# entire roach colony dead, anyone know why this would happen?



## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

i have posted this thread already in lizards section, but thought i might get more luck here. i came home from work to find my entire roach colony dead and im confused as to why. i am so upset as i spent a lot on it initially and always bought new roaches every now and then, and £38 worth just last week, so its a lot of money gone, probably over £100 in total iv spent in the last yr trying to get this really going, as i wanted the colony to sustain my beardie and 2 salamanders long term. 

has this ever happened to anyone? im not sure i can afford another colony, but if/when i do, i need to know what caused this as i dont want this to happen again, please help me.


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## reptiles-ink (Nov 4, 2006)

Has anybody been using fly spray, ardap or anything similar near to them?
Or what were they fed on lately, any chance of pesticides on the food?


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

no sprays at all as i dont use anything with having reps, always just open a window. 

i fed them 2 days ago on carrot bought in a large bag from asda, i doubt they would have anything on them to kill the roaches, but i guess its not out of the question.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

What's the ventilation in your tub like, and how deep is the tub?

We had that happen to our first dubia colony - and it was because there was an ammonia buildup after we'd fed a fair bit of juicy vegetables. Carrots can be pretty watery.


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

the lid is mesh, i cut out the plastic and stuck mesh over. bare in mind iv had them in the same tub for over a year now, there is no bad smell, i keep moisture to a minimum and only feed them what they will eat so theres not usually any leftover food lying around. 

im starting to get panicy now, cos my beardie has been eating them, i am worried they were infected somehow. 

i got the initial colony may 08, topped up 3 times, last time was about 1 week ago, nothing has changed in the last year other than putting a habistat heatmat on them, cos the exo terra one wasnt even getting past 80 without a stat, they werent breeding good so i got a new mat, and bought £38 worth of new roaches just 2 weeks ago, and now all that money and effort is wasted. i am so upset. really cant afford new ones, that £38 i spent on the last batch of roaches was meant to be my last in a long time. 

there is 2 survivors so far, both babies. im gonna have a proper good clear out now and bin them all, hopefully i find a couple more surivors, although i dont wanna keep them incase it is an infection, prob best to just get rid of them all isnt it?


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Keep in mind anything that infects insects is PROBABLY not going to be parasitic/infectious to a vertebrate. It is actually possible to overheat dubia roaches - is it possible this has happened?

What substrate do you use (if any) and what do you generally feed them? 

It's possible that the new additions brought in something that your original colonies weren't equipped to deal with and have caused an epidemic - or there could have been a temperature-related problem.


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

i think temp is maybe likely as i had only recently got them a new heat mat, but was only small and covered half the tub, other half was warm and room temp at the far size. they had a scattering of aspen and then lots of stacked egg crates.

i think u are right, its either temps or infection from the newbies.

maybe since its been warmer lately, the cool end wasnt cool enough and they over heated. i guess il never know, just have to be more carefull with temps. i emailed the seller of the new addistions to see if he has had any probems with his, if not then i guess it might have been temps, its the only realistic suggestion i can think of.


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## Alex (Jun 14, 2009)

Yeah the only thing i can think of is that there was a parasite in the colony you introduced two weeks ago, What temps were you getting with your new stat?

iv heard of roaches that overheat and act as if they have died only to have been in a sort of dormant stage, leave them for a little while and see if any recover like this.


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

they were getting 95 on the hot spot. 

once i realised they were dead i took the heat mat off and they are still there, il see if they cooled down and came back to life, i would love that, doubt it will happen, they looks pretty dead, but il leave them a bit and got my fingers crossed. thanks for all the advice everyone.


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## Alex (Jun 14, 2009)

How many survivors have you found?


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

about 4 or 5 now, but thats it, dont think theres any more unless some spring back to life. there is few babies and 2 adult females, no males.


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## Alex (Jun 14, 2009)

Just keep them cooler and dont throw them away just yet, some may spring back to life, because as i said before i have heard TRUE cases of them springing back to life, and have seen this happen when overheating is the case.


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

ok thanks, im glad u have given me some hope. il just leave them for now, no heat mat in the coolest room in the house and see if they cool off and even if i can save a handful at this point that would be fantastic.


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## foggy01.1983 (Mar 26, 2009)

During the hot period my roach colony over heated. 50 50 heat mat coverage. I came back home with them laying upside down to cool themselves down. Suppose really they need a stat to lol


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

ahh i think mine have done the same, they were upside down too. i cleared them all out today and found a few adult females and a handfull of babies.


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## Alex (Jun 14, 2009)

So , did any more come back to life since we last spoke?


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

well i found a couple alive ones, but they were hidden, so i dunno if they were always alive or not, hard to say but i think they were just hidden and the others were all totally dead.


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## foggy01.1983 (Mar 26, 2009)

Well at least u know what killed them off now. Its strange seeing them all on thier backs. Fortunately i caught mine before they cooked. Your eggs will prob be ok so keep them warm lol


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