Thinking about starting a Dubia colony

[Redleg]

With winter coming right around the corner, live feeders will be an issue for the long and cold winter so I have to breed/source my own feeders.

I am thinking about starting a dubia colony. I have a few questions:

1. Will my leos have problems taking these new feeders? They are currently eating both mealworms and crickets.
2. Is it difficult to start a colony and maintaining one?
3. Looking at purchasing 500 dubias and some adults to get started. Adults will be separated so that they can get down to business and slowly feed the existing 500 with crickets to introduce the leos to their new food.
4. I am assuming that dusting the dubias is the same as for crickets.
5. What is the growth rate of the dubias? From birth to decent feeding size for leos, and till they reach adult?

Eventually the goal is to have enough to feed my leos and sustain the colony.

Is all this possible? Compared to raising/breeding mealworms, which is easier? I am only assuming that crickets are more difficult to breed/raise.

Thanks for your time.
-Sean

 

[GeckoNub]

Hi

Ive had my dubias since about March and got them as small so im still new to breeding them

For my geckos the switch to dubia's was easy. They seem to love chasing them and because they dont jump they are easier to catch.

For starting a colony it is really easy. I use a big plastic bin with a lid, a heat mat on the side, some cardboard egg crates and 2 small dishes, one for dried cat food and the other for water gel.

I dont think you need to seperate adults from babies as they seem to get along fine.

Dusting is same with crickets, i use a plastic tub with a lid that i put mine in when feeding. Drop some powder in then give them a shake.

Growth rate they seem to go a little slow but im not sure if mine have just been slow as its my first batch.

When i bought mine they were about half an inch, that was in March. I now have some adults and some large nymphs. I also have new babies so they must be breeding

I find them easier to keep than mealworms as i dont have to seperate them and sieve all the poopy stuff for babies. Every few months just put them in a different tub, do a total clean and put them back in again.

 

[ang3l3s]

my duias took 4 months 2 give babies as i did not give the heat and put them in a transparent tub, bought an opaque tub, put them on heat tape and 2 months later i got so many babies, also i put a shallow dish with paper towel soaked with water. i feed whole grain cheerios, fish flakes and carrots,
1.your leos should take them if they take crickets.
2. much easier that crix, no smell, no deaths, no jmping, no escapes, no NOISE!!!!
3. i bought 100 and i have enough babies for 30 breeders and 4 babies.
4.Dusting is the same
5.1-2 months is god depending how big u wanna give them,full adults i think are too big but i have a 98 gram girl who take them easily, think of it this way, if they were in the wild do u think they would pass on a roach
i think roaches are easier, i lose some supers trying to get them to pupate and they take more room for the breeding bins imo , also all the transferring and the possibility of mites. i sitll do it but get way more results from the roaches, plus the roaches are more nutritional depending what u feed them. hope this helps

 

[knobguy]

Is it necessary to feed dubia vegetables weekly and whY? I feed mine a gutload product from theroachguy but would think it a pain to feed them veggies weekly.

 

[ang3l3s]

nah, i just do it once a week and i check and it is all gone, it's really a water source but i the paper towel thing

 

[Redleg]

With all these positive comments/experiences then why have more people not gotten involved with roaches as a food source then? Is it because of the stigma of a roach as a pest that is keeping people from using roaches?

i can't imagine its a cost issue if one decides and want to raise a colony.

 

[T-ReXx]

It mostly has to do with the "it's a roach" factor and availability. Some people just don't need that many feeders and choose to buy crickets/mealworms on a regular basis instead. I switched to lateralis from crickets about a year ago and have never looked back, it's much easier. In time they'll become more popular with your average hobbyist.

 

[RocksMama77]

My Dubia colony has become somewhat of another pet for me. I was one of those people that hated roaches and couldn't stand the thought of voluntarily have them in my house. I received about 120 of them a while back. I put them in a tub with their water crystals and cat food and nothing happened I saw like one baby over a period of a month. I was very disappointed because my supply was running low and they weren't breeding like I heard they did. I put a regular human heating pad under them and they started breeding like crazy. My mommys got huge and babies are popping out every day. I am no longer grossed out and I have saved a huge amount of money. I love them and they are truly fascinating creatures. So much better than crickets and my scaley babies love them. There was no problem with them switching over at all.

 

[Gregg M]

Offer them a hot spot of 95 degrees.

Offer them water in the form of water crystals.

Offer fresh veggies once a week.

Keep a mix of blended high protein dry dog and cat food with fish flake mixed in as well as some freeze dried fruits and vegitables in their bin at all times. Its a real easy mix to make and will be your roaches staple diet. Do not add vitamins or calcium to your roaches diet. It is also important that you keep you roaches water source away from this dry mix.

Dubia become sexually mature in as little as 2 months depending on their hot spot and ambient air temps.

Do not separate babies from adults.

Do not clean the frass (roach crap) from the bottom of the tub. Babies eat frass and it is an important part of keeping a nice healthy strong colony.

It is important to maintain proper humidity but at the same time you need to keep the tubs they are in ventilated. One way you can do this is to cut a hole the size of a dollar bill on one end of your bin cover. This is the end where you will keep their dry food on and the end that is not ventilated is where you will keep the water crystals.

They are easy to keep and breed and if you properly maintain your colony, you should never run out of feeders...

 

[Redleg]

Greg,

Thanks for the load of additional info, you had answered some questions that I was not able to find....such as the time from nymph to adult and not separating the adult from babies.

Why is that......not to separate the adults from nymphs? Curious about the frass.....

It is really that simple as far as feeding them.....dog/cat food mixed with some fish food flakes. What about some of the cricket feed that are out there? Don't get me wrong, I have both a cat and dog......so food source for the dubias would be easy.

Question to that is: For crickets/mealworms....its highly recommended that they be 'gutloaded' with high quality food prior to feeding the geckos. Does dog/cat food qualify as good food to gutload the roaches?

 

[Gregg M]

Why is that......not to separate the adults from nymphs? Curious about the frass.....

The baby roaches will eat the adults frass... This aids in the development of the babies... There are lots of nutrients in the frass that the babies would not get from other sources... Even the adults will eat frass at times...

It is really that simple as far as feeding them.....dog/cat food mixed with some fish food flakes. What about some of the cricket feed that are out there? Don't get me wrong, I have both a cat and dog......so food source for the dubias would be easy.

Roaches need a high protein diet... The cricket feed does not have nearly the amount of protien as the dog and cat foods... When dubia do not have the proper amount protein in their diet, they will start to chew eachothers wing...

Question to that is: For crickets/mealworms....its highly recommended that they be 'gutloaded' with high quality food prior to feeding the geckos. Does dog/cat food qualify as good food to gutload the roaches?

A diet of the mix I mentioned that you will feed your roaches is high quality and very nutritious... Better than any commercially sold cricket feed...

 

[Redleg]

That's very good info. I did not realize that roaches need a high protein diet. I do feed my dog and cat some pretty good stuff.....so that would be good for the roaches. Should I ground it up in a blender or just toss it in a bowl?

 

[Redleg]

Well, I just received my first batch of dubias. I ordered 8 large pairs and 500 smalls. I'll give them a couple of days to settle in before separating the adults from the little ones. I think I have about a month to go before feeding the dubias to my leos, and a few more months for the adults to produce.

-With the proper heat, cage, foods, etc......when can I expect the adults to start producing?

-What is the growth rate? Right now, the little ones are about 1/4 inch big. I am planning to feed them to my leos at about 1/2 inch.

 

[Redleg]

Does any one know if I have to crush the cat/dog food prior to feeding my dubias or do I simply just toss it in?

 

[Roaming Reptiles]

I have been blending the cat food for them and it seems to work great

 

[Redleg]

When you say "blend" do you mean mix both cat and dog food together......and or dog and cat food together in the blender for a quick swirl to break it up a little before tossing it in for the dubias.

 

[Chewbecca]

Maybe I have odd dubia, but my dubia DO NOT eat cat or dog food.
They simply won't.

I've put it in there ground up to powder, and I've put it in there whole.
They won't eat it.

But what do they gobble up so fast to the point that it's completely gone by the next morning???

Bananas, strawberries, veggies, and ESPECIALLY old crested gecko diet.


Mine haven't eaten each other yet...

 

[Redleg]

This batch of roaches (dubias) don't seem to care much for the cat/dog food that I have tossed in the tub for them.

i thought it was warm enough....but guess not, so I have a heat tape under the tub now and set at 90 degrees. Also threw in some cricket feed (powdered stuff) on top of the cat/dog food mix. Will see if they will eat now.

Otherwise, my next step is to feed them these 'cricket food' that are available. Thought I could get away with simply using cat/dog food mix. Simple for others seems a bit more challenging for me......darn roaches.

Seems like when you want them to thrive, they don't and when you don't want them, they are all over the place......go figure:main_laugh:

 

[LizMarie]

My roaches eat anything and everything. I use Pro Geckos gutload, fruits, veggies and water crystals and I just can't stop them from reproducing, lmao.

 

[Redleg]

I have not seen my roaches eat much, food pile seems to be the same level....but have not noticed any dead. I am only guessing that I have to increase the temp.....which I have. Its currently in the garage and its a little cold in there....about 55 degrees. Tub temp is about 85 degrees.

I must be doing something wrong as I have not seen much activity/movement and food pile still looks the same.