Hey all,
I purchased 4 males + 2 females + 125ish juvi dubias last month and attempted to establish my first breeding colony. Long story short, my colony is failing. I have already lost one of my adult females and it seems like my juvi's are dieing out but I have seen NO reproduction yet (it might be too soon, but I am concerned because my roaches are dieing).
HOUSING:
I have housed them in a large plastic tub (like 3'x2'x2') (opaque) filled with egg crate/random cardboard for them to hide in. It is nice and dark in there.
FOOD:
I blended high quality cat food and tropical fish flakes. I have placed a plate of it in their enclosure and it doesn't seem to have been touched at all, but I made a fair amount so its possible I just couldn't tell.
WATER:
Tons of water crystals. These are definitely running out and I need to replace them weekly but I'm not sure if this is just them evaporating or not...eitherway it seems
TEMPS:
I know my temperatures are a little low, they vary around 70-75F. I have no heat pad atm but I am getting one...I have a hard time believing that my colony is failing solely because of this though...
any advice!? I setup the colony around February 20th. I was hoping to be able to notice something different...but maybe its just too soon? (I am just concerned because I am finding dead juvis and 1 dead adult but not seeing any new young...)
I purchased 4 males + 2 females + 125ish juvi dubias last month and attempted to establish my first breeding colony. Long story short, my colony is failing. I have already lost one of my adult females and it seems like my juvi's are dieing out but I have seen NO reproduction yet (it might be too soon, but I am concerned because my roaches are dieing).
HOUSING:
I have housed them in a large plastic tub (like 3'x2'x2') (opaque) filled with egg crate/random cardboard for them to hide in. It is nice and dark in there.
FOOD:
I blended high quality cat food and tropical fish flakes. I have placed a plate of it in their enclosure and it doesn't seem to have been touched at all, but I made a fair amount so its possible I just couldn't tell.
WATER:
Tons of water crystals. These are definitely running out and I need to replace them weekly but I'm not sure if this is just them evaporating or not...eitherway it seems
TEMPS:
I know my temperatures are a little low, they vary around 70-75F. I have no heat pad atm but I am getting one...I have a hard time believing that my colony is failing solely because of this though...
any advice!? I setup the colony around February 20th. I was hoping to be able to notice something different...but maybe its just too soon? (I am just concerned because I am finding dead juvis and 1 dead adult but not seeing any new young...)