Enough food for a baby?

I have a dubia colony that has been going for about 9 mos and has over 100 females and probably 25-30 males. I clean out babies every 2-3 mos because the crowding seems to stress them badly and production goes way down. The ones I clean out are newborns to half an inch or so, with maybe only a quarter of them being worth anything to feed so maybe 250? We plan on getting a baby from Fairy Tail Dragons either mid to late summer or end of September when we vacation down in Orlando and we can just pick him up depending on what clutches are available at the time. I want to make sure the roach colony can sustain his huge appetite. How many should we expect him to eat a day and until what age do they start to slow down? I also panicked and bought 100 each p. Nivea, s. Lateralis and n. Cinerea but there are about 3 adults to each and the rest tiny nymphs. I'm hoping they start to take off and in 6 mos I can rely on them too. I also bought 40 mixed e. Distanti nymphs but they probably will barely be adults by summer. What size nymphs should a baby dragon be eating at 6-7" long? Sorry for the ramble, just trying to get everything ready way in advance so we don't go broke having to buy tons of feeders (and maybe I am WAY OVERESTIMATING the amount a baby eats?).

Hi, I have a dubia colony myself. I feed my baby Dragon the XS Dubias, less than 1/4". Just to be on the safe side so I don't chance any impaction. The older your Dragon gets, the less he will eat live feeders. As for the appetite for babies, it really varies. Some of them will have HUGE appetites and can get pricey on feeders. As others can have smaller appetites. Just like humans Hope I answered your question, I'm fairly new to this stuff too, just my input.

I agree that their appetites vary. It depends a lot on their growth cycle which happens in spurts. Sometimes they'll only want a few bugs in a sitting, other times they can eat 50 or more. This slows down as they become fully grown at 12-18mo old or so. I'd build your colony up as large as you can and feed off the bugs that are smaller than the width between your dragon's eyes. The 1/4'' size is about right for a baby as mentioned. Having a colony ready to go will save you a lot in feeder costs in the long run and will provide a very good staple feeder for your dragon.

Thanks for the replies! I guess I assumed they would eat like 50 roaches a day but if they go in spurts then it'll probably be ok. They are well started on greens and veggies too so hopefully I won't have to fight him on it. I wish so bad we could get a baby sooner but we have a lot of saving and preparing to do still. I'm living vicariously thru everyone else's dragon stories and pics at the moment..