dubia colony questions

[im faster]

okay.. here i go.. gonna statt a colony..

ive read and read.. but i cant figure something out..
my set up will be

10 gal tank.. with egg flats..
uth pad for heat..
highly nutrious cat food dry.. plus veggies 1/2 a week...
water gel..


my question...
HOW MANY???
looking to order tomorrow but how many should i order 30? 50? 100? or more..

help me out please

 

[im faster]

and where is ghe cheapest place to buy them

 

[Latlaw]

How funny. I'm doing the exact same thing as you right now! Getting ready to order my Dubias also. I'm using 10 gal w/ UTH too. What size UTH are you using? Are you using a thermostat? I'm thinking of starting with 50 to 100 Dubias to start. How many leos are you feeding? I have a small group of 6.

oh, except I'll be using premium dog kibble instead of cat food. lol

 

[Latlaw]

and where is ghe cheapest place to buy them

I'm using SFGecko. Very knowledgeable and good prices! Check the classified section.

 

[TheRed]

I have a small colony right now, about 70ish. I'm thinking about buying around 100 more from a local guy and putting them in the same tub. Is it ok to combine two different colonies?
BTW, I bought 50 nymphs and 10 adults about a month ago. I plan on using it to feed my three adult geckos. I've been feeding them super worms still, and will occasionally feed them a roach (only one of my geckos has showed any interest anyways). A few days ago I noticed 10-20 tiny baby roaches crawling around, and have noticed that they're molting quite a bit. Hopefully I'll have enough good sized nymphs to switch completely over to roaches soon.

 

[im faster]

thats awesome red..

i hope this is successful

and i have 2 UTH A 10 AND 20 ill use which ever gets the apporiate temp..

 

[im faster]

can anyone answer my question

how many should i order for a 10 gal tank

 

[Latlaw]

can anyone answer my question

how many should i order for a 10 gal tank

Well I'm ordering 100 nymph (med to large) and 10 adults to start my colony in a 10 gal tank. I am feeding 6 leos.

 

[Alusdra]

It's more a question of how many geckos you have to feed how quickly, rather than the tank capacity.

I have no idea how many dubia I have... but it is way (way way way) over 100. That's in a 10g. I started with 'a bunch' which was maybe in the 200 range? Maybe? (No idea! Thank you craigslist... even if there are at least 4 species on insect in there- free is good and my geckos are now fat)

If you want them right away get a ton of nymphs, let the ones that grow up be breeders. If you want cheaper in the long run, maybe buy fewer adults.

 

[im faster]

i have 2 a male and female and she is prego

 

[steve905]

Make sure to spread some vasaline around you silicone joints in the tanks because the roaches will crawl up them.

 

[im faster]

will do

 

[Latlaw]

Make sure to spread some vasaline around you silicone joints in the tanks because the roaches will crawl up them.

Is this true for Dubia's?

 

[pythondave]

You can have a few hundred in a 10g tank

 

[RoninSTi]

I have 1000 nymphs in a 10g tank and there is AMPLE room. The Dubias want to be as close to each other as possible. They like it dark, hot and cramped.

My setup is as follows:
10g tank.
Screen top
UTH
I covered the outside with tinfoil, shiny side facing in. This keeps the light out, and the heat in. I have my tank sitting in a shelf with some clearance to the top so I know they have proper ventilation, but limited light during the daytime.

I have egg crates in there vertically which they love to hide in. I place chopped up dog food in a pitri dish lid. I place carrots and half oranges in the tank and they DEVOUR them. I put just enough in to make sure that they eat everything.

I also have a paper towel that I mist daily for an additional water/humidity source. My roach colony is taking off under these conditions.

 

[ViciousAlice]

Its strange to me seeing the use of tanks for dubia, We use the 18 gallon steralite or rubbermaid bins, no need for the icky mess of Vaseline, ample growing space and if you get the real cheap ones you don't need to cover it to keep it dark. but use what is easiest for you I suppose.

It also takes a while for the dubia to be up and running so if you want to feed immediately you should probably order some extra.

 

[RoninSTi]

Its strange to me seeing the use of tanks for dubia, We use the 18 gallon steralite or rubbermaid bins, no need for the icky mess of Vaseline, ample growing space and if you get the real cheap ones you don't need to cover it to keep it dark. but use what is easiest for you I suppose.

It also takes a while for the dubia to be up and running so if you want to feed immediately you should probably order some extra.

I used a tank for the ease of the under tank heater. For some reason I'm not comfortable using human heating pads on low. I like the idea of the pad on the glass like my reps.

 

[Latlaw]

I used a tank for the ease of the under tank heater. For some reason I'm not comfortable using human heating pads on low. I like the idea of the pad on the glass like my reps.

agreed on this

 

[Latlaw]

I used a tank for the ease of the under tank heater. For some reason I'm not comfortable using human heating pads on low. I like the idea of the pad on the glass like my reps.

agreed on this

 

[ViciousAlice]

Ive been using the rubbermaid with a human heat pad on medium for the last year and my colony has grown to about 4000 from an order of 100, You can also use a heat lamp with either a ceramic bulb or a red light inside the bin, which is how my other 5 bins are set up...