Dubai colony issue

[Fallenstmichael]

I'm posting this here caus I'm not sure where else to out it up at.

I found two of my male dubia with strange looking a strange looking blister/boil on them, one had it on its wing and the other had it on its prothorax. I quarantined them, checked the rest of my colony which appears to be okay and dissected the blisters. they were filled with clear fluid and a yellowish white semi solid gel like substance, it was almost like pulling apart a large zit. I did not notice any foul odor , but I also don't realy have a sense of smell anymore so that's of no help.

I've tried researching but I could find nothing about them.

My main questions would be, what the hell is it? What caused it?

 

[Pasodama]

Cannot tell if it is something parasitic.
My other thought would be a bacterial infection. Bacteria could have entered via a small cut/scrape/injury.

Is the enclosure moist or does it have high humidity?
Is there anything moldy in the enclosure?
Other than frass, or substrate (if you use substrate), is the enclosure dirty?
Have you seen any organisms (big, small, or tiny) that do not belong?

Certainly keep an eye on the colony to see if it spreads. If it does not, I don't think it will be something to be overly concerned about. Although, it is good that you have the two individuals removed & quarantined.

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[Fallenstmichael]

I did a bunch of research on both dubia and Madagascar roaches before setting up the colony and it had all pointed to then loving humidity. I do use substrate, coconut shell, because I wanted to set up a semi natural enclosure. But I continuously do research on them so that I don't miss anything and try to stay on point, i had found out they prefer dry soil and just to mist the sides of the tank so I've been letting the coconut shell dry slowly instead of wetting it often to keep it moist.
I've only had one instance where mold had started to grow in the roach chow overnight so I immediately took that out and replaced it with a more shallow dish that holds less as well as replacing the water dish with a smaller bowl for water gels so none of the little guys drown. Thankfully since those changes the food is all gone by the morning and I dont worry about any overnight drownings.
I had one instance where I found a dead roach witha small amount of fruit fly larvae coming from its rear end so I took him from the cage then took out every single roach and checked them and cleaned the whole tank up, I found no more larvae but I put in a large number of isotopes and a small number of meal worms as a clean up crew. I realy want to out springtails in there but my girl is already highly reluctant about the colony itself so she immediately said no to small organism that could possibly get out.
I've had no other problems yet, no babies yet either but it has only been 2 weeks since I started on this. At first I did have a bunch of toilet paper and paper towel rolls in there but the bottom later kept getting soggy so I ditched that plan until the soil sets out at least.

 

[Pasodama]

Doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong.
Dubia do not require high humidity as you have found. 50% at most. Dubia are also one roach species which tolerates dryness better than some others.
Substrate is fine but do keep in mind that moist substrate is a good breeding ground, for bacteria, etc., and for other insects. Especially in warm conditions. Actually, so are roach carcasses if not cleaned out or "cleaned up" by creatures that feed on them.
Some roaches do better, with substrate, but it is not a must for Dubia. Female Dubia do not lay in substrate but, instead, retain the ootheca, inside their bodies, until hatching/birth. Thermoregulating, etc., the ootheca by complete retention &/or, at times, having it stick out from their bodies.
Since you just recently started your colony, it will take a wee bit of time for production. Then, it will, eventually, really take off.

I, myself, use plastic tubs and no substrate. Tubs have either no lid or a lid with a large cut out, in the center, that is covered with screen.
I only mist once per day.
To be honest, I don't even use water gels (though there is nothing wrong with using them). The Dubia seem to get plenty of fluids from fruits, vegetables, and wee droplets of water (from misting).
Feed consists of fruits, vegetables, and dry cat food. They thrive and breed/produce like crazy.

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[Fallenstmichael]

I just got a shipment of another 25-30 females in with about five males, all nymphs but medium/large size. I clean out all freshly dead roaches, but I leave their molts in just in case my cleanup crew will go after that instead if the roach chow.
I am very happy to hear I'm not doing anything too bad right off the bat, I know it will take a bit if time for everything to get started with breeding and whatnot but I do have high hopes for it. I've got seven very hungry lizards that seem to always want more food and they all absolutely love the extra dubia males I have thrown into their tanks rather than crickets. In the long run this seems to be much cheaper and more healthy for them than buying 200-300 crickets every week
For fruits, I had offered tore up grapes and cherries once or twice-but they realy did not seem to after them at all. They had started to spoil so I just took them out and hadn't offered any since. I read that they realy like Apple and orange peels but those aren't in the house too often, what fruits should I be offering?

 

[Pasodama]

For feeding bug eating critters, I really prefer Dubia over crickets.

For feeding Dubia something in the fruit family, apples, pears, oranges, etc. are very good.
Vegetables are great, too, (though potatoes are not good as a staple) and they seem to especially relish carrots.
You can also try some greens.

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[Pasodama]

Oh, forgot to mention, if you offer greens, iceberg lettuce is not the best. It may provide some fluids but it lacks a lot of nutritional value.

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[Fallenstmichael]

I'll have to give that a shot, we do get carrots and fresh spinach leaves now and again since our bearded love them. And it gives more reason to have apples and oranges in the house more often, I love those fruits but I rarely have time to purchase and eat them.
Crickets have been good for ease of access, always available at the local pet stores and the lizards do love chasing them, but they are far too noisy, smelly, and somehow a few always manage to get out. Plus not being as nutritious as I'd like, especially for our monitor babies. Those little pricks eat a lot and need a lot more nutrition value than our beardies or frilled dragon, growing boys and what not

 

[Pasodama]

Crickets do have their pros & cons.
Haven't totally eliminated them but the cons do make me rely heavier on the Dubia (not to mention that Dubia are "meatier") and made me no longer continue with any cricket breeding.

BTW I don't feed pellets, to Beardies, etc., so, if I ever end up getting any (via one avenue or another), I just feed the pellets to the Dubia. If you have/get any, that is something else that you can, also, feed to your Dubia.
On occasion, I have given my Dubia some cricket food as well (left over from when I used to do crickets)... until I used it all up.

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[Skynote12]

Any Ideas what this might be?

I am currently having the same problem with a few of my male roaches. They have nasty fluid filled blisters on their wings and some of them it seems like their wings are rotting off... WTH is this? How do i fix it?!?!?! Any suggestions???

 

[Fallenstmichael]

I still don't know what the hell it is to be honest, I did the changes I mentioned above and quarantined the ones with blisters. Ended up cutting away the blisters and feeding them off, I also fixed my male to female adult ratio so instead of 7 of each I only have two males, I have not seen the problem again since but I'm still keeping a very watchful eye on them

 

[Skynote12]

yes i did the same thing only didnt feed them off... to scared it might harm my beardie. But i did separate them and am checking daily for any more. just wish i knew what it was caused from? are there mites? is it battle wounds from over crowding that are getting infected? Can it harm my beardie? Who knows! i was hoping someone would know... i have been searching the internet and find nothing....

 

[JButera]

Here's an article Allen Repashy wrote concerning hi-protein roach diets and mortality. I'm not sure if this will solve your problem but it's worth reading regardless. http://www.store.repashy.com/can-feeder-insect-diets-contribute-to-gout-in-reptiles.html

 

[Fallenstmichael]

The roaches were quarantined for three days and it did not get any worse. So I snipped off the wings that had the blemishes and fed them off. My beardies are still doing wonderful so I would assume it was either due to my substrate or number of males causing injury. Whatever the problem was has halted, and it never got worse once I separated the ones with the issue. I'm hoping it was just some kind of infection due to injury by too many males being together and I just noticed it before they died off