I sent this email earlier to a client and thought it may be useful for forum members:
“The following are brief instructions on how I sort/manage a large dubia colony. I hope you find some of the following information valuable and that it can help you become more efficient with your dubia colony.
Every 3-4 weeks, depending on my schedule and needs, I will sort through one or two of my dubia roach bins. I use a three-step bin process in the management of my dubia colony. I have bins that contain “grow out” nymphs (ranging from small to medium sized nymphs which are fed to various insectivorous animals), large nymphs (to replace future breeding adults) and bins with breeding adults. In this particular case, I am sorting out a bin from my breeding adults that hasn’t been sorted in the last 3 months. This bin contained around 200 adult female dubia roaches with the male ratio 1/3-1/5. Assuming that the average production rate is 15-20 nymphs per month per adult female- at the very least there would be 3,000 nymphs collected (15 nymphs x 200 adult females x 1 month) and at the very most 12,000 nymphs (20 nymphs x 200 adult females x 3 months). I usually find that the production is somewhere within that range, mainly because not every female produces monthly or some may still be pregnant etc.
All my roaches are kept in large plastic containers, with no substrate and cardboard eggcrates to provide additional climbing surface area. The first step is pouring/shaking off all of the roaches out into a large empty plastic container. All the adults and large nymphs (greater than one inch) are removed and put into another empty container. The remaining small to medium nymphs, their waste products, and any leftover uneaten cat/dog kibble are put through a series of custom strainers (plastic containers with drilled holes of various sizes) until only the nymphs remain. These nymphs are then transferred into a new container with eggcrate to grow up and be fed out. The adults and large nymphs that were separated earlier, are now separated so that all sexed adults go into a new container, and the large nymphs are placed in a bin containing other large nymphs. These will be grown until they are sexable and replace older/retired adult colonies.
The reason that I chose this system instead of having “all mixed sizes” of nymphs and adults together is the ease of sorting/feeding out. Because I sort the adults away from all the nymphs, the next time I sort the adult bin again (say in another 3 months), all the nymphs will be within a similar size range because they were born within that time frame. Having established this system over many years, I now have the luxury of easily finding any particular sized nymphs. Say I need to feed a hundred baby geckos, I can pull out bins containing mainly half-inch sized nymphs, and as the geckos grow I can use a bin with mostly ¾ inch nymphs etc. With the bins containing large nymphs, I can sort those at any time putting those nymphs that have morphed into sexable adults into fresh bins to start a breeding colony. This enables accurate production management because I mark the date for the start of each colony on the container so I know when colonies are getting “old” and need to be replaced. Granted, this system isn’t as efficient if you have smaller colonies but this is what works for me! I spent 45 minutes this morning sorting the adult bin and separated 3,000-5,000 nymphs to feed to growing baby geckos. Depending on the time of the year and how many mouths that I need to feed, I will have anywhere from 12-20 nymph bins going at any one time.”
Photo 1: Collecting nymphs
Photo 2: Placing nymphs into fresh bin for "grow out"
Photo 3: Seperating adults from large nymphs
Let me know if anyone have any questions or comments!
Jon
“The following are brief instructions on how I sort/manage a large dubia colony. I hope you find some of the following information valuable and that it can help you become more efficient with your dubia colony.
Every 3-4 weeks, depending on my schedule and needs, I will sort through one or two of my dubia roach bins. I use a three-step bin process in the management of my dubia colony. I have bins that contain “grow out” nymphs (ranging from small to medium sized nymphs which are fed to various insectivorous animals), large nymphs (to replace future breeding adults) and bins with breeding adults. In this particular case, I am sorting out a bin from my breeding adults that hasn’t been sorted in the last 3 months. This bin contained around 200 adult female dubia roaches with the male ratio 1/3-1/5. Assuming that the average production rate is 15-20 nymphs per month per adult female- at the very least there would be 3,000 nymphs collected (15 nymphs x 200 adult females x 1 month) and at the very most 12,000 nymphs (20 nymphs x 200 adult females x 3 months). I usually find that the production is somewhere within that range, mainly because not every female produces monthly or some may still be pregnant etc.
All my roaches are kept in large plastic containers, with no substrate and cardboard eggcrates to provide additional climbing surface area. The first step is pouring/shaking off all of the roaches out into a large empty plastic container. All the adults and large nymphs (greater than one inch) are removed and put into another empty container. The remaining small to medium nymphs, their waste products, and any leftover uneaten cat/dog kibble are put through a series of custom strainers (plastic containers with drilled holes of various sizes) until only the nymphs remain. These nymphs are then transferred into a new container with eggcrate to grow up and be fed out. The adults and large nymphs that were separated earlier, are now separated so that all sexed adults go into a new container, and the large nymphs are placed in a bin containing other large nymphs. These will be grown until they are sexable and replace older/retired adult colonies.
The reason that I chose this system instead of having “all mixed sizes” of nymphs and adults together is the ease of sorting/feeding out. Because I sort the adults away from all the nymphs, the next time I sort the adult bin again (say in another 3 months), all the nymphs will be within a similar size range because they were born within that time frame. Having established this system over many years, I now have the luxury of easily finding any particular sized nymphs. Say I need to feed a hundred baby geckos, I can pull out bins containing mainly half-inch sized nymphs, and as the geckos grow I can use a bin with mostly ¾ inch nymphs etc. With the bins containing large nymphs, I can sort those at any time putting those nymphs that have morphed into sexable adults into fresh bins to start a breeding colony. This enables accurate production management because I mark the date for the start of each colony on the container so I know when colonies are getting “old” and need to be replaced. Granted, this system isn’t as efficient if you have smaller colonies but this is what works for me! I spent 45 minutes this morning sorting the adult bin and separated 3,000-5,000 nymphs to feed to growing baby geckos. Depending on the time of the year and how many mouths that I need to feed, I will have anywhere from 12-20 nymph bins going at any one time.”
Photo 1: Collecting nymphs
Photo 2: Placing nymphs into fresh bin for "grow out"
Photo 3: Seperating adults from large nymphs
Let me know if anyone have any questions or comments!
Jon
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