Got my first discoids!

[Akari_32]

These guys are totally adorable! Of course, I asked them to order me extra small ones, and looking at the internet, they don't look so cute grown up LOL Here are my little checker boards

But! I was wondering: because these make such good feeders, how easy is it to get a colony going of these guys? They are $1 per 3 roaches, any size, where as crickets from the same shop are $1 per 20, any size. And that 20 usually really means 40 or 50. That's a big price difference!

I've got a few tank sizes to work with: 2x 3 gallon Kritter Keepers, a 5 gallon, a 5.5 gallon, and a 10 gallon. I want to keep the tank as small as possible, so it can be tucked away, but I know these guys get pretty big, and grow quickly (how quickly?). My neighbor has a bearded dragon, so any that get too large can be pawned off with great pleasure.

And what about food? I hear dog food, I hear no dog food, blah blah blah. Dog food isn't a problem with me, if its ok. I feed higher end, grain free to my dogs. I also have canned food, too. And we've always got various meat in the house (chicken, pork, turkey, beef), as well as veggies. The reptile shop sells different feeder foods, as well.

 

[Akari_32]

Anybody know?

 

[Phantom240]

As long as you're feeding them a good, healthy diet free from Corn, Spinach, Iceburg Lettuce, or any greens that haven't been thoroughly washed, you should be fine. They're roaches, so as long as they have sufficient temperature, diet and space, they'll breed quite prolifically. My Dubia roaches seem to prefer Kale, Sweet Potato baby food (high in vitamin A, a necessary nutrient for our leos), and apple/banana baby food. They also get dry dog food. They aren't mature enough to breed yet, but once I can source subadults for a decent price, my colony should explode.

 

[Akari_32]

Is a 10 gallon ok, or would I need a larger tank/storage bin?

Why not spinach, out of curiosity?

 

[Phantom240]

From what I understand, Spinach contains some chemical in it that interferes with the absorption of calcium by our geckos.

 

[Akari_32]

Right, oxalates or something like that. If funny you say that because I randomly pick lettuce out of my Uro's spring mix for the crickets and some times it's spinach. Guess I should pay more attention to that!