Dubia question ... deaths?

Will Dubia die if left on their backs overnight? The last two days I have found a roach, sub adultish, on it's back and dead. This is just a little starter kit that I'm playing with and these are my first two deaths. I'm not sure if it was another cause and being on their back was coincidental, or if they just die on their backs

Four things have changed in the past 2-7 days.

1) I was using a human heat pad on the lowest setting and didn't bother checking the temp because I figured they had more than enough room to thermoregulate. I might have 15 adults in a 82ish qt tub and 25% of floor space was covered with a hot spot at 107 (they have been fine at this temp for at least a month or two). I removed the heat pad when I noticed and dropped it down to room temps 78-82.

2) I haven't been able to fill my humidifiers the last two days and humidity dropped to 20%. Could it be from a poor molt? What should I look for?

3) I gave them oranges for the first time. It looks as if they were not interested.

4) I have noticed they started reproducing. There seems to be 20-30 new babies.

Maybe it's like the cartoons, where they croak and always flip on their backs, lol, but any help would be great.

It is likely they may be dying while trying to molt, if humidity is low it makes it very difficult for them to molt successfully. try keeping them in the temperature range of 80*-95* and humidty in the mid 70% range, that may be a good start. Also, what are you offering them as a food item and how are you supplying them with water? Check for any signs of mold or mildew as well, that is a big time killer of B. dubia colonies. Any additional info in regards to the tub they are kept in may also help sort the issue out. If you have any other questions either myself or Don from Plethora of Pythons will most likely be able to help you sort them out.

Regards and much luck to you.

Thanks for the reply Brian.

I think it may have been a molt, but I'm not sure what to look for when they die from such. Are they stuck in a cracked shell or deformed?

Even though the humidity in the room was 20% those two days, it should have been a little higher inside the tub. I'll do a light mist daily on the paper surfaces. I do not use water crystals, but a petri dish top with about 1-2mm of water. It's always gone the next day, then I will clean the bowl and replace the water. Now that I think about it, they most likely went a day with out water. I will be switching to water crystals soon for at least the humidity bonus.

Mildew/mold is not an issue. I clean the tub almost daily and have been doing this routine for the past couple months without issues.

They are setup just like a typical dubia roach colony in a tub. I use egg cartons and flattened paper towel rolls. They have been eating high protein dog food for the past couple months and they seem to love rat feed (Mazuri/Harlan).

Ok, the daily misting should take care of the humidity issue if that is the case.
If you want a more definite answer as to whether or not that is the case, carefully inspect the carcasses
you find. If you are seeing them with a small split along the dorsal plane , or finding them or their limbs sticking in a molt then that is most definitely the case. You may also wish to reduce the frequency of cleaning theenclosure they are kept in. Also take a count and see if your males out number your females, if they do it may account for a reduced reproduction rate.

Also, do they have a constant water source? I've found that almost the ONLY way I can kill dubias is to let their water gel dry up....

No. I fill up once a day and it's gone by the next afternoon. Maybe a constant water supply is the problem.

OK, I came home to another dead one. The other two dead ones did not look like this one and appear normal. This one has something hanging out of its rear and looks like an egg sack.

That is a female and that is the ova. The sac appears desicated which points to humidity as the culprit. If you can post a photo of the tub the cause of the issue may be determined, also how is your home heated and cooled? That may be a factor as well.

OK, let me go take a picture. There was and still is water available. Humidity is around 55%

BTW, that roach hasn't reached her full size yet. Should she be producing ova so young? Shes about half the size of my adult females.

I keep a big bowl of water gel in mine. You can buy water crystals in bulk and they will last for a very long time.

That is a question I do not have a definite answer to, but I would say its possible she is a smaller than average adult, maybe (?). Keep up with a daily misting or two, and see how things go for a week or so, you should see a decrease or possible total ceasing of roaches deaths, sans the ones that have reached the end of thier life span.

I double checked all the tubes so there have only been the three deaths in three days. The roach in the picture above was kicking a little. I dipped her in water and put her on her feet. She started to move and then stopped.

Good news, after that third death, they seem to be doing good. I might have just let the water go too long for those couple days and they were the weak links.

My colony is thriving now. Just in this last week I went from maybe 30 babies to a few hundred. They are everywhere!

They have never ate carrots before and last night they went to town for the first time.

I have switched to the water gel/crystals and they are definitely going to be less maintenance than doing daily water changes.

That's great news man, glad to hear about the turn around and great improvement. Keep it up.