided to buy a 32 oz container of roaches. However, none were adult, go figure &lt;_&lt; . Anyway, it's been five months, and everyone is adult  (I have about 10 pairs). Care sheets don't really specify how long it takes for gestation and bearing so, if possible, I'd like to know from people who have had experience w/ these guys, when should I expect to see nymphs?

I'm keeping them at about 75-85 degrees, they're a foot away from the Gongylus cage. I have a few egg cartons in their cage (it's one of those giant plastic shoebox containers), and I feed them ground up dog food, bok choy, carrots, oranges (they love em  ), and bell peppers. It's been two months since the first few pairs molted to adult.

Thanks for any answers. It is greatly appreciated


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## Katnapper (Mar 11, 2010)

lemmiwinks said:


> Hey,
> 
> Well, I decided to begin a colony so I could be independent from crickets.
> 
> ...


I didn't keep track, and can't really remember when mine started producing little ones. How long have they been adult? It shouldn't take them much longer to mature, start mating and producing young. And once they get going... well, they really get going! My colony has grown by leaps and bounds. Even with offloading some here and there, I have tons! Be patient and they will likely breed soon. It sounds like you are keeping and giving them good conditions and care. Make sure to give them water also... in the form of water crystals or another method similar to like you would do for crickets. I hope you get babies soon!


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## sufistic (Mar 11, 2010)

Are they much easier to handle than _B. lateralis_? I've been pondering whether or not I should get them but the thought that they're much more likely to escape than Turkistan roaches is stopping me from getting them.


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 11, 2010)

None of mine have escaped to my knowledge! They are good babies! I didn't pay attention to the molting time either.


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## Rick (Mar 11, 2010)

I wish I could have roaches.


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## sufistic (Mar 11, 2010)

hibiscusmile said:


> None of mine have escaped to my knowledge! They are good babies! I didn't pay attention to the molting time either.


But they can and do climb?



Rick said:


> I wish I could have roaches.


I dunno how I did it cos my wife hates roaches more than anything else. I keep telling her they're good for my mantids. She seems convinced but she still hates roaches.


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## sbugir (Mar 11, 2010)

Nope, they don't climb slick, smooth surfaces like plastic and glass. They don't move too fast either, so it's pretty easy to catch em if they escape.


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## sbugir (Mar 11, 2010)

Katnapper said:


> I didn't keep track, and can't really remember when mine started producing little ones. How long have they been adult? It shouldn't take them much longer to mature, start mating and producing young. And once they get going... well, they really get going! My colony has grown by leaps and bounds. Even with offloading some here and there, I have tons! Be patient and they will likely breed soon. It sounds like you are keeping and giving them good conditions and care. Make sure to give them water also... in the form of water crystals or another method similar to like you would do for crickets. I hope you get babies soon!


Well, from when I recall, I first saw adults around two-three months ago. Now everyone's adult. I guess we'll just see how it goes.


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 11, 2010)

Rick, u slay me!



Come on over, u can play with mine!


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## Colorcham427 (Mar 11, 2010)

hibiscusmile said:


> Rick, u slay me!
> 
> 
> 
> Come on over, u can play with mine!


I've been keeping dubia roaches for a while now and let me to you, these beat the heck outta any other feeder roaches.

Their meat to shell ratio is impressive compared to other species, they also have high meat and less fat which is remarkable since we want our little critters to benefit off of the roaches kept as feeders and not as pets.  

They cannot climb smooth surfaces.

The adult males are the ones with long wings, and YES they can take flight, but this is very rare.

The adult males can out run any of the smaller nymphs plus the adult females, but theyr'nt that fast so don't worry.

The males' wings flutter, and the males do jump.

These are BEST kept on a very high protein diet, cat food is suitable for them.

I use "soil moist" for their water source because it's a billion times cheaper than water crystals. You can also rehydrate soil moist!  

Oranges, apple slices, carrot slices, sweet potato slices are much appreciated by the blaptica dubia roaches.

This species breeds best in 87-91 degrees. I try my best to keep mine around 88 degrees.

Lots of cardboard pieces including egg crate flates, fast food cup holders, toliet paper rolls, papertowel rolls, even crumbled up newspaper is OK for the roaches to house themselves in.

The females produce 25-30 babies every month. They bear live birth, and the adult females on average live up to 1.5 years!

The males live a lot shorter lives, and actually fight one another, I'm guessing for breeding rivalery purposes...  

It takes them 4-5 months to reach adult hood if they are kept in 85-92 degrees and have lots of water and enough food.

Coffee grounders are ideal for grinding up cat food and making it into their food source.

When I gutload my roaches, I separate them and put them in another, smaller container. I keep them at the same temperature, but change their diet.

NOTE: The roaches that are being gutloaded with the healthy food items, are to be kept and fed the healthy food items for over 5 days to ensure that the healthier foods are in them.

I change their diet to a full wet gutload mixture of:

Romaine lettuce

cooked egg yolk

yellow squash

Kale

oat meal

baby cereal

kelp

bee pollen

spurlina

raw wheat germ

sweet potato

carrot

carrot top

melon

This is a VERY NUTRTIONAL wet gutload mix that I use for my Furcifer Pardalis (panther chameleons) but I am sure it won't hurt the mantids? Again, not really educated with mantid nutritional values...

Maybe grass, romaine lettuce, kale, bee pollen, oat meal, and honey would make a better gutload for mantids?


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## sufistic (Mar 12, 2010)

Good info right there Brian. Looks like I'm gonna get me some.


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## PhilinYuma (Mar 12, 2010)

Yes, that's a good post on dubia, Brian, and it's given me a Great Idea. I shall buy a large (7oc capacity) coffee grinder to grind up dog/cat food with so that I can make a dry mix of fly food that only needs water to gt it growing.

Of course, though, I'm going to disagree with your (or just about anyone's) idea for gut loading your roaches for mantids. Three of the six foods that you mention contain cellulose, which the animal gut cannot break down. All vegetarians, from cows to cockroaches need microbial flora in the gut to do that (our atrophied vermiform appendix is a hold over from out leaf eating days), and mantids simply don't have it. Frog keepers in particular, shake flies up in a powder containing vitamins and minerals required by vertebrates, and this dusting, with pollen, mostly mimics the way in which mantids get pollen from pollen covered insects.

Obviously, you are well on top of raising this species, and I shall be interested in your experience in feeding them to mantids. In my experience, the only mantids that can eat an adult male whole are females of species like the peacock, giant Asian and Chinese, but smaller ones enjoy dubia babies.


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 12, 2010)

I grind mine with the old iron hand grinder, u should see these biceps :tt2: u guys are sissys


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## sbugir (Mar 12, 2010)

So, I decided to upgrade their container a bit as I feared territorial issues between males would occur.

I put em in a 15 gallon tank with egg flats positioned vertically and horizontally. There is a heat mat under, so hopefully I can reach relatively desirable temperatures.

We'll see how it goes :


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## Colorcham427 (Mar 17, 2010)

PhilinYuma said:


> Yes, that's a good post on dubia, Brian, and it's given me a Great Idea. I shall buy a large (7oc capacity) coffee grinder to grind up dog/cat food with so that I can make a dry mix of fly food that only needs water to gt it growing.
> 
> Of course, though, I'm going to disagree with your (or just about anyone's) idea for gut loading your roaches for mantids. Three of the six foods that you mention contain cellulose, which the animal gut cannot break down. All vegetarians, from cows to cockroaches need microbial flora in the gut to do that (our atrophied vermiform appendix is a hold over from out leaf eating days), and mantids simply don't have it. Frog keepers in particular, shake flies up in a powder containing vitamins and minerals required by vertebrates, and this dusting, with pollen, mostly mimics the way in which mantids get pollen from pollen covered insects.
> 
> Obviously, you are well on top of raising this species, and I shall be interested in your experience in feeding them to mantids. In my experience, the only mantids that can eat an adult male whole are females of species like the peacock, giant Asian and Chinese, but smaller ones enjoy dubia babies.


Hey man thanks for that input! Let me know what foods are good to gutload the dubia prior to feeding my mantids alrighty? thanks a bunch man. Always good info coming from you!


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