dubia breeding questions!

[Zuzu]

i'm going to start getting ready to start my first colony, and i have a few questions.

1. is heating really required, or can they do without?
2. how do you sort your roaches? i'm planning on getting at least two bins (plus an extra for when cleaning) to organize the feeders from the breeders.
3. what sites do you recommend to order roaches from, and how many breeders should i start with? this will all be for my one adult beardie.

thank you!!

 

[CooperDragon]

Heating isn't required if you keep the bin in a very warm area, but I suggest using an under tank heater or heat band of some kind at least one one side of the tank because they like to burrow down into a warm area. I keep the food on the "cool" side of the bin and put cardboard housing over the warm side. I have the bin up on a bakers rack to allow airflow under the heat pad so it doesn't overheat.

I don't sort my colony but I've read about people drilling holes of various sizes into buckets. Different sizes at every level of bucket. Dump the roaches into the top bucket with the largest holes and filter them downward that way.

I started my colony with about 500-600 mixed sizes with no adults from abdragons. It took a few months for them to produce a new generation. This will happen more quickly if you include some adults but it will cost more. You'll want a ratio of about 3 or 4 to 1 females to males I believe.