# Dubia roaches not breeding



## john_boy (Dec 4, 2010)

I've had a colony of dubia roaches for about the last 4-5 months and they dont seem to be breeding. Their tub is an 80l plastic box with ventilation in the lid and is sitting half on a un-statted heat mat. The box is half full of vertical egg cartons. They are fed on dry dog food and various veg and oranges, with a supply of bug gel. They seem to be healthy from what i can tell but there just doesnt seem to be any babies!! I cleaned their tub out today and only found a couple of dead adult males. Im confused and cant work out whats happening.

Also i have they same setup sitting on the other half of the same mat for turkistan roaches and they are breeding like mad!!!!!!

Can anyone help????


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## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

Grab some pictures of everything, will be easier to see if something is wrong/could be changed.


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## ZOO CENTRE (Apr 1, 2010)

john_boy said:


> I've had a colony of dubia roaches for about the last 4-5 months and they dont seem to be breeding. Their tub is an 80l plastic box with ventilation in the lid and is sitting half on a un-statted heat mat. The box is half full of vertical egg cartons. They are fed on dry dog food and various veg and oranges, with a supply of bug gel. They seem to be healthy from what i can tell but there just doesnt seem to be any babies!! I cleaned their tub out today and only found a couple of dead adult males. Im confused and cant work out whats happening.
> 
> Also i have they same setup sitting on the other half of the same mat for turkistan roaches and they are breeding like mad!!!!!!
> 
> Can anyone help????


How many roaches are there?


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## PowerPie5000 (Apr 13, 2010)

Mine are in a very large plastic container with a vented lid, heat mat under one side and filled with egg crates... All i do is make sure they have bug gel and food at all times. Mine have been breeding for over a year now and i even had to sell a load on ebay recently as they became a bit too overpopulated!

I feed mine dry roach mix which i buy from Zoo centre on ebay (probably the same person in the post above) and i give them various fruit, veg and sometimes leftovers from dinner and leftovers from the cats and dogs.

Is your container dark? I use a dark container as dubia roaches don't seem to like light, they also like high humidity.... Maybe yours don't like their turkistan neighbours :lol2:


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## philipniceguy (Mar 31, 2008)

they are much slower breeders than turks, setup sounds fine but pictures would help us, help you. they seem to breed much better in big groups the more you have the more they breed why i dont know. say i take 100 adults out of the enclosure at a ratios of 1 male to 9 females put it in new container same as they came out of it will be months before you see any real amount of young but if you take 1000, and move that into a new container they will breed like normal and your see thousands of babies. were as turks seem to breed very fast only faster breeding one i have is lobster roaches and they really are FAST breeders.


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## john_boy (Dec 4, 2010)

ZOO CENTRE said:


> How many roaches are there?


There are probably about 80 adult females and 20 adult males but loads of juveniles growing on, im just not seeing any tiny babies.

The box isnt completely dark but are out of direct sunlight, will try blacking out the box tomorrow. Will also try putting some pics up!!!


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## john_boy (Dec 4, 2010)

PowerPie5000 said:


> they also like high humidity.... Maybe yours don't like their turkistan neighbours :lol2:


What humidity should i be aiming for???

I dont think i'd like them as neighbours, not with all the babies they keep having :whistling2:


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## ZOO CENTRE (Apr 1, 2010)

john_boy said:


> There are probably about 80 adult females and 20 adult males but loads of juveniles growing on, im just not seeing any tiny babies.
> 
> The box isnt completely dark but are out of direct sunlight, will try blacking out the box tomorrow. Will also try putting some pics up!!!


80litre box is too large for 100adults- dubias need higher social density (lesser space) .
But if they are 5 month old - than THEY ARE VERY OLD FOR BREEDING (they do not want to mate and will die soon).
Use them as feeding and start up new colony with young adults.


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## Blaptica (Jun 26, 2008)

When you bought them were the adults adults then ? Or did you buy them as young ones and grow them on ? If so how long have they been adults. 

The fact that you only found 2 dead males when you cleaned them out suggests the care is good.


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## spidersteve (Jan 25, 2010)

mine took a few months to start breeding, first off they like it hot so mine have a mat underneath them and that did the trick.


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## PowerPie5000 (Apr 13, 2010)

ZOO CENTRE said:


> But if they are 5 month old - than THEY ARE VERY OLD FOR BREEDING (they do not want to mate and will die soon).


I thought they lived for around 1-2 years? I occasionally get a dead one, but i must have over a thousand in my colony.


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## jambo1984 (Aug 1, 2010)

that setup sounds the same as mine ,ive had mine for about 3-4 months or so and i have about easily 300-400 babies.the only difference is i have about 150 females and about 50 males...hmmmmm:bash:..sorry i cant help buddy


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

They like low humidity. That's why people make loads of ventilation. 
I have my heatmat on the side, inside my tub. I've had mine a couple of months and I have loads of babies. 
Would too much heat stop them from breeding????


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## ZOO CENTRE (Apr 1, 2010)

PowerPie5000 said:


> I thought they lived for around 1-2 years? I occasionally get a dead one, but i must have over a thousand in my colony.


1-2 years - theoretically in low temperature but without babies (not in productive colony).
If you will be 90-100years old than you will not be ideal patner for start up a family.


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## PowerPie5000 (Apr 13, 2010)

violentchopper said:


> They like low humidity. That's why people make loads of ventilation.
> I have my heatmat on the side, inside my tub. I've had mine a couple of months and I have loads of babies.
> Would too much heat stop them from breeding????


They are a tropical species and do better with high temperatures and humidity... Mine are kept at around 30°C and humidity levels are always around 70% or above. They've been breeding like crazy for the last year or so! Mine only have a couple of vents in the lid of their large plastic box.

Being a tropical breed means a house infestation is very unlikely if any escape.... they'll last a few days before they dessicate.


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## ZOO CENTRE (Apr 1, 2010)

PowerPie5000 said:


> They are a tropical species and do better with high temperatures and humidity... Mine are kept at around 30°C and humidity levels are always around 70% or above. They've been breeding like crazy for the last year or so! Mine only have a couple of vents in the lid of their large plastic box.
> 
> Being a tropical breed means a house infestation is very unlikely if any escape.... they'll last a few days before they dessicate.


I am sorry but they are not tropical species- their origin is in Argentine.

Humidity level 70% or above? - It must be some joke or you have bad humidity meter.


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## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

ZOO CENTRE said:


> I am sorry but they are not tropical species- their origin is in Argentine.
> 
> Humidity level 70% or above? - It must be some joke or you have bad humidity meter.


This ^


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

PowerPie5000 said:


> They are a tropical species and do better with high temperatures and humidity... Mine are kept at around 30°C and humidity levels are always around 70% or above. They've been breeding like crazy for the last year or so! Mine only have a couple of vents in the lid of their large plastic box.
> 
> Being a tropical breed means a house infestation is very unlikely if any escape.... they'll last a few days before they dessicate.


No your wrong. Your humidity will increase when you get more and more. Then you will look in their one day and find loads dead. Good luck.


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## brachy fan (May 15, 2011)

We keep ours in a 8 litre rub in the airing cupboard so its nice and dark, low humidity, varied diet of bug grub, greens and fruit i.e bananna. Don't use bug balls due to causing bacteria. All breeding just as much as our turkistan roaches who are kept in same conditions. Been seperating babies into cricket tubs. Would recommend blacking out the rub and maybe put them in something smaller depending on how many you have. Also try using a 4oz deli cup filled with sphagnum moss, cut a hole the size of 50p in the lid and keep damp not saturated! This will help the moisture levels in the rub stay low. 
Don't forget the female to male ratio should be 4 females to every 1 male.
We try to keep our 8 litre rubs to 4-5 males to 16-20 females.
Hope this helps


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## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

brachy fan said:


> We keep ours in a 8 litre rub in the airing cupboard so its nice and dark, low humidity, varied diet of bug grub, greens and fruit i.e bananna. Don't use bug balls due to causing bacteria. All breeding just as much as our turkistan roaches who are kept in same conditions. Been seperating babies into cricket tubs. Would recommend blacking out the rub and maybe put them in something smaller depending on how many you have. Also try using a 4oz deli cup filled with sphagnum moss, cut a hole the size of 50p in the lid and keep damp not saturated! This will help the moisture levels in the rub stay low.
> Don't forget the female to male ratio should be 4 females to every 1 male.
> We try to keep our 8 litre rubs to 4-5 males to 16-20 females.
> Hope this helps


I haven't tried both methods, but maybe you should try sticking them all in the same RUB and see if it is better? Unless you already have


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## brachy fan (May 15, 2011)

Tried that getting better results this way, we had some babies being eaten so decided to separate 'em, if it ain't broken don't try to fix it:lol2:


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## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

brachy fan said:


> Tried that getting better results this way, we had some babies being eaten so decided to separate 'em, if it ain't broken don't try to fix it:lol2:


Fair enough


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## roger weeks (Oct 23, 2010)

*dubias*

rather than a heat mat i kept mine in the airing cupboard with no heater as airing cupboard is a lot warmer...after keeping them in there for couple of weeks they started breeding like crazy,,before doing that they were on heatmat and not breeding at all....i was feeding 4 lizards and 37 tarantulas from them and always had enough roaches to not need to buy anything else for feeding


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## The Roach Hut (Mar 29, 2008)

lol ok guys there seems to be a lot of ways people are having success, our colonies are nearing half a mil strong. as far as humidity goes they prefer low humidity infact just keeping a bowl of water crystals in the tub will provide all you need. If your nymphs are dying during their moult humidity too low, if the frass is getting damp or u notice condensation on sides and top of the tub humidity way to high.

80l way to big for 100 adults u need to be looking more like a 40l for that many and cut down the number of egg crates so that they are forced together.

the heat mat under the tub isnt ideal as this only provides a low temp coming through the egg crates i bet if u get a digital thermometer it be less than 70 in the egg crates. ideally you be looking to provide 85-95 in the crates section for best results with breeding. Dog food also not the best for giving best results with breeding, its not high enough in protien and has too much calcium in there. you be better off mixing your own roach chow, buying ready made chow, or using cat food as usually protien levels around 6-10% higher than dog food. fruits and veg good too for moisture but remember the more wet stuff in ur tub the higher the humidity, so you will either need larger vents in the top or no tops at all.

Your heat mat needs to wrapped around 3 sides of container encapsulating the egg crates in order for you to get the ideal temps for breeding.

My roaches all live real well and breed for many months befoe i ever see a decrease in numbers, by which time there are plenty of nymphs coming through to take their place.

If your still unsure how to get the best from your roaches visit our site the link below. there are step by step videos for you to look at showing you behind the scenes here at the roach hut, how we set up our tubs, how u should set up yours at home for the best results for breeding, a look at some of our dubia colonies. there a couple vids showing the amount of nymohs produced in a few weeks and those are the results you will get if you follow the directions we give.

NOW! there will be one person here who seems to disagree with everything i have to say on this forum, but if they say anything to you, all i can say is go and check out the videos, we produce millions of roaches a year, our methods work and the resukts are shown in the videos,

We not only interested in sales at the roach hut, anyone can visit our site and ask advice from us, and if we can help in anyway we will

Hope this has helped you

Tony


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## PowerPie5000 (Apr 13, 2010)

ZOO CENTRE said:


> I am sorry but they are not tropical species- their origin is in Argentine.


Parts of Argentina do have tropical (or subtropical) climates... especially around Misiones, Corrientes, northern part of Entre Rios, east of Chacan and maybe other provinces. 



ZOO CENTRE said:


> Humidity level 70% or above? - It must be some joke or you have bad humidity meter.


Could be a bad humidity reading (not sure if it's read as a percentage?) but they are thriving none the less (for the last year or so) so i feel there's no need to change anything in their setup for now.



violentchopper said:


> No your wrong. Your humidity will increase when you get more and more. Then you will look in their one day and find loads dead. Good luck.


I agree the humidity should rise with more but i've been breeding them for over a year and have had absolutely no issues... i have well over a thousand at the moment (maybe over 2 thousand... Can't be bothered to count them :zzz and thats after selling over a thousand on ebay not so long ago. I must be doing something right. I also find the humidity levels help them shed very easily.

The humidity dial usually reads between 70-80 but i'm not sure if thats a percentage? It may be showing a false (higher) reading, but they're still fine.


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## PowerPie5000 (Apr 13, 2010)

FireDragon said:


> You be better off mixing your own roach chow


I've been thinking about this as buying various 'ready made' roach mixes is becoming quite expensive, and i bet the ingredients are cheap too! What kind of ingredients are ideal? And i guess a good blender or maybe a cast iron mincer will do the trick at grinding it down? 

Any advice is appreciated, Cheers :2thumb:


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