How many geckos before breeding own feeders?

Steezy B · Apr 20, 2014

Basically what the title says. I plan on ordering 1-2 geckos from a breeder this week and I was wondering if I should breed my own dubias now with only 1-2 geckos, or wait til I get some more. Any thoughts or opinions would be helpful!
Thanks

Akari_32 · Apr 20, 2014

I have three geckos and I breed my own feeders. However, my youngest eats me out of house and home and when I got him my feeder bill tripled to about $20 a WEEK. Now I pay like $5 a month, if that, on food for the feeders. My friend also "shops" at my house for her gecko, so really I'm feeding 4.

indyana · Apr 21, 2014

I only have one gecko, and I've experimented with starting colonies of feeders. My favorite, and the one I actually kept going, was my colony of dubias. Both crickets and mealworms seemed like too much trouble versus going to the pet store and buying small batches. As long as you have a plan for getting rid of the excess feeders (because you will probably produce more than you use), I don't see a problem. If you can't sell or give away, you can always freeze to kill and then feed to wild birds.

Olympus · Apr 21, 2014

I don't think there's ever a down-side to breeding your own feeders, especially stuff like dubia roaches. It's a free super-nutritious source of food that you always have on hand, if you get them going now you're still in good shape if you get another few geckos in a few months, and if you ever feel like you have an excess then you can put them up for sale and get a little money back for them. In my opinion it's totally a win-win

No one says you have to start with 1,000 dubias either. You can order 200 mixed, for example, and see how you feel about breeding them.

LepoInc · Apr 21, 2014

I say if you plan on getting more geckos, start early. That way it gets big enough for you to rely on hem but still be self efficient

Jared Moore @ Lepo-Gecko

Steezy B · Apr 21, 2014

Thanks everyone for the quick replies! I think ill start a very small dubia colony and cull very often to keep it manageable.

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DrCarrotTail · Apr 21, 2014

Dubias are easy to breed and expensive so I breed my own. If you feed mostly dubia I would be very careful about what you feed them and read a bit about insect nutrition since feeding them an improper diet can cause toxins to build up in the roachs' systems and pass to your geckos causing issues such as gout. I usually also need to order a few thousand mealworms each month to keep the babies fat and happy. I breed some of my own mealworms but the babies eat a LOT and I can't keep up with them...haha.

Olympus · Apr 21, 2014

It's really not hard to feed dubias, as long as you stick to a vegetarian diet there's zero risk of any dangerous uric acid build-up. People only discovered problems after feeding them high-protein foods like fish flakes, dog/cat food, etc. (Which are bad for your geckos as well, so don't feed these foods to any feeders)

Some good gutloading ideas for all feeders:

Best - These gutloading ingredients are best because they are highest in calcium, low in phosphorus, oxalates and goitrogens. They should be the primary components of your gutload:
mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion leaves, collard greens, escarole lettuce, papaya, watercress and alfalfa.

Good - These gutloading ingredients are good because they are moderately high in calcium and other vitamins/minerals. They should be used in addition to those from the previous category:
sweet potato, carrots, oranges, mango, butternut squash, kale, apples, beet greens, blackberries, bok choy and green beans.

These fresh fruits and vegetables can be combined with dry gutload mixes or home made mixes for optimal well-rounded nutrition. Dry ingredients can include: bee pollen, organic non-salted sunflower seeds, spirulina, dried seaweed, flax seed and organic non-salted almonds.

And seriously, consider sell off any excess you have instead, like adult males. I bet you there are people on Craigslist that would be happy to pay you for a few roaches and save themselves shipping from a feeder company. I'm in Florida and can't have dubia roaches, and I tell you, getting the legal alternative (discoids) is a nightmare because there are so many of us and so few people breeding them. I'd kill to have someone nearby that wanted to sell off excess roaches! lol

DrCarrotTail · Apr 21, 2014

I didn't mean to imply they were hard to feed but knowing what you're feeding them and knowing what questions to ask when considering making or buying a chow for them are important to keep your geckos healthy long term. Olympus' advice is awesome!

Steezy B · Apr 21, 2014

Olympus said:
It's really not hard to feed dubias, as long as you stick to a vegetarian diet there's zero risk of any dangerous uric acid build-up. People only discovered problems after feeding them high-protein foods like fish flakes, dog/cat food, etc. (Which are bad for your geckos as well, so don't feed these foods to any feeders)

Some good gutloading ideas for all feeders:

Best - These gutloading ingredients are best because they are highest in calcium, low in phosphorus, oxalates and goitrogens. They should be the primary components of your gutload:
mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion leaves, collard greens, escarole lettuce, papaya, watercress and alfalfa.

Good - These gutloading ingredients are good because they are moderately high in calcium and other vitamins/minerals. They should be used in addition to those from the previous category:
sweet potato, carrots, oranges, mango, butternut squash, kale, apples, beet greens, blackberries, bok choy and green beans.

These fresh fruits and vegetables can be combined with dry gutload mixes or home made mixes for optimal well-rounded nutrition. Dry ingredients can include: bee pollen, organic non-salted sunflower seeds, spirulina, dried seaweed, flax seed and organic non-salted almonds.

And seriously, consider sell off any excess you have instead, like adult males. I bet you there are people on Craigslist that would be happy to pay you for a few roaches and save themselves shipping from a feeder company. I'm in Florida and can't have dubia roaches, and I tell you, getting the legal alternative (discoids) is a nightmare because there are so many of us and so few people breeding them. I'd kill to have someone nearby that wanted to sell off excess roaches! lol

Thank you for this! I definitely want to make sure I'm feeding the dubias the best possible food. It's a shame MS2 is no longer being sold /:

wafles · Apr 22, 2014

I have 1 gecko I bought 50 small worms (labeled large) for 2.49 and 35 jumbo (pretty big actually) for 2.99 from a big box store. Honestly I could have probably just went with the 50 but I got nervous when the little thing munched like 9 in 10 minutes, and got the jumbos.
A box at wall world was 88 cents with a lid, I had organic plain oats already. Just dumped em all in the box with oats few holes in lid and make sure its not on a window seal or to hot or cold.
Every few days I drop in a carrot and potato slice food food with a paper towel for moisture retention. Then once a week I sprinkle in a mix of D3 calcium and some vitamins for extra gutload. My gecko loves them but be selective at feeding time some will be hard and close to growing g where the white ones are soft guys that just grew from their shell.
I tried crickets it lasted a whole 4 days then it had to go.way to smelly way to much upkeep and believe it or not I find crickets creepyer then a box of oats wiggling around.

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indyana · Apr 22, 2014

Steezy B said:
Thank you for this! I definitely want to make sure I'm feeding the dubias the best possible food. It's a shame MS2 is no longer being sold /:

NOOOOOooooo!

I just bought a bag of MS2, which I absolutely love, so I have it for a while... but darn, this was my go-to chow for filling in the roach nutrition beyond veggies/fruit.

Since we're already on the topic of feeder diets, does anyone have other recommendations for dubia roach chow?

Olympus · Apr 22, 2014

Wafles, you should consider adding other foods to your gutload, a carrot (ok) or potato (really poor nutrition) is not a very well-rounded diet. Everything your feeders eat is a chance to add extra goodness to your geckos, so make the feeder's food count when you can.

Indyana, I'm pretty fond of Repashy products when I go the commercial route. I get Superload as my dry gutload but I know others are really fond of Bug Burger. Something like Cricket Crack is also good for roaches. I'm not familiar with any roach-specific chows out there, but I'm sure if you look through the ingredients list you can find someone selling something high-quality.

Steezy B · Apr 22, 2014

indyana said:
NOOOOOooooo!

I just bought a bag of MS2, which I absolutely love, so I have it for a while... but darn, this was my go-to chow for filling in the roach nutrition beyond veggies/fruit.

Since we're already on the topic of feeder diets, does anyone have other recommendations for dubia roach chow?

I was researching food and everyone says its the best food! She said she was tsking it off the market indefinitely so she could make it in the future.... and rainbowmealworms still has a few bags on their website

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indyana · Apr 23, 2014

Steezy B said:
and rainbowmealworms still has a few bags on their website

*shifty look* Maybe I should start stockpiling...

How many geckos before breeding own feeders?

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