Making the jump. Roaches

[hoppslover]

I think I read that it takes 3 or 4 months for them to reach adult hood. When I got my from the roachman he had it set up that you could buy pairs of adults with his kit. So he is sending me 150 mixed sizes with 7 pairs of adults. I am really looking forward to getting them even though I am still alittle freaked out that I am gonna have roaches in my house. It is way to cold here in the winter for me to keep these guys in the garage.

 

[thekooliest]

Ya i started with 2.4 adults.

 

[nats]

Ya i started with 2.4 adults.

LOL!
I think mine are on a hunger strike!!

Every time I check them, I only see 2 or 3 out feeding. All the rest just hide!!

I know they have live babies, so I dont have to deal with eggs (another plus).

I'll just do as you say and keep feeding them :main_yes:

I do think a UTH is needed, at least in my case, because I have my feeders
in my basement where its always a bit cooler then the rest of the house.
In fact, the crix like it warm too, so I may have to put a small space heater in there in the winter.

So now I have about 500 crix, a well started mealie colony, about 200 Pheonix worms, 50 dubias and about 200 waxies in the frig at 50F.
My Mom is scared to go in that room because of all the "bugs" (which is a GOOD thing actually! :main_laugh: ).
At least my leos will never go hungry or lack veriety

 

[nats]

I think I read that it takes 3 or 4 months for them to reach adult hood. When I got my from the roachman he had it set up that you could buy pairs of adults with his kit. So he is sending me 150 mixed sizes with 7 pairs of adults. I am really looking forward to getting them even though I am still alittle freaked out that I am gonna have roaches in my house. It is way to cold here in the winter for me to keep these guys in the garage.

Yeah I hear ya!!
But now that I have them, I'm not freaked out any more.
These things are just lame and helpless. They cant clime, they move so slow they cant get away from you, their so lame they cant even right themselves when they flip over on their back. They just lay there, kicking their legs in the air. I had to go in there and flip them over with my finger :main_laugh:

Trust me, if they got out, they would just die. Esp. if you live on the east coast with cold winters. They are so helpless, I cant understand how they survive in the wild!

 

[thekooliest]

ya they are lucky to have people breed em....
as for them on hunger strike...i thought the same thing when i got them...
its ok, you rarely see them.
and they eat more at night...
what i just did is got gutload and water crystals (so i didnt have to take out the fruit everyday) and left them in there for a week or so. and when i came out i saw some in there.

and that was the first time i ever saw them eating.

 

[nats]

ya they are lucky to have people breed em....
as for them on hunger strike...i thought the same thing when i got them...
its ok, you rarely see them.
and they eat more at night...
what i just did is got gutload and water crystals (so i didnt have to take out the fruit everyday) and left them in there for a week or so. and when i came out i saw some in there.

and that was the first time i ever saw them eating.

What kind of gutload are you using?
I have some Repashy gutload dust from Juile at Gecko Ranch, but havent
tried it on the dubias yet.
I have everything else in there though, like carrots, Flukers cricket water, ground up cat food and some greens. I just threw everything I could think of in there
They should be some happy little roaches

 

[thekooliest]

ummm idk exactly...got it in a starter kit from Ultrakd.
but i know they eat almost everything...the only reason i suggested gut load and water crystals is because they dont mold. and with fruits they mold after 1-2 days, and the gut load doesnt mold until like 2 weeeks.
and i found that after a week of sitting there i cam back and there were some eating and out/about.

 

[SFgeckos]

dubia roaches

Dubia Roaches are my favorite! Ever since I started keeping and breeding them (4 years ago?), I've saved hundreds if not thousands of dollars! (not having to buy crickets) They have been around for a long time in Europe and have been kept by hobbyists in the states for the last few years. They are definitely growing in popularity due to their ease of care/ease of gutloading, low mortality rate (I've done experiments and roach nymphs can live for weeks without food/water!), decent reproduction rate (compared to similar sized roaches like orange heads) and they don't smell/climb glass!

I keep my colonies very warm, the hotter the better= faster/better production from the females. Mature females kept with a warm area of 85-95F can produce between 15-25+ live baby nymphs per month. I use large plastic tubs with 200-500 females per bin, male ratio about 1:5 sometimes 1:7. The key is providing the heat, as well as a source of food/moisture and replacing with fresh males due to their shorter lifespan. I've raised all my breeder geckos and this year's babies on dubia roaches and have noticed no difference in growth/reproduction (compared to crickets). I feed out about 400-500 nymphs per week and due their "meaty" size, juvenile growing geckos only need to eat 3-5 nymphs every other day as compared to 5-8 crickets per day! So in terms of feeding efficiency, I think they are a better resource than many other feeders out there. But maybe I'm a bit biased =P

If you have any questions, just ask!
Someone emailed me before asking about prices. The average price for 100 nymphs is around $40-50 shipped. I almost always have some extras available, so just email me if anyone needs some.

Jon
[email protected]

 

[nats]

Dubia Roaches are my favorite! Ever since I started keeping and breeding them (4 years ago?), I've saved hundreds if not thousands of dollars! (not having to buy crickets) They have been around for a long time in Europe and have been kept by hobbyists in the states for the last few years. They are definitely growing in popularity due to their ease of care/ease of gutloading, low mortality rate (I've done experiments and roach nymphs can live for weeks without food/water!), decent reproduction rate (compared to similar sized roaches like orange heads) and they don't smell/climb glass!

I keep my colonies very warm, the hotter the better= faster/better production from the females. Mature females kept with a warm area of 85-95F can produce between 15-25+ live baby nymphs per month. I use large plastic tubs with 200-500 females per bin, male ratio about 1:5 sometimes 1:7. The key is providing the heat, as well as a source of food/moisture and replacing with fresh males due to their shorter lifespan. I've raised all my breeder geckos and this year's babies on dubia roaches and have noticed no difference in growth/reproduction (compared to crickets). I feed out about 400-500 nymphs per week and due their "meaty" size, juvenile growing geckos only need to eat 3-5 nymphs every other day as compared to 5-8 crickets per day! So in terms of feeding efficiency, I think they are a better resource than many other feeders out there. But maybe I'm a bit biased =P

If you have any questions, just ask!
Someone emailed me before asking about prices. The average price for 100 nymphs is around $40-50 shipped. I almost always have some extras available, so just email me if anyone needs some.

Jon
[email protected]

Thanks Jon for the great advise :main_yes:
So I guess my idea of putting a UTH in there was a good one :main_yes:

So, you are selling them for $50.00 for 100? Thats a good price. I may want to buy some more from you if you are selling them.

One thing that puzzles me though, if they are so easy to raise, why are they so expensive?

 

[thekooliest]

I will definitely buy from you when i need to.

I think they aren't to popular. And they aren't bred often.
I also think that they are going down in price (especially when bought in bulk...1 adult at a pet store is still like .80).

-Sam

 

[TheRoachGuy]

For tips on care "The Roach Guy" is the best I've seen and he has the best prices too. Here is a link to his site: http://www.theroachguy.com/caresheet.htm

thanks for the Thanks for the kind words we try to do our best to offer the best care tips and info as well as the lowest priced. I have only had about 3 out of 50 or so customers this year say that their gecko did not like the roaches, so I would say that’s pretty good odds for the roaches.

 

[TheRoachGuy]

I was told by the person that gave me advice about them that they keep theirs in a garage bathroom. Darker the better for these guys. I am planning on keeping mine in my furnace room. Hoping that between the furnace and the hot water heater that it keeps them warm enough. If not I am planning on giving them a UTH.

Sound like a good idea not sure how your furnace room is but ours is very warm but dry if yours is dry make sure you keep the humidity up by using plenty of water crystals in the kit, if the humidity isn’t high enough the will die every time

 

[hoppslover]

Thanks for the advice Jason. I bought a kit from you last week. Should be shipping this week. Cant wait for them to get here. Maybe I will find another dark place in my basement.

 

[hoppslover]

Well they made it yest. I got them all settled into their enclosure. Now we will just sit back and see how things go with them.

 

[TheRoachGuy]

good man glad to here it, let me know if you need any help