Pooling water in B. dubia bin?

lecole4

lecole4

Third Instar
So I was putting some fresh cabbage in my breeder bin today, and I noticed some little pools of water collecting in the corners. What in the world could be causing this? I've never noticed it before.

Husbandry details to make help easier:

18 gal opaque plastic tote with vertical egg crates

Polyacrylimide gel, baby carrots, collards, and cabbage as water sources

Ground alfalfa meal and oatmeal baby cereal as food

Is this a stress reaction? I know roaches will produce foam or water from their mouths when frightened. Any help is appreciated! I don't want to lose my colony to mold.

 
Is there any condensation on the sides of the enclosure? How much does the temperature outside and inside of the bin fluctuate? If there are moisture-producing things in the bin and the temp outside it drops, that could create condensation that runs down the inside and pools. Same idea as a glass of water forming condensation on the outside during a warm day, only opposite. I notice it on some of my vivariums when the room temp drops at night but the temp inside the enclosure remains the same.

 
Yes, so, when I checked at night and in the morning, no condensation in the bin. Got off work half a day today, and guess what, it's veritably soggy in there, on the opposite end from the heater. I've had my colony three years and never had this problem before. Any tips for nixing this? The lid of the bin is already around 60 percent screen.

 
The only thing I can think of would be to empty the bin, clean it out, and set it back up with all new egg crates or whatever else you have in it.

Is there any way you could upload a photo of it?

 
I'd try Insulating the bin or using less heat. I had the same problem and just lowered the tank heat a bit. Think of a cold glass on a summer day.

 
dubiadudes, it turned out my UTH was malfunctioning and peaking around 100 degrees F. I just nixed the heat altogether for now. They're back to a cozy 75 degree room temp. Problem solved! ;)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
lecole4 said:
dubiadudes, it turned out my UTH was malfunctioning and peaking around 100 degrees F. I just nixed the heat altogether for now. They're back to a cozy 75 degree room temp. Problem solved! ;)
Click to expand...
lecol4,

Wow, yes, 100F is a danger zone for sure even at a peak.

I've done many tests with Dubias with concern to temperature. One that really wasn't a test, but may surprise many, so I will explain in a bit more detail.

We live in Northern Arizona about 7,000 feet up, so yes, it does snow in Arizona :)

A couple of years ago we had a package of 2,000 mediums that were returned to us "Undeliverable as Addressed", now even though we had all the proper marking on the outside of the box and heat packs inside the box, the mail lady still left the package outside our home, next to the front door, but in the snow.

The package had been out of our hands for nine (9) days and we were not home for an additional two (2) days. The 2,000 dubias had been in this box for 11 total days.

When we opened the box we expected to find everyone dead, but, other than moving really slow everyone was alive, not a single dead roach in the bunch.

Now, I didn't do this test on my own, but I still call it a temperature test because it really was one :)

As far as the normal temp we keep our little guys at, around 82F, we have found that this and good humidity of about 20-40% is perfect.

Glad to here your colony is back to cozy :D

 
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