Dubia colony (gone?)

[Neill]

So bought some dubia roaches 2 months ago, and then got another 150 mixed with breeders. Been feeding crickets and roaches and well.... I'm out of roaches already!? Have some giant ones which would choke a gecko if they tried to eat it and tiny tiny ones that would be good for... Well me trying to even catch the tiny ones is impossible! So my question is they are breeding hence all the tiny ones. When will they grow to a nice medium size? How many breeders will sustain a colony of 15 geckos and one beardy? Have about 6 breeding pairs right now. Should I get more?

 

[gothra]

Just for your reference, I have about 50 adults for my 9 geckos, and I always have more than enough. If you keep the temperature higher, the babies will grow faster.

 

[Nigel4less]

If you have adult Leopards you could feed off your adult males no problem... I have 25-30 gram animals eating them.

 

[InuInc]

Bearded Dragons will finish off a colony of Dubia in no time. This is one reason why I don't keep them. They eat a ton of food. I don't know how people keep and breed these guys with the amount of food consumption.

As far as the roaches, usually you'd want to leave a Dubia colony alone until they start producing nymphs and become established. 2 months is just to short a time to start feeding from. I have an established colony of Dubia that I feed my geckos from and I also purchased another 400 nymphs recently to grow up as a second colony. I also have a colony of Lateralis. It takes time.

This is my experience. Others may have a different opinion.

 

[LeapinLizards]

I left my Dubia colony alone for about 6 months before steadily feeding from it. I have 18 geckos currently, and feed off adult males every other day (of course, along with other feeders). I've never had a shortage, but have ordered adult males on a couple occasions, just to get new blood in the mix (and there always seems to be a baby boom after throwing new males in the group!).

Like InuInc said, it does take time, and unless you allow the colony to establish itself you WILL run through them quickly!