# dubia roach set up, what is this?? mould or eggs



## XxLauraxX (Apr 17, 2012)

after rehoming 2 leopard gecko's someone very kindly gave me some dubia roaches of different sizes and sexes to breed. this is my current set up i have not read any care sheets yet as ive been ill but have basically put a load of shredded wheat at the bottom with some egg cartons scattered and a tiny little bowl with bug gel aswell as some apple, carrot and banana. ive only had them since saturday and this morning i noticed this? i don't know if its eggs or mould? should i clean them out as the fruit has been in there for around 2 days.

my family HATE bugs and reptiles so i have to keep them in my room, i know they like warm temps so would it be useful to buy a heat mat and keep it underneath their tub?

this is my current set up


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## Alasse12 (Jul 29, 2011)

Looks certain to be mould to me. Get it cleared out if you can. Most roaches lay eggs in oothecas and they look like little pods. I keep death's head roaches, which are similar to dubias. If your room is warm, then personally, I wouldn't worry about a heat mat. However, if you want them to breed quicker, a heat mat may increase their reproduction rate. The tub setup looks fine to me. Stick in 3-4 inches of organic potting soil (big bags from B&Q for about £4) and they'll burrow into it and lay eggs into it. What I do with my roaches is provide them with a couple of shallow bowls for water (or bug gel) and just feed them maybe 2-3 times a week. I also mist/spray them on occasion if the soil starts to dry out. 

They'll eat anything pretty much, but of course you need to consider where they'll end up and you don't want your geckos exposed to unhealthy foods via the cockroaches. Balance their diet out, give them fruit, veg, low-protein cat biscuits occasionally, cereal, leftover scraps, peelings, dandelion leaves. I also provide mine with cuttlefish, as any calcium they eat will be passed on to the lizards. 

Hope this helps!


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## XxLauraxX (Apr 17, 2012)

thank you!! i will remove the left over fruit and give them some fresh, they love the bug gel they go mad for it, and i wasnt sure what to use for substrate but i'l have a lookie in b&q this weekend  x


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## XxLauraxX (Apr 17, 2012)

i have noticed that everyone is quite damp, the shredded wheat at the bottom is realy soggy and horrible, do you think i should clean them out and just get some leaves/soil and things from outside to use until i go to b&q at the weekend


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

dubias have live young. 

they need to be kept warm, try to keep the dry food away from the wet. they don't need bug gel AND fresh food. Fresh is better in my opinion.

they also don't need a substrate. you will struggle to find the ones that are small enough to feed to your geckos if you give them a substrate.


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## sn8ks4life (Jul 27, 2011)

Dee_Williams said:


> dubias have live young.
> 
> they need to be kept warm, try to keep the dry food away from the wet. they don't need bug gel AND fresh food. Fresh is better in my opinion.
> 
> they also don't need a substrate. you will struggle to find the ones that are small enough to feed to your geckos if you give them a substrate.


this^^ basically, i dont keep mine on substrate because it'll not only make it a nightmare to find them but a nightmare too clean, i always supply mine with bug gel and feed them on ground up cat and fish food, and fresh fruit and veg a couple of days a week.
as above, they have live young, if its warm enough you'll see these white sack things protruding from the rear of the mother, when it gets cold she'll pull them inside, then when ready give birth to loads of live babies:2thumb:


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

You have got way too much food in there. 

You should just put a little food in everyday and have no substrate.


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## XxLauraxX (Apr 17, 2012)

ahh i was wondering why the food was going mouldy!! silly me :bash: i go over the top with everything i was worried they would starve nd dehydrate hehe thanks for all the help im a bit better organised now! i will read some care sheets tonight so i can give them a better set up and not make a fool of myslef :lol2:


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## AOTP (Mar 22, 2012)

Ive got a few 80l tubs with mine in, i stack the eg cartons on their ends big square ones, with plain carboard sheets in between to masimize surface area, and balance the fresh fruit/veg on top. as said above thats mould, dubias squeeze out a row of egg sacs, then retract them back inside into an incubation chamber, once thats done you cant really tell if a female is incubating or not. which is a pain as i have to feed adults to my reptiles and hate seeing eggs squirt out when they chomp them!

Once conditions are right your colony will explode. 

Ive got 500-600 dult females in one box with around 150-200 adult males just as an experiment to see how they produced and with only fully grown adults would be easy to see babies for size difference,

A month has passed and i cant see the cardboard anymore because every surface is covered in baby roaches! 

Just wish I could make them grow faster. . . :2thumb:


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## jonodrama (May 7, 2009)

I dont bother with any water gel. just fresh fruit/veg 3 times a week and layers mash twice a week.


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## AOTP (Mar 22, 2012)

Mine also go nuts for a little ground cat munchies for some protein!


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