Roach feeder size question

[ChaoticGecko]

I'm moving my gecko's over to dubia's from crickets this week, finally low enough on the little buggers to get them out of the house for good lol. the only tidbit of info i couldn't find was size roaches. all my guys are adult animals, are the mature roaches too big? i'm pretty sure they're not, but rather be safe then sorry, and how many and often do you guys feed them with the roaches? I'm doing crickets every other day, except for the female who's suppose to be gravid she gets daily crickets and mealworms every other day. though i've still yet to any signs of eggs. lol. thanks again for any advice in advance.

 

[ChaoticGecko]

and i'm ordering from the roach guy, whats a good quantity to start with for feeding and establishing a colony for 12 gecko's and a beardie?

 

[spykerherps]

My adults can handle the adult male dubia and the large nymphs the size right before the molt out into their adult stage. only a couple of my geckos with large frames can handle an adult female dubia. They will either swallow it or they wont. if they cant get it down in under 10-15 sec its probably too big, but if their hungry enough they will keep trying. In 15 years I have never had a leo choke to death on a food item that was too big. seance I have been keeping dubia the past few years I have been feeding my leos of all sizes larger meals less often and they are doing quit well. adults get a large meal item or 2 twice a week more often for breeding females and 3-5 smaller prey items 3 - 4 times a week for hatchling and juveniles.

You might want to get a 2-3 hundred mixed if you want to start feeding of right away it will take the colony a few months to settle in and start producing on a regular basis.keep the larger nymphs and adults back to start breeding and separate out the smaller ones and feed them off. By separating them you are not disturbing the breeding colony too much except for feeding them that way they should settle in and get breeding quicker. keep them warm and well fed and they should do great for you.

 

[lillith]

Sound advice!

I have dubias but I'm also experimenting with Turkistans (Blatta lateralis). They never get any bigger than crix and my leos have been going gaga for them. They are not live birth like dubias, so they breed a bit more quickly.

Only drawback so far is, they're a little fast for a feeder...but my leos were getting awfully lazy with mealworms anyhow, a little actual prey-stalking is likely good for them.

 

[ChaoticGecko]

Sound advice!

I have dubias but I'm also experimenting with Turkistans (Blatta lateralis). They never get any bigger than crix and my leos have been going gaga for them. They are not live birth like dubias, so they breed a bit more quickly.

Only drawback so far is, they're a little fast for a feeder...but my leos were getting awfully lazy with mealworms anyhow, a little actual prey-stalking is likely good for them.

Yeah, i wanted to move to something less noisy and with less of a smell, i picked the dubia's because they can't climb and the slow speed, i live in an apartment complex, my neighbors would crap themselves if they knew i had a roach colony. Do the turkistans climb? i may mix up feeders, after i get the roaches established, i do plan on establishing a mealworm colony too. just a thought, keep the diet varied. LOL, thanks again for the advice so far guys!

Great screen name by the way Lilith! always a sound choice.

 

[lillith]

No, they can't climb...I've heard that they sometimes jump, but I keep mine in a deep storage bin, hasn't been a problem...the Turkistans are related to dubias, they also need heat to reproduce, etc.

Mealworms are so easy, it's just the sorting that get tedious...and I'm always on the quest for a perfect sifter...

I want to try raising waxworms at some point...

 

[ChaoticGecko]

No, they can't climb...I've heard that they sometimes jump, but I keep mine in a deep storage bin, hasn't been a problem...the Turkistans are related to dubias, they also need heat to reproduce, etc.

Mealworms are so easy, it's just the sorting that get tedious...and I'm always on the quest for a perfect sifter...

I want to try raising waxworms at some point...

cool, i'll have to try them next, i just ordered the dubia last night. keeping insects will also open the door to adding critters to the collection, i use to hate feeder insects, so small and annoying, lol. get these guys established and go from there, now i'm assuming its basicaly like snakes with rodents, young ones get the small ones, then on up to the adults which has already been covered? thanks again

 

[Digby Rigby]

As far as roaches go the closest to cricket size are the lateralis as far as non climbers go. Here is a link to our roach gallery. People love that our pictures show adults next to rulers or tape measures it makes size so much easier to understand http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj90/DigbyRigby/Roaches/?start=all

 

[gothra]

One more vote from me for lateralis! I like how they're smaller and have very soft bodies. They can climb a little better than dubias, but if your container is clean without grit or scratches on the side walls, there is no way they can climb out.

 

[ChaoticGecko]

cool, i'll have to look into those. I've already ordered the dubai's once i get that colony established, i'll defiantly have to look into trying my hand at them. Any recommendations on a good source for lateralis. Thanks for all the input guys.