# dubia colony collapsed



## *stu* (Oct 27, 2010)

as above, the mrs has just rang me to tell me that there are next to no dubias in the tub:censor::censor::censor:

now i dont really have that much to do with them as she feeds the dragons etc,

but my question is, what can i do about this and what would have caused it, the colony has been going ofr a good couple of years now (with me for over a year)

there have not been many escapees so they have not got out, but we are only feeding 2 dragons from them.

is it worth me buyinf some more and topping up what we have and see if it takes off again or do i need to do something else.

we have 2 tubs, one for breeding and then a clean one and we change them around every coupld of months, the tub is on a heat mat (un-stated) and like i say been fine for well over ma year with us.

any help apprieciated.


----------



## Paul112 (Apr 6, 2007)

What do you feed your roaches? I've never had a dubia colony crash but if you had enough of them, and were heating them right, the only other thing I can think of is food and water?

Best,
Paul


----------



## *stu* (Oct 27, 2010)

i feed them fish flake food and fresh veg. never had to use water, nor did the person who i got them from, he had them for over a year and so have i now. 

there are prob about 100 of them in the tub still but nowhere near as much as there was/shoudl/has been for the time we have had them,.

i tried them before on dry cat food and they did not eat it, but the fish food flakes are gone witin a couple of days and the veg i put in is always the likes of carrott and other wet type veg. i was under the impression that they would get the water from that.

the temp like i say is in the 30's but is not on a stat its just on 24/7 so this may fluctuate with the house heating being on/off


----------



## ExoticInsectsUK (Nov 15, 2008)

Hi fresh food is good but i also put insect water gel in they will go though it very fast.
I use a dry mix (insect feeder) i make up for all my roaches/livefoods once you get there food right they will produce thousands every month. you just need more adults to start off again:2thumb:


----------



## *stu* (Oct 27, 2010)

ExoticInsectsUK said:


> Hi fresh food is good but i also put insect water gel in they will go though it very fast.
> I use a dry mix (insect feeder) i make up for all my roaches/livefoods once you get there food right they will produce thousands every month. you just need more adults to start off again:2thumb:


 
well its been thriving for a couple of years now and then all of a sudden this happens, just a bit confused how it could be ok for all this time and then just drop like this.

do they breed more at different times of the year?? 

also will they eat the dead roaches??

will have to have a look out for some adults to boost it up then

would it be worht me starting another colony and just leave it with out taking any out and take them out in stages rather than opening it and disturbing them every day??

i was thinking i can use the spare tub to breed and then use the one we have now for feeding, when we run out of feeding one, we raid the breeding tub??

what do you think??


----------



## Paul112 (Apr 6, 2007)

They should breed at a constant rate throughout the year as the temps are always the same. They will usually eat any dead ones, particularly to get water.

Definitely set up a feeder tub too, they won't breed if you're constantly disturbing them.

Best,
Paul


----------



## ExoticInsectsUK (Nov 15, 2008)

jonnyboy86 was selling adults very cheap on here may be worth adding some.
Not sure why it fizzed out i would add more water gel as they may have dryed out


----------



## spencerburgo (Dec 1, 2010)

*stu* said:


> well its been thriving for a couple of years now and then all of a sudden this happens, just a bit confused how it could be ok for all this time and then just drop like this.
> 
> do they breed more at different times of the year??
> 
> ...


check out the deals that the roach hut has he normally does very good deals on 50/50 m/f feed at least half of the males of as feeders as 1to3 ratio is ok, but first i would try and find out what happened as you dont want it happening again, my roaches go through a lot of gel and they get veg 3 times aweek, ebay is the place for your water crystals if you want to save money,

cheers spencer...........


----------



## 0123456789 (Feb 18, 2011)

I would have said it must be caused by a disease so I wouldn't add new ones to the old colony


----------



## The Roach Hut (Mar 29, 2008)

there could be a couple of reasons for the crash. humidity could be too low due to having no gel in your tub, which can cause issues with moulting. the other thing here is you say u had it for a couple of years, maybe you been feeding off all the new adults without realising it and the others just died of old age. and always a good idea to add new blood once in a while to boost the colony as over time interbreeding can cause immune issues 

you need to re check your setup. we have videos on our site infat there is around 20 videos on dubia. also consider adding stuff to your fish flake as the fresh food is great but provides no protien. the fish flakke will do this but mix it with other high protein ingriedients

link below

Tony


----------

