Jules
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DEAD DominosOkay, I don't know what on earth I did wrong. I dug up my dominos last night to find 4 dead, 1 barely alive and the biggest one still looking okay. My new hissers are still looking great. Are Domino babies fragile? I can't believe I managed to wipe out nearly an entire colony of ROACHES!! 
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DeniseCasey
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Re: DEAD Dominos | Jules wrote: | | Okay, I don't know what on earth I did wrong. I dug up my dominos last night to find 4 dead, 1 barely alive and the biggest one still looking okay. My new hissers are still looking great. Are Domino babies fragile? I can't believe I managed to wipe out nearly an entire colony of ROACHES!! |
HI Jules,
Hmm that sounds strange.  They are not that fragile. How were you keeping them just out of curiosity?
Thanks!
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Celeste
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They are *very* sensitive to any environmental toxins -- is that a possibility? (Such as Frontline on the doggies?)
-- Celeste
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ftorres
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Hello ALl,
Jules, I was feeding the roaches last night and I checked on the Dominos and they all seem to be doing great and all alive.
Could you please tell us what conditions you kept them and what you were feeding them????
regards
francisco
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Jules
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Thanks everyone. I am going to a friend's house now but will shoot a pic and upload it when I return. This is their basic set up: deli cup, coco fiber (not new, I've housed several T's from the same bag), dog food, a couple pieces of shredded carrot, tiny piece of apple. The fruit/veggies are organic and the same I feed myself and dogs. The dog food is the same I feed my dubia. I was going to add fish food but haven't made it to the store yet. I mist just one side but the rest of the coco fiber is completely dry. Could they have become dehydrated?
Trust me, no frontline on the dogs. I have some but don't even put it on my dogs if I don't have to. I haven't used it in over a year. They were also in a tray of slings I keep in my bathroom and all my slings are okay. I keep them in the bathroom because it's warm. However, I obviously don't keep my slings right under the heat. Could they have been too cold? My bathroom is really pretty warm.
Thoughts?
I definitely want to correct the problem before buying more. I still can't believe I killed roaches!! That's pretty bad!
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What
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Sounds like either temperature issues or mold spores to me...
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DeniseCasey
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Hi Jules,
I keep my substrate moist and somewhat humid. The substrate is roughly 3-5 inches deep. I give them water crystals, roach food and dog food. I also give them organic fruit every now and then. They seem to like apples the best. I do not soak the substrate but I do keep it moist and I mist it every other day to maintain the moisture.
They also like rotten wood/leaves.
My invert room is around 75-80 F.
It is possible that your substrate is too dry. Make sure to keep it moist and deep enough. Nymphs like it deep where the adults seem to burrow but you are likely to see them more often.
There really is not much more to it. Hope that helps.
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Celeste
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| What wrote: | | Sounds like either temperature issues or mold spores to me... |
It could be -- getting the moisture level just right (not too dry, not too damp) can be very tricky. If it's too low, they can't molt and die. If it's too high, they get fungus and die.
They could also have had some kind of parasites... Those little round white grain mites *decimated* some of my colonies several months ago. Under the right conditions, they could kill off a colony within a few days. But you would see them coating your roaches and climbing the glass if you had 'em.
Sorry about your loss, Jules... But I think you should give 'em another go when you get over this tragedy.
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Jules
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I have decided that my poor roaches got dehydrated. Their substrate was definitely too dry. I will try again soon.
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Celeste
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There's also our hypothesis that maybe the roach deaths are just stress-related (due to a sudden change in their environments), and not due to any poor husbandry. I would sure like to find out how common that is (apparent stress-related deaths in new acquisitions).
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