Dubia Roaches and Breeding

[herpman97]

First off, can Leopard geckos and bearded dragons eat dubia roaches, because buying crickets and mealworms every week is starting to get pricy, and I'm gonna have baby leopards soon, so is breeding dubias a good idea, or will there be too many extra roaches left.

2.1.1 Leopard geckos (one's gravid)
Pending Bearded Dragon

 

[T-ReXx]

Dubia make excellent feeders for both leopard geckos and bearded dragons. Make sure you give your colony ample time to establish before feeding out of it.

 

[enigmaslim]

So if I bought 25 of em how long would it take for them to breed to a large enough colony. And what's a large enough colony to start feeding?

 

[Tony C]

How old is your beardie? If it's a young one you will either need to buy a LOT of roaches, or keep buying crickets while the dubia colony establishes itself.

 

[T-ReXx]

To feed a young beardie and 4+ leopard geckos you're going to need way more than 25. 25 adults will take up to 8 months to establish into a big enough colony to sustain that collection. I would suggest starting with at least 200.

 

[Redleg]

Dubias are a great alternative feed for your beardie and leos. In the meantime, you will need to continue with your current feed (mealies, crickets, etc....whichever you are feeding them right now).

Dubia colony will take some time to establish but once they do, you will have no problems as they can be very prolific breeders. You should purchase a mix of nymphs and adults. Separate the adults as they don't care to be disturbed much in order for them to get in the groove of breeding. You have the little nymphs to be able to feed off, until the rest of your colony is caught up. Just make sure you start out with a LOT.

 

[Bellalee]

You also need to note that for beardies it is extremely important that the roaches are appropriatly(sp?) sized for them. They can have severe neurological problems if they are too big. There is no way you are going to be able to feed out of a colony of 25 for a while. The more you have the faster the colony grows. Hope you don't take this the wrong way but if you are having a hard time paying for feeders now do not get a beardie. They can eat 30 crickets in a sitting, when a baby that's about 3 times a day. So think of that as 100 crickets a day.