Leery of Dubia colony

So since I will have a baby bearded dragon who will eat a lot of them, and also 2 Leo's who could benefit from a change in dinner menu scenery, I was considering starting a colony for myself-the problem is the creep factor. I know they are different then the roaches everyone thinks you are talking about when you bring it up, but there is still that initial ICK when I look at them. Has anyone ever started out that way and ended up okay after some time around them? This is the first time I've used them, I'm good with crickets and the worms, so I'm hoping I just have to condition myself to them.

I didn't have a problem with them, but my husband was opposed at first. He has since warmed up and we keep the feeders in a terrarium in the living room, they are interesting to watch and quite endearing IMO. :3

Maybe think of them more like giant rolly poly bugs, if that helps.

Taterbug":inf35xmh said:

I didn't have a problem with them, but my husband was opposed at first. He has since warmed up and we keep the feeders in a terrarium in the living room, they are interesting to watch and quite endearing IMO. :3

Maybe think of them more like giant rolly poly bugs, if that helps.

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I guess I will see over the next couple of weeks if it gets better. One moved really fast on the cage floor and I had that "run away" reaction, lol. Hopefully it's just because its my first time ever handling them and I haven't gotten used to them yet. I remember the first time I had to mess with crickets I was jumpy (of course I was 12, lol), so maybe it will get better.

I tried thinking of them as rolly poly bugs, and then one ran across the tank floor and shattered that illusion. :lol:

I never had a issue with dubia but superworms used to freak me out. I was always afraid of getting bit, I can't handle crickets either for the same reason. I know dubia can't/won't bit me and that makes them less ick in my mind.
After awhile, you will get used to them and wonder why you had a problem in the first place. If you have a hard time handling them, use rubber gloves.

Gail":1g6kp2ng said:

I never had a issue with dubia but superworms used to freak me out. I was always afraid of getting bit, I can't handle crickets either for the same reason. I know dubia can't/won't bit me and that makes them less ick in my mind.
After awhile, you will get used to them and wonder why you had a problem in the first place. If you have a hard time handling them, use rubber gloves.

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I have never been bitten by crickets or superworms, it never actually occurred to me to even worry about it. They can crawl up my arm and it doesn't bother me, but something about how fast the dubia are makes my skin crawl. I'm not very squeamish, but the dubia bring out the shrieking girl in me.

I love watching bug colonies, it really fascinates me. I have no problem seeing them in the tank, it's when I have to handle them that I freak out. I feed them out of an escape-proof dish, but one crawled up his leg and got out and put the petal to the metal. Luckily he caught it, so I didn't have to worry about chasing it. I will try to adjust to them, and use the gloves if needed. The real problem will come when I have to clean the dubia bin, if they start crawling on me I may lose it.

It's still new to me, so hopefully the more I'm around the dubia the easier, and less creepy, it will be.

You think dubia are fast, you should see red runners, those things are speed demons.

Good thing is today I was less creeped out, there may be hope for me yet!!

I completely understand. When i started my roach colony i definitely had the ick factor and i didn't love feeding my beardie them. But now after sometime, I find them interesting and actually watch them for a bit before grabbing some to feed my beardie. I don't get all icky watching them or handling them. So you may be just fine after some time passes

I was actually able to pick them up with my bare hands and separate the ones that have gotten too big for him and fed them to my Leos, who don't really understand how to eat them...lol. I'm actually starting to think they are cute! I've decided against raising a dubia colony, however, because I think it would overpopulate and I'm not so much into selling pieces off. I'm happy with buying the size I need from the breeder and just watching them. I was considering silkworms though, they seem more controllable hatch-wise.

SukiLove":304531un said:

I was actually able to pick them up with my bare hands and separate the ones that have gotten too big for him and fed them to my Leos, who don't really understand how to eat them...lol. I'm actually starting to think they are cute! I've decided against raising a dubia colony, however, because I think it would overpopulate and I'm not so much into selling pieces off. I'm happy with buying the size I need from the breeder and just watching them. I was considering silkworms though, they seem more controllable hatch-wise.

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They are charming to watch, it's hard to take them seriously when you realize how clumsy they are

Since they grow so slow you can easily just buy what you need (and maybe a few sizes down) and never need to breed them my big colony is overkill for one lizard. :0

I've been rearing silkworms for about a year now, they require more scheduling if you want a continuous supply. Totally worth giving them a try imo.

I just got about 300 dubia today, and have about 100 left from the first batch. Nero definitely seems to like them, but I wanted to be able to change it up for him every now and then. Suki would devour her greens and then would eat some crickets and superworms (honestly, if I let her...she would eat all 50 in one sitting! :lol: ). Nero is nibbling at his greens, but eating about 30-50 dubia a day. I expect that number to go up once he starts getting bigger, he's only 7 inches right now.

I love that the dubia have NO smell, but from what I've read about colonies, I will have way too much surplus then I need and no one big enough to cull some of the adults. So I've decided against the dubia colony, until I end up with more beardies (it's gonna happen someday). But the silkworms eggs can be refrigerated so that I can slow down if needed, or keep extra. So it seems more controllable that way.

I am so glad to see this topic! This is the EXACT reason I returned to BD.org. The suggestion of rubber gloves is wonderful. Thank you. And I'm glad to hear that the creep out factor may diminish.

I have bred crickets, superworms and hornworms. Supers are the easiest, but I have a baby in the house now and so that's not on the menu. Hornworms are a headache and one of my girls got so spoiled she refused to eat anything other than horns. It took too much work to wean her off of them, so I won't go back to that. I'm considering breeding crickets again, but now that I have moved away from Florida, dubias have become an option. Hmmmmmm... Healthier for the dragons, easier to breed, no smell, and no noise. It sounds perfect. But the ICK factor is holding me back. I just don't know if I can handle this. What happens if I can't? I have a big tote full of bugs and I have no idea what to do with it...

Also... feeding off the really big ones... Can my adult dragons handle that? I've seen them eat some really, really huge hornworms, but those are just mush. My females weigh around 365 grams each and they are both around 20" long. Can anyone tell me if they can eat the adult dubias?

Sorry... one more question... I'm feeding a 5 month old dragon who weighs 67 grams and is growing very fast, plus two female adults. Can anyone give me recommendations on what I should purchase and how long it might take before my colony is self sustaining?

Thanks for any help.

Mindi

I was all about "What do I do if my colony gets too big?" too, but I've had a lot of people tell me to separate some off and put it up on craigs list. Honestly, I will not be breeding them; I have two adult Leo's and one baby beardie. I know the colony would outgrow them really fast, and I just don't want the hassle of separating and posting an ad to get rid of the overflow.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=146798 That's another post I found on this site, it's a few years old, but it answered the question of the adult dubia. I wondered the same thing, if the adult dubia were too big for the adult beardies.

As for the amount you would need, I can't really say for sure. I will tell you that I order 400 3/8" dubia at a time to feed Nero, who is only 7" right now. The one's that get too large, or come a little too large, go to my two Leo's. So right now the 400 are lasting me about 2 1/2 weeks, since they ship the dubia on Mondays, I put the order in at the end of the 2nd week so I never run out. :lol: I'm sure that number will increase once he gets bigger, but right now he is eating around 30-50 dubia a day and I change it up with some other bugs every few feedings to keep things interesting for him.

I am actually totally fine with the dubia now, I can pick them up and separate them by hand and they don't even gross me out anymore. Sometimes while Nero is eating I'll just watch the dubia running around.

I still refuse to pick up dubia by hand. The females aren't so bad, but those adult males ... They still freak me out!