Bone-headed mistake!

[Augie]

I bought some dubia roaches at the reptile convention here in town and was really excited. It had some mixed sized nymphs, 2 males, and 4 females (it was fun - I haggled the guy a bit to get a few extra adults). I had their enclosure set up and after 1-2 hours I noticed the adults really started freaking out!

They were running, shaking, and twitching A LOT. I went into emergency mode. I took them all out and put them in a Coleman cooler to think things through. Reason being, I realized they may have been exposed to one of two things: either pesticides from Terminex or formaldehyde from some of the crates I was using.

I didn't think about it at the time (and please consider this is embarrassing for me to even mention) but I thought at the time a cost saving measure would be to use a tub I had in the garage, along with some crates we had from a flat screen TV we had recently bought. I figured, at the time, we had put them in the garage long after we had sprayed, and didn't think that cross-contamination would be an issue.

I think I was wrong. All the adults died, but the nymphs are actually doing very well. Initially after realizing I may have screwed up, I figured I could use this "colony" as a learning experience on raising roaches. Well now, they are doing really well and one of the nymphs has molted into a male. I think I even have two females (hard to tell but they have the tiny wings).

What should I do? Logic tells me I shouldn't feed them to my dragon and pacman frog. But if I shouldn't, what do I do with the colony? I know, it's ironic. I don't want to just dispose of them, but in the end they would die at the hands of my pets anyway.

I have already ordered a new colony and lesson learned. My new setup should be free of all the mistakes i made on this first one. But I was hoping on getting some insights from you guys as well on what to do with my "learner's colony."

 

[Aleena]

Well that really stinks . I'll let one of the roach masters advise you on whether or not to just throw them out because I don't raise them. For all I know after a few generations it may clear up the issue altogether. If I had an infected box of crickets I'd just get rid of them and order new, but a colony is much more of an investment.

 

[Augie]

I hear ya! I feel the same way. If I can salvage them I'd love that. But at the end of the day the well-being of my dragon and frog are more important. But there's still that little piece of me that wants me to hang on to them, even if it takes months to get them to where they need to be!

If it comes to disposing of them, investment be damned! But I do look forward to hearing from the experts!

 

[Silkmoth]

If they died from a poison I would put them in the trash. The chemical or poison might not have any effect on your dragons but I would not chance it!

 

[Josh]

Probably best to just start over. I'm no expert but I wouldn't risk it...

 

[Augie]

Ok, got an update on my "learner's colony."

Yesterday it was really cold, I'm talking below 40s, and garbage pickup was on that day too. Which would be the perfect time to stash them in the trash bin and "let them fall asleep." We'll... I couldn't do it. I couldn't fully understand why at the time but I couldn't. So next thing I know I'm at Walmart getting a new tub. I set it up the same way (but with a different color tub and duct tape). I got them out of the old, potentially contaminated tub and put them in the new one, pulling the roaches out one by one, by hand.

Let me just say, man they have been doing well, especially considering the less-than-quality environment I had them in. Looks like I have two females, one male, lots of nymphs, and some BABIES! I followed the Buddha's advice and tested out using just the lids of the feeding containers I was using for my other colony. I even used a new roach chow mix I made up and tested it out on them. They're destroying the stuff!

Of course I still have no plans to feed from this colony, but so far it's definitely helped me tweak the one I do plan to feed from. One thing I've taken a closer look at, for example, is seeing how quickly each colony grows with different male to female ratios. Also, it's already shown me that roaches eat faster with crushed food and on lids. And that they like mangos a heckuva lot more than oranges. I'm glad I didn't dispose of them because its kind of created a hobby within a hobby for me.

 

[Silkmoth]

Could you share the recipe for the roach chow? I want to breed my own for Pendragon and my mantids. Making my own food would be great.

 

[Augie]

Oh my, I think I may have unintentionally misled you about the roach chow. In my other posts about my colony I'd shown that I just put in straight solid food, not crushed up. My recipe isn't elaborate (or by any means scientific), I only meant to say that I'd noticed the crushed up version was taken to much better than the straight up solid version. All I am doing right now is equal parts Cheerios, raisin bran (minus the raisins ), and dog food. I crush it up with a mortar and pestle and, honestly, they chew it up so much faster now that its crushed!

I guess my roaches are a bunch of stuck up snobs!

 

[Augie]

I may try this method to see how well it works. Sounds easy enough! Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Germ]

I found with my roaches, if I feed anything that wet, that their frass is very moist, really raises the humidity in the container & then it molds very quickly with the heat. I have killed off all the adults in my colonies, a few times this way because I didn't check them for a couple of days. Just a heads up, that you have to be careful.

I tried a similar thing (chopped up Greens only using a blender, not near as runny) to preserve & feed my Dragons their greens. Wound up giving 3 of 4 BDs a serious case of the runs for days.

 

[Augie]

Good insights, Germ, thank you. I usually check/change the roach food on a daily basis. When i get up I'll put the fresh stuff in there for about 10-12 hours, then take it out and replace with some other fresh stuff before I go to bed and repeat.

I actually think I am putting too many fresh fruits/veggies in there and the roaches are favoring that over the high protein chow I've been making. I say this because it looks like I've lost 3 of my males to fighting, and today I noticed one of them had some nips in his wings. I'm going to go back to putting fresh stuff in there twice a week, like what is commonly recommended.

Oh a side note, have you any advice on a chow mixed with ground up alfalfa, oats (ie Cheerios), soy flour, and a small amount of somethng sweet like a crust of Nilla wafer? Looks like the protein for that is around 12-15%, but may not have the same problems with uric acid build-up that some people claim. Is that too little? Would I have the same problem? I put together a chow similar to that, but right now sub'd the alfalfa with 25% protein dog food. I really don't want to lose any more males, and I'm trying to change that around ASAP.

I'm interested in your experience - thanks!

 

[Germ]

My colony gets nothing but Purina Beneful Dog Food, carrots & the odd halved potato for moisture. My feeders, which I keep in separate smaller container, I gutload for a minimum of 24 hrs prior to feeding, with lightly moistened (Just enough water to make them swell) RepCal Bearded Dragon Food. Giving them approximately 25% protein in their Gut on top of the high protein a roach naturally has, low fat & is fortified with calcium & the majority of the vitamins & nutrients that your BD needs along with moisture to make the feeders nice & 'Juicy'.

This is just my method that has worked very well for me & mine. May not be the best way, but is what I do & think as good as any .

 

[Augie]

You keep it simple. I like that. What better way than to feed them dragon food. I may give that a shot, sounds easier.