Cannibalistic Roaches!!

[CamrynTheCham22]

I have a medium storage bin of dubias, and I give them romaine lettuce and water crystals as a food source. But I don't know how to get them to stop killing and eating each other! I just bought about 100 a few days ago, and I have a few adults in the actual bin as well. I haven't had any experience of young dubias dying randomly, only the old ones of age. And then I woke up yesterday and checked on them and they had killed and eaten a small one, and were already halfway through a bigger one! They had just run out of food and they decided that they were still hungry . . . Anyone got any ideas on how to get them to stop eating each other . . . ???

 

[nightanole]

Feed them more water bearing stuff? Adults need alot of veg, which makes juicey poop (the worst flavor of gum ever) which the babies eat.

 

[jamest0o0]

I doubt they killed one and ate it. The roach likely died or was dying. They will eat their dead for protein. I had a bunch die due to a power outage awhile back. I left all the dead in there. Now there's just empty shells. Reduce reuse recycle eh?

 

[Zevil]

Just give them more food. My dubias have never eaten one another alive before.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

The reason I thought they killed it was because it was still twitching as they ate it. They just don't like the water crystal as much but that is why I have been giving them lettuce, because it has a high water content. Hopefully after a few days it will work better. I started giving them the lettuce about 4 days ago.

 

[Zevil]

The reason I thought they killed it was because it was still twitching as they ate it. They just don't like the water crystal as much but that is why I have been giving them lettuce, because it has a high water content. Hopefully after a few days it will work better. I started giving them the lettuce about 4 days ago.

Fun fact: roaches will still move after death.

 

[JacksJill]

Pieces of carrot will hold them for a while and provides moisture with out getting soggy.

 

[Beelinn]

I notice when I've got a dead roach, the brain gets eaten and the rest of the body left behind.
I do think they're eating the eggs though. Yesterday I noticed a female laying an egg tube, went back later to separate it to an easier managed nursery, and I couldn't find it. Bummer.

 

[jamest0o0]

@Beelinn what species of roach? Most hatch inside of the female and give live birth.

I second on the carrots. Here's what I do for effective, efficient, and cheap gutloading+feeding all of my colonies:
Buy a large bag of organic carrots from costco or wherever. Once a week I throw a bunch of large carrots in all of my roach bins. Maybe once a month I add some leaf litter, any leftover veggie/fruit scraps we haven't used, or a vegan protein source like seeds. But I am lax with that and 90% of the time just use carrots. The carrots offer nutrition and moisture and don't need replaced. Cuts down a LOT on feeding costs and time feeding insects that aren't being fed off that minute anyway. Then I keep a small tote in my cham room that I fill with enough superworms and roaches for a couple weeks. And I add all the nice expensive gutload to that so I know they're eating it and it's not being wasted by bugs that aren't getting fed off.

 

[Beelinn]

I've got dubia and orange head. I can't remember which I saw that had it. It actually made me feel kinda queazy when I saw it!

I know they're breeding successfully because there's tiny babies in there!

 

[jamest0o0]

Dubia and OH have live birth. What you were seeing was an aborted ootheca.

 

[nightanole]

I notice when I've got a dead roach, the brain gets eaten and the rest of the body left behind.
I do think they're eating the eggs though. Yesterday I noticed a female laying an egg tube, went back later to separate it to an easier managed nursery, and I couldn't find it. Bummer.

Wut? Dubia stick the egg tube out, dry it out alittle, then use butt muscles to spin it around and suck it back in (God must have a sense of humor), then they give live birth later. if you see tubes just laying around, you have major problems, but if you want to know where the mystery tube went, its when right back where it came from.

 

[Beelinn]

Wut? Dubia stick the egg tube out, dry it out alittle, then use butt muscles to spin it around and suck it back in (God must have a sense of humor), then they give live birth later. if you see tubes just laying around, you have major problems, but if you want to know where the mystery tube went, its when right back where it came from.

What in the world?!
Evolutionary perfection at it's finest I suppose...

Normally I would be prepared with knowledge for this kind of thing, but I was under the impression that it was kind of difficult to get the roaches to breed. I Guess I'm doing something right after all!