Adult Dubias concerns/first experience

[nahuelarg86]

Hi,

So, I'm not a roach lover but also I'm not that freaked out about them either. Lately I've been feeding my beardie small (1/4-1/2) sized dubias. And everything is fine, they kinda look like woodlice, so I handle them fine and what not. My beardie LOVES them, he goes desperate even when he sees me carrying the little container where I keep them. I just buy them I don't breed them. Anyways, I decide to buy like 2 pairs of adults (2 male 2 female) just to get the idea of them being adults if one day I decide to breed, which the wife is strongly opposed. So today they came. MAN, when they are adults they kind of freak me out! The little ones, one can almost consider them cute, but the adult ones look somewhat scary. When I went to pick one up (a female) I was so surprised about the strength of it!! I could almost feel muscles in them pushing me away :shock: or when trying to hold to the cardboard. And here is something weird, when I went to pick up a male, also very strong, I felt like something stung me! I don't know if it was the spikes on the legs or what, but when holding it to not escape and making pressure because it was so freaking strong that it could escape, I felt something stung my finger kind of hard. Also they were VERY fast moving :?
Is it me or this roaches are difficult to handle?

 

[Jess]

A word of advice: You will want to invest in some very large tweezers. :wink:

I've had my roaches since August, and I still refuse to touch the adult males LOL. Babies don't bother me, and the females look just like small hissers so they don't bother me either but I try to avoid touching them.

Buy this. It's very difficult for them to escape from it once you grab them!
http://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Stainless-Steel-Tweezers/dp/B001B5ATYA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328158529&sr=8-1

 

[Germ]

I have kept Discoid Roaches for years. Very little difference from Dubias, other than both Male & Female adults have full wings. Discoid Female's body is just a touch longer than the wings, males is a touch shorter.

Anyway, once you get accustomed to them, with a little common sense they are quite easy to handle. I hand feed quite often.

Here is a vid.
Click Me!

Good luck,
Germain

 

[nahuelarg86]

Jess: Thanks, yes I think I could get one of those, the thing is that I'm not afraid of bugs, but only the male dubias! The funny part is that whenever I want to pick them up I say "man up, man up" haha

Germ: Thanks for the advice, and nice video!

But I'm still confused about some stuff. Are they really that strong? And can their legs sting? I saw like a liquid coming out of the roaches mouth, what is that?

 

[Gail]

They don't sting, that was just the spikes on their legs. They thrash around a bit when you grab them and you can get poked but it usually doesn't hurt. Once you get one on you, you don't have to worry about the spines. The liquid is a kind of defense, it tastes bad so if something was trying to eat the roach, it would spit them out. My dogs really do not like the taste but dragons don't seem to notice it.

Yes, they are quite strong and can by hard to pick off the egg crates. I never use tweezers though, roaches are harmless and I am big. I just snatch up the ones I want. I'm allergic to dubia now and can't let them walk on me or I get itchy welts so I had to learn to pick them up with out their legs touching me.

Oh, these guys aren't fast either. They are one of the slower species, you should see how fast the red runners (aka Turkish roach) are.