Dubia breeding question.

Kalistina

New Member
I have a ton. I can't tell you how many I started with but I know I have a lot more. They are definitely having babies. My question is this though, every once in awhile there's a blob of weird black sludge on the bottom of there tub, is this something they do after they've given birth? I've never actually seen them having babies but I know it's happening lol.

I've seen videos on youtube, and it looks like they're stuck to some sort of beef jerky looking thing, but it's not squishy. Is it possibly just urine?
 
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Care to link the youtube videos showing this or have pictures?

I personally have never seen this in my dubia, or at least by your description as to what it is I haven't haha!
 
I just cleaned it out or I would show you. It's just a small puddle of weird black watery stuff. Its usually just in one spot. I'm not concerned about their health because they are acting normal and eating normal. I was just wondering what it might be. As far as the video goes I just looked up "dubia roach birth." There are quite a few on there if you're curious as to what it looks like. It's pretty gnarly though if you ask me. 30-40 babies at a time... I'm just curious how they fit in their bodies lol.
 
Oh, I know what a dubia giving birth looks like lol.

I thought you meant you saw videos on youtube of this "black sludge".

Only thing I could think of is decomposing bodies or possibly some water crystals getting pooped on a ton making it look like black sludge? Other than that, maybe you have some other bugs (that aren't wanted) in with them?
 
I don't use water crystals and I'm pretty sure there aren't any other bugs in there. Decomposing bodies sounds like it could be the winner BUT I'm in that tub every day changing food and grabbing babies. Maybe I'm just crazy... I'll wait for it to happen again and then take a picture lol

I'm sorry, for assuming you hadn't seen a birth yet. That was silly of me. :-D
 
Lol no problem!

This black sludge is interesting though. Definitely get pictures of it! How often does it happen?
 
It happens about once a week. I took a picture of the paper towel I used to clean it up. I know the bits are poop, and I'm not sure if that's what's making the weird sludge stuff the color it is. Now that I think about it, it's only clumpy because of the poop, it's the watery stuff around it that bugs me.

IMAG0176_zps4b0daf9e.jpg
 
I suppose another possibility is mold? Maybe consider changing the tub out and disinfecting it and put brand new egg crates and all of that.

Is it the same spot (or close to it) every time?
 
I alternate tubs weekly, whichever one isn't used is cleaned and dried thoroughly. Maybe it's food they take under the creates and it decomposes quickly with the heat? I don't change the crates out as often, I just shake them free of poo and dead roaches (which they don't die often.) I know I'm not being helpful. :(

It is in different spots each time.

I appreciate your help. :D I WILL figure it out eventually.
 
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I think it might be condensation mixed with their poops. I see it it my tub once in a while especially after I feed them fruits that are really high in moister
 
I alternate tubs weekly, whichever one isn't used is cleaned and dried thoroughly. Maybe it's food they take under the creates and it decomposes quickly with the heat? I don't change the crates out as often, I just shake them free of poo and dead roaches (which they don't die often.) I know I'm not being helpful. :(

It is in different spots each time.

I appreciate your help. :D I WILL figure it out eventually.

Sounds like you are cleaning plenty and like mentioned above, it could be condensation. Mine tear through the fruit almost instantly so I've never had that issue (if it was condensation mixed with poop).

Depending on how many you have in a tub you could go 1-2 months without cleaning. Egg crates tend to last a while if you stack them vertically and thus allowing more ventilation. I tend to do mine every 3-4 weeks because of the amount in each tub.
 
I have no idea how many I have on there, but I'm pretty big on cleanliness. I know they are roaches and don't need it often, I'm just weird about making sure they stay healthy and mold free. I'll change out the crates tomorrow and try a new feeding method. I'll see if that helps with the food moving and condensation. I'll also create larger holes in the top of my lid. Right now I have 4 about the size of your palm each hole.

I'll let you know how that goes!

On another note, what do you gut load them with? Today I blended (first time blending) romaine, tomatoes, celery, carrots, oranges and apples. They have not stopped eating since I put it in there.
 
I would also put a couple holes on the side of the container and hot glue aluminum screening to the bin. this will cross ventilate the bin. I put a low dish in my bins so the food doesn't touch the poop.

I need to clean out my bins there is like a good amount of frass (poop) in 2 out of 3 bins that i have. It is kind of gross how much there is and the hardest part is taking the babies out of it.
 
I need to clean out my bins there is like a good amount of frass (poop) in 2 out of 3 bins that i have. It is kind of gross how much there is and the hardest part is taking the babies out of it.

Use a colander to sort out the babies from frass. Frass falls through, babies do not since the holes are too small. This is easier when you don't have medium/large nymphs molting though as their molts will block some holes, but still works.

I have tubs of pure adults, so it's adults, babies and frass (hardly any molts, if any from the babies by the time I sort them out).
 
Kevin has me fish for babies lol. He won't even touch the big ones. I'll totally add some cross ventilation tomorrow.

One last thing Raphael, what do I do with the males I have. I read some where that there is like 8 females to a male? Is this correct? I read that the extra males aren't needed and they just take up space and food.
 
1 male to 3/4 females is ideal. I tend to go 1/3 to start because males die off sooner.

The rest you can feed off, sell or give to friends?
 
Kevin has me fish for babies lol. He won't even touch the big ones. I'll totally add some cross ventilation tomorrow.

One last thing Raphael, what do I do with the males I have. I read some where that there is like 8 females to a male? Is this correct? I read that the extra males aren't needed and they just take up space and food.

Yes, so many males are not needed but they just eat the food and maybe the males will fight if there are way to many males. I don't think I gave you that many males though. I would not worry about ratios.
 
One thing about dubia colonies is that you will see a decline in production after about 2 years unless you supplement your colony with new bloodlines. I usually trade males with friends when i meet up with them at shows. After you get good genetic diversity from several sources it will take a lot longer than 2 years to see the decline. BTW - I thnk I clean my dubia bins out completely twice year, lol. I cant imagine doing that every week.
 
I have a small bin and only one, very easy to clean. After seeing Raphael's collection I can only imagine what everyone else's looks like lol.
 
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