Lateralis and Dubias

[jakemyster44]

I read several months ago about dubias, and ended up buying some from various dubia breeders. I suspect my colony to be up to 800 or so in number. I have 85 adult females, and 40 adult males. The colony is reproducing, but with all my breeders and hatchling leopard geckos this year, it won't keep up and give me a constant supply of 1" or so nymphs for the adults. I realize this can easily be fixed by allowing the colony to grow without feeding out of it for several months. I have decided that that is what I will do.
My delema comes in when I have to decide what to feed the geckos while the dubias are building up their colony. I know that mealies are an inexpensive alternative, but many of my new hatchlings (and several adults) will not accept mealworms. Crickets will be accepted by all of my geckos, but I hate dealing with them as they smell and are loud and anoying. I have been reading up on different roach species (less expensive than dubias) and have had my eye on lateralis roaches. I know that they are not many peoples favorite roach to deal with (they are so fast!) but I wouldn't mind dealing with them for a bit. I found a breeder where I can get 1,000 for a very nice price. I figure that I could just get 1,000 large nymphs (3/4"-1") from them, keep them in a bin and start feeding them off. At the rate they breed and the amount of them I would start out with, I wouldn't be suprised if they began breeding and establishing themselves. Do you think this sounds like a good plan to you?
There are a few things that DO concern me about the lateralis though, the main one is this. I live in Northern Ohio, we get temps in the 90's in the summer, and temps below freezing in the winter. Would it be possible for any escaped roaches to infest my house? I have not had any trouble with dubias, but they are much slower, and easy to catch (not that they ever get out). Thanks for reading,

 

[Tony C]

B. lateralis will not infest your house. They are established in the Southwest, but Ohio is too cold for them.

 

[spykerherps]

I think its a good idea.
and you don't have to worry about them infesting your house.
but still be cautious with them. If any part of your house serves as ideal conditions kept warm through out winter and has enough humidity to hatch any egg cases left behind by the occasional escaped female, you may get a small lose colony. but they would also have to find a decent supply of food. so unless your a slob you should be alright.

 

[Julianv760]

B. lateralis are very fast breeders! I wouldn't worry about them infesting your home. If you have tons of babies to feed I'll buy some. B. Dubias take up to a year to have for you to have a well established colony. But this also depends on temperature and diet. Here's a care sheet.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=56044&page=2&highlight=B.+lateralis+care+sheet

 

[geckofan2009]

http://www.beardeddragon.org/bjive/viewforum.php?f=2

if you comb bearded dragon sites you can find people selling tons of dubias pretty cheap..i think i picked up like 750 for like $75 shipped. youd have to find a decent price, if your intrested in this. great deals

 

[jakemyster44]

That is a nice price, but I can get 2,000 lateralis (12"-3/4") for $30 shipped. I plan to feed exclusively out of the lateralis colony untill my dubias are thriving and have very strong numbers. I will be taking out extra males though, and feeding them to my breeder geckos. I think it might be a good thing to have two different roach colonies going, that way I can alternate witch one I feed out of, and the one not being fed out of will grow like crazy with the minimal disturbances. I'm hoping to order the roaches tonight or tommarow, now I need to convince my mom to let me throw down another $30. haha.

 

[T&KBrouse]

I'm not sure if anyone else has tried this, but when I got my Dubias starter colony, the breeder I got them from told me to give them a warm spot and feed them oranges and they'll multiply like crazy. Well, I've had them an entire 4 months now and the 300 I started with is easily well over a thousand now. I can't feed 'em off fast enough!

Maybe it'll work to jump start your Dubias colony?

 

[T-ReXx]

I've been breeding lateralis and dubia for a couple years now and I can assure you that lateralis do breed like crazy. Dubia are easier to work with because they're slow(Lats are SUPER fast) but the lats definately breed faster. I've had plenty of escapes, I once dropped a deli cup with 20 or so adult lateralis on the floor, lid wasn't on quite right and they scattered, scared the hell outta me that I'd have a roach infestation. But over a couple of days I accounted for all of them between me and the cats hunting them down(cats are excellent escaped feeder control). Unless your house is warm and humid they won't live long, and the eggs cases need humidity to hatch. A good way to make them easier to handle is to stick them in the fridge for 30 min-an hour, the cold slows em down. Alternating colonies works like a charm, keeps any individual colony from becoming to depleted.

 

[jakemyster44]

I have a nice warm spot on them, and just recently heard about the oranges thing, and will be offering oranges very soon. My colony of dubias is doing well, the main thing keeping them from growing in number, is that I am constantly taking out of it to feed my geckos, that is why I think getting some leteralis will help take the strain off the colony. If I don't feed out of my colony, I can expect 1,700 babies/month if all my females give birth to 20 young a month. After the dubias are strong, then I'll switch back to them, allowing any damage to the lateralis colony to be repaired. THEn I should have two thriving colonies.