Starting a Dubia Roach colony soon! Need some help!

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KyleSwonger61

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Since I’m about to have two beardies, I figured it’s in the best interest and money to start breeding insects for them. Dubias being one of the best staples, I’m gonna do them cause I honestly hate crickets lol.

I mostly get how to start a colony. Buy some Dubias online, set them up in a plastic bin with some water/water gel and some dog food or similar dry food. Make sure they’re around 80-90 so they start to breed. Anyone have anything to add or anything I should know?
 

CooperDragon

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Roaches are much easier to care for than crickets. I would get some adults to start with, maybe a dozen or so. Then get a few hundred mixed sizes so you have a bunch of generations at once. You can start without an adult but it just takes longer, that's all. I've had good luck feeding them veg scraps for the most part. They like eating bread occasionally as well as orange slices. Their favorite seems to be squash which is great because that's my dragon's favorite too. They'll eat greens, beans, bell pepper, and pretty much any leftover salad from your dragon. They can handle cooler temps without much issue but seem to breed faster and be generally happier at warmer temps. Using a ceramic heat emitter or heat projector over their bin can be helpful, especially if the house gets cold in the winter.
 

KyleSwonger61

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CooperDragon":pf7889tq said:
Roaches are much easier to care for than crickets. I would get some adults to start with, maybe a dozen or so. Then get a few hundred mixed sizes so you have a bunch of generations at once. You can start without an adult but it just takes longer, that's all. I've had good luck feeding them veg scraps for the most part. They like eating bread occasionally as well as orange slices. Their favorite seems to be squash which is great because that's my dragon's favorite too. They'll eat greens, beans, bell pepper, and pretty much any leftover salad from your dragon. They can handle cooler temps without much issue but seem to breed faster and be generally happier at warmer temps. Using a ceramic heat emitter or heat projector over their bin can be helpful, especially if the house gets cold in the winter.
Yea I bought 5 adult males, and 15 adult females to start. Also got 100 smalls and 100 mediums. Just bought a really big sterlite tub today. Gonna be using a zoomed heat pad on a dimmer for my heat
 

CooperDragon

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That should do the trick. I forgot to mention I've had good luck using cardboard tubes (from toilet paper and paper towels) stacked up for their housing.
 

KyleSwonger61

Hatchling Member
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CooperDragon":h8hp8a0j said:
That should do the trick. I forgot to mention I've had good luck using cardboard tubes (from toilet paper and paper towels) stacked up for their housing.
I bought a bunch of egg crates so should be good there.
 

DorgEndo

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When I put the heat mat under the plastic bin container I had trouble getting the temperature hot enough. Maybe it was the slightly curved bottom of the bin I got or my cold dry house or both. I put the heat pad directly in the bin set to 90°F with a probe and dimmer/thermostat, bought a warmer meant for seedling plant trays. I needed that high of heat before the adults I got made babies that lived. The few who had babies before I moved the heat mat inside the little babies all dried up and died. Also added moss bedding too to hold moisture.

This is my first bug colony of anything. I had weird problems and made up any solution that worked. I hope your colony starts much more smoothly. Like CooperDragon I threw in cardboard tubes, that works well. Bugs gets cat food and some fresh food or roach chow gel. The babies really dig in on fresh softer foods compared to dry pet food.
 

KyleSwonger61

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
DorgEndo":23tgthiy said:
When I put the heat mat under the plastic bin container I had trouble getting the temperature hot enough. Maybe it was the slightly curved bottom of the bin I got or my cold dry house or both. I put the heat pad directly in the bin set to 90°F with a probe and dimmer/thermostat, bought a warmer meant for seedling plant trays. I needed that high of heat before the adults I got made babies that lived. The few who had babies before I moved the heat mat inside the little babies all dried up and died. Also added moss bedding too to hold moisture.

This is my first bug colony of anything. I had weird problems and made up any solution that worked. I hope your colony starts much more smoothly. Like CooperDragon I threw in cardboard tubes, that works well. Bugs gets cat food and some fresh food or roach chow gel. The babies really dig in on fresh softer foods compared to dry pet food.
I’ve actually got my heating set up properly now. You don’t want them above 90 degrees otherwise they can start to stress. Between 80-90 is a good temp range that they will breed quickly, aiming for 85-90 for best results. You only need part of the enclosure to be this way. So where you have egg crates, as long as they can get temps 80-90 you will have successful breeding. Also want humidity above 60%.
 
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