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B.dubia and B.lateralis egg case problems


jcv4200

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I'm having trouble breeding both B.lateralis and B.dubia. The the B.lats drop the egg cases all the time and bury them, but I have yet to see a single nymph in a month and a half. Also my B.dubia female carry a visible egg-case protruding from the abdomen, but I have yet to see any babies??? Both colonies are kept as pets in separate enclosures with about one-two inches of soil. Are the nymphs burrowing? Do they need more protein in their diet. Also, how long is Dubia gestation after eggcase is visible, and do the Dubias eat the egg cases while the mother is still carrying it??

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Just found out what is happening. My B.lats are eating the newborn nymphs as they hatch. And as for the Dubia roaches, they seem to be aborting do to overcrowding. Anyone know how B.dubias sense they are overcrowded? Smell or simply through consistent touch.

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The dubia are sensing it through touch. If there is room, stacked egg cartons or bark would provide more surface area for them, but a bigger container would be best. The lat problem is weird. More protein and maybe water is needed.

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I find it easiest to remove a small group of adult B. dubia from the larger colony and start a new founder colony. After a few clutches of nymphs get going, I simply remove the adults and let the nymphs grow. (Of course, my B. dubia never quite keep up with my reptiles, despite my best efforts.)

My B. lateralis culture seems to require more moisture than I give it. Sounds like you either need to feed your adults more often or replant the oothecae.

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  • 1 month later...

Rrrrrgh. The high protein thing is a myth....

If roaches are eating thier young, its from a lack of available moisture and food. It may not even matter what the food is in some cases.

B.lateralis do not normally bury ootheca, they just drop them anywhere or stick them to a surface up off the substrate. It may be the ootheca are notintentionally being buried.

I have several colonies of roaches that I have been feeding strictly fruits and vegetables for a while and they are every bit as healthy an d numerous as any hother colony can be. There is a wives tale going around that roaches need high levels of protein in thier diet (which does not occur in nature at all) and if anything they need traces of protein, but not "lots of it". For people who feed "more protein" and imagine they see results, its not that there is more protein but thtat the roaches are flat out getting more to eat which changes thier behavior. If they were fed the same weights in melons, apples, or other veggies the same results would follow.

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So you JUST feed fresh fruits/veggies NO dog/cat dry food, fish food, ect...?

After a 'roach dies in your colony does it get eaten or do you pull it out? Just curious.

For many of my colonies yes, just fruits/veggies. Others may get some fish food pellets, and some species I feed almost only fish food pellets (like lateralis and N.cinerea, and a few others). I never use dog food or cat food- too expensive. Though I did use dog food a long while back.

Sometimes I pull out a dead body from some of the colonies though by the time I see it, it has already been hollowed out and dessicated. Most bodies go away in an annual cleaning (or whenever the bin gets cleaned- I just cleaned out the Blatta lateralis tub after almost 3 years).

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And for you "believers" in the protein myth do YOU pull out the dead bodies or leave them in the bin? It's relatively on topic and I'm really curious!

Sometimes I pull out a dead body from some of the colonies though by the time I see it, it has already been hollowed out and dessicated. Most bodies go away in an annual cleaning (or whenever the bin gets cleaned- I just cleaned out the Blatta lateralis tub after almost 3 years).
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And for you "believers" in the protein myth do YOU pull out the dead bodies or leave them in the bin? It's relatively on topic and I'm really curious!

I pull out the dead bug of the larger species as they sometimes smell but for lateralis and lobsters they just stay in there and get eaten or turned into substrate.

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