Considering Dubia.

[DansDragons]

hey guys, i've been considering dubia roaches for the last few days after 3,000 crickets quickly turned into less than 600 crickets...lol..and god..that smell..

i need some opinions from those who keep them and have established colonies. how many should i start with? right now i'm considering buying the 90 mixed lot from theroachguy.com how long does it usually take them to start reproducing? temps and humidity?, what to feed? i know they need a high protein diet..

and lasty, anyone who has pictures of there colonies, can you post them here?

thanks in advance


-Dan

 

[augsburg1530]

Hi Dan and welcome to the wonderful world of roaches!!!!

I started with about 35 adult females and a few males plus another 150 from theroachguy.com and had a colony big enough to feed off in about 5 months. The more breeders you can get up front the quicker your colony will explode.

http://www.theroachguy.com has all the info on his site you need. He has great pics of his set up and you will find everything you need to get a colony up and running. I used to raise crix and hate them. Dubia are so superior to crix, you won't ever be sorry you started raising dubia. Dubia are the best and theroachguy.com is the best place to get them and the best place for lots of info about raising them. Plus he is great about answering emails and pm's.

Eric

 

[bigmac1]

i would definitaly get a colony of dubias going if i was you, crix can not compare to dubias, i first started of with turkistan roaches and establishe a colony of those, but i wanted to try out the dubias about a month ago and purchased about 30 adults and about 70 nymphs and i have to say they are the best roach by far and they requires little attention. i only had my roaches for about a month and a see lots of little babies running around so thats a good sign. if you get dubias you wont be making a mistake they are well worth the money.

 

[DansDragons]

thanks guys,

i'm going to place an order with jason in about an hour, can't wait to get them next week :mrgreen:

 

[patrickb]

Welcome to the roach club! You won't regret it. If you have any specific questions, you can ask here or email Jason. He is a very helpful guy.

 

[LittleRob]

Dubias are the way to go. Crikets stink! Roach guy 145 starter kit. Than buy some extra females to throw in there.

 

[Codeman]

Are Dubias only recommended for adult dragons?

They look like they have a pretty chitinous exoskeleton.

 

[DansDragons]

i ordered 2 boxes of his 90 mixed dubia, plus water crystals, egg flats and his roach chow. tomorrow i get the sterilite tub and heating. i'm excited

Dubias are the way to go. Crikets stink! Roach guy 145 starter kit. Than buy some extra females to throw in there.

 

[Thinker]

My Dubias have only been set up for a few weeks now. I'm listening to them scuffle around in their tote now. I started with the 145 breeder mix and then ordered another 45 adult females and 6 adult males from another breeder. They are starting to get used to me and don't scatter back to their egg crates when I check on them. I'm hoping the colony will take off soon so that I can start feeding them off and keep it sustainable. I feed them roach chow, plus the leftover salads from my dragon, and keep fresh clean water crystals in there. Good luck with this worthwhile venture. I hop we are both successful.

 

[dolphinsilversea01]

Codeman: No, you can use nymphs (baby roaches) for your juvies. as long as they are SMALLER than the space between one side of their head to the other - this is what the vet told me, but she and many here also go by the space between their eyes.
Although it may seem like their exoskeleton is too hard, it is definately not harder than a crickets! And they have much more meat inside them.

Dubias do have a "smell" to them, but it doesn't even compare to the stench of crickets. It is much more tolarable and not really noticeable unless you are poking around in their tub.

I started out with just 30 - I wanted to see what it was like to own them, how they were, etc. I mean I couldn't believe I was buying roaches and bringing them into my house - on purpose :lol: . But I soon found out just how wonderful and eay they are. It does take a bit to get a colony going, especially on just 30, so I soon ordered 500+ more. I now have so many its nuts =) Soon I will be able to give or sell some of mine to help others out (got mine really cheap and hope to pass along the kindness).

I use the water crystals for water and a mixture of a bunch of other stuff as their "dry food". It contains cricket meal, dog food, cat food, dragon pellets, fish food, and I think oat meal... I am always throwing something else here and their into it. When I make my beardies salad in the morning I also make a pile of veggies and such for the roaches. This can range form mixed veggies to apples, or just some greens.

Here are some pics of my colony(ies).... hope to see some of yours soon.

 

[gregorydragon]

The more breeders you can get up front the quicker your colony will explode.

This is a very good point. I would get as many as you can afford up front unless you have the patience to wait.

 

[LittleRob]

Dubias are the way to go. Crikets stink! Roach guy 145 starter kit. Than buy some extra females to throw in there.

I will qoute myself because I ordered some more females yesterday. Well worth it in the now time and long time. :lol:

 

[DansDragons]

i think 180 would be an OK starting point? no?. better if they were all adults, lol.

i sometimes see adult dubias for sale the white plains expo, so maybe i can get some at the january show. i've never been so excited to get roaches before, LOL..i'm a little disturbed :mrgreen:

 

[citrusdragon]

Hey Dan
I got my Dubai colony going last week, I'm not sure why it took so long, but my wife's reaction when they cam reminded me why I didn't before. Once I got over the fact that they were ROACHES everything was cool. They seem pretty easy to keep. All I've read about them has proven to true. I am still feeding crix, supers, and greens until my colony gets booming but at least there's an end to cricket boxes piling up in sight.

Jeff

 

[DansDragons]

i'm not too grossed out by them, i mean a roach is a roach, but i'd have no problem picking them up lol. i'm just disturbed that im actually excited to get roaches LOL. hopefully they will produce well for me and i can stop feeding crickets all together..i had over 3000 on november 30th..i have 0 today..

i do plan on continuing to feed my dragons other insects like supers, hornworms, silkies..waxworms etc..