# Dubia Roaches warning !!



## spendleb

Hi all, ages since I've been on here as I sold my dragon at Christmas :-(, anyway we also sold our roach colony, we had it going for about 5 months and it increased dramatically during this time, it was great as we knew it was safe out in the shed and if they escaped they would die in our climate and oh yeah they can't climb and so on........

Or so we thought, we cleaned the shed out this week, almost 6 months later and so far we have found 2 very large male adults, living and as healthy as anything! They have had no heat or food during this time and are still alive and well, we also had a tank with a 3 inch coating of vaseline around the top so yes they can climb and escape!!

Just worth noting if you have any!


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## Rico

Realy? Ive never seen any of mine climb plastic. I hear the males can jump and hover a very short distance though.


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## LauraMartin

are u 100% sure they were dibias and not lobster/turkistan etc etc?

i breed dubias, in my bedroom!!!!! but they are in a big plastic box and just cant cimb! they cant even get out of a shallow food dish (1-2 inch high) when i feed them to my beardie. but u know how the males have them long wings, maybe they flew out? i heard they cant fly, but......


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## Vase

When my roaches were in their old tub I did find a couple of males in my spare room (where they were kept). They always appeared from under my computers keyboard or somewhere and proper scare the crap out of me.

They are now in a taller tub, with a lid and a coating of vaseline around the top.

No Vase-line jokes please :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## LauraMartin

but they cant climb, i dont understand. did you have a lid on the container? i hope they cant climb or fly, my lid isnt very tight. im gonna be well paranoid now, gonna have to do a good clean out of my room now.


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## darkblade666

they cant climb smooth plastic or glass but over time and with a lot of heat plastic can get a texture to it then then can climb

also they can climb on you or jump if the egg crates are near the top beleave the can jump hover for a bit 

my tub has a split lid so only open 1 side of it the bit without egg flats


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## Johelian

I have observed one male fluttering very briefly against the top of the tub for about a second before crashing back down, so I think they could probably escape an open container if the crates were stacked close enough to the top. Mine are in a RUB with a secure lid anyway so Im not really fussed  A lone male wouldnt be able to do much anyway if it escaped, except scare the hell out of you!


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## el_phantasmo

Bah. You're all thinking far to normally.

Let my inject a little tangental thinking.

Ninjas. Who says they have to be human?

Grappling hooks and ropes. Split toe-d sandals. Mystical powers.

You have an infestation of Ninja Roaches. *nods* Yup. Definately.

Or maybe just random ones that escaped un-noticed perhaps whilst it was open or got dropped?


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## garysumpter

el_phantasmo said:


> Bah. You're all thinking far to normally.
> 
> Let my inject a little tangental thinking.
> 
> Ninjas. Who says they have to be human?
> 
> Grappling hooks and ropes. Split toe-d sandals. Mystical powers.
> 
> You have an infestation of Ninja Roaches. *nods* Yup. Definately.
> 
> Or maybe just random ones that escaped un-noticed perhaps whilst it was open or got dropped?


What have you been smoking?


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## el_phantasmo

Dunno. Tastes like skittles, but theres and sparkly gold ember and the smokes bright blue.

Want some?

Found it in the gutter..... s'nice. :whistling2:


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## garysumpter

Yea, something for the weekend


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## zirliz

I have some of these got them as nymphs and have shown no interest in climbing, my one male lobster roach on the other hand is always at the top and I've just located another lobster one no idea where it came from, I left the, at home and mother well she got rid of them 
one baby escaped with me (turned up in my wardrobe) that's the male but where this new one emerged no idea gave me a shock while unpacking to see it crawl out of a box I'd in the room all year why the roach stayed in there in beyond me now I'm hoping it's a nice female to give my male company.


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## herp boy

i've found that the baby dubais can climb but once they reach the vaseline they fall back onto the egg crates


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## zemanski

even if they do escape they can't breed - they need the heat to breed - and they will die in the winter


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## Hobgoblin

:lol2::roll2:

:roll2::roll2::roll2:




well funny.....

el phantasmo......


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## InternetReptile

Right;

- Small nymphs CAN climb slightly textured surfaces. That means if the box you keep them in has edges or corners which look rougher, even if they feel smooth still... they can climb it. A big RUB or similar doesn't have this problem (I think).

- Adult males can get out... i have found them too. I haven't seen then jump, but believe they can as I have a couple run off my hand and flutter a decent distance to get away! My solution has also been to have a half lid over the egg box end of the tub, keeps warmth in too which is ideal. 

In either case I am sure escapees are very rare, adults males won't be stopped by vaseline or bug stop if they jump so don't bother. Just get a nice big RUB (mine are the 80l ones and place the lid over the egg boxes and that should= very little to worry about! Otherwise, get the same tub, cut most of the middle out and put some net or fly screen over it = almost 100% ventilation but no escapes guaranteed.


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## Rico

I found a loose male the other day he was dusted which means he got out of one of my frog vivs. Im pretty sure it must of climbed up the aquarium sealant to get out.


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## SteveOh_UK

If its hot enough the males can flutter, its not quite flying but its enough to get them out of a container if they are near the top on egg boxes or something.

They will live in cold climates but will slow down and be unable to do much.

I wouldn't worry about escapees. they are generally only males.


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## honey-pie

el_phantasmo said:


> Bah. You're all thinking far to normally.
> 
> Let my inject a little tangental thinking.
> 
> Ninjas. Who says they have to be human?
> 
> Grappling hooks and ropes. Split toe-d sandals. Mystical powers.
> 
> You have an infestation of Ninja Roaches. *nods* Yup. Definately.
> 
> Or maybe just random ones that escaped un-noticed perhaps whilst it was open or got dropped?


hahahaha couldnt resist this is a wonderful post i love it x


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## richard hardwick

mine are kept in a tub inside a box made from that insulation board it keeps the heat in i have seen males inside the second box but never females have to keep them in shed as wife wont let me put them in house:lol2:


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## Chrisuk33

well any live food i have like crickets and stuff are stored in a 9l rub box with the fansteners


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## Hamish198

Babies climb, I've observed it and and caught them doing it, now genuinely a little worried that they might be breeding in the house but luckily planning on emmigrating to NZ with my girlfriend in a couple of months so fingers crossed they don't reappear till I've gone lol


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## *stu*

i have just discovered the same thing

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/feeder/664513-who-said-dubias-die-gets.html


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## lungz

I have False Deaths heads in a std 3 ft aquarium and only had 1 escape episode. 

I don't do egg boxes but my tight fitting lid obviously wasn't as tight as I thought and one night last year after a rogue youth scurried across my living room floor I discovered they were climbing to the highest point in the viv en masse (a branch which was far enough from the top to prevent escape) but then climbing on each other until the smaller ones could reach the ridge. I hadn't fed them for a while and the smell of my awsome cooking seemed to have got the entire colony excited and heading towards the end of the viv nearest the kitchen. 

Perhaps everyones dubias are also using the "roach pyramid" method while no ones looking? A few bricks on all 4 corners of the lid stopped any future escapes.


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## samscott

Vase said:


> When my roaches were in their old tub I did find a couple of males in my spare room (where they were kept). They always appeared from under my computers keyboard or somewhere and proper scare the crap out of me.
> 
> They are now in a taller tub, with a lid and a coating of vaseline around the top.
> 
> No Vase-line jokes please :Na_Na_Na_Na:


i bet they like vasaline arount the rim (of the tub ) soory couldnt resist :L haha im thinking of getting some are they easy to keep ??


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## SuperSpeedyWheels

No-one says they die in the cold. They just cant breed, therefore they are not a risk of being a pest. 2 roaches isnt anything to worry about, there will be a perfectly logical explanation that will come down to you doing something wrong. My turks escaped through the heatmat cable hole before, despite the fact I thought it was safe. If they escaped as nymphs and they moulted into adulthood in the summer then thats your problem. Much better feed to escape ratio than crickets though.


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## The Roach Hut

spendleb said:


> Hi all, ages since I've been on here as I sold my dragon at Christmas :-(, anyway we also sold our roach colony, we had it going for about 5 months and it increased dramatically during this time, it was great as we knew it was safe out in the shed and if they escaped they would die in our climate and oh yeah they can't climb and so on........
> 
> Or so we thought, we cleaned the shed out this week, almost 6 months later and so far we have found 2 very large male adults, living and as healthy as anything! They have had no heat or food during this time and are still alive and well, we also had a tank with a 3 inch coating of vaseline around the top so yes they can climb and escape!!
> 
> Just worth noting if you have any!


Hi mate sorry here but you are mistaken. they maybe alive but they def cannot climb smooth surfaces, only thing i can think of is that they were both males and sometimes they can jump little distances or you dropped them when young or feeding and didnt realise. and there must be some form of heat in the shed. a fridge motor or something like this as they would def die in this weather. we keep all our over 1 million dubia in open top containers due to the high loading and never have any escape

Tony


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## ExoticInsectsUK

09-06-2008, 01:06 PM 
spendleb








Super Regular








Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Minskip, North Yorkshire
Posts: 294 









*Dubia Roaches warning !!* 
Hi all, ages since I've been on here as I sold my dragon at Christmas :-(, anyway we also sold our roach colony, we had it going for about 5 months and it increased dramatically during this time, it was great as we knew it was safe out in the shed and if they escaped they would die in our climate and oh yeah they can't climb and so on........

Or so we thought, we cleaned the shed out this week, almost 6 months later and so far we have found 2 very large male adults, living and as healthy as anything! They have had no heat or food during this time and are still alive and well, we also had a tank with a 3 inch coating of vaseline around the top so yes they can climb and escape!!


Just worth noting if you have any!

I remember when this was posted in 2008:lol2:

Yes i have had the same thing as this bloke did then, if theres a split or some sort of texture then they can climb out and i have found that i have 145L rubs and when you put the egg boxes in there with vaseline theres not much gap. I have found they can reach it they can climb out also. So its best not to have any around the top.
Before i moved I used to keep my roaches in the shed and in my non heated shop and they were fine they stoped breeding but didn't die from cold but didn't eat as much so could not last in cold countries but were fine in the uk.

I have been testing some in my non heated garage as well as 9 other species and only the lobsters, bananas, pycnoscelus species, 2 types of hissers and some turks have died.
The Dubias are still eating but stopped breeding. Im trying to find out which ones would be best for the open market and not infest your home because some are still breeding:2thumb:
Over all you would need to loose lots of dubias for them to infest your home it dosn't matter if they can survive cold weather because these are too slow at breeding. They also are very slow at moving so you would spot them a mile off.
People have been keeping them for years and theres not many shock storys which makes them such a good feeder:2thumb:


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