Dubia converter

[Dakotachristy84]

i swore up and down that i wouldn't get roaches. never liked the idea of roaches. ewwwww! i really didn't like crix at first but they grew on me. i have 2 setups for them right now. one is in a tote and the other in a glass tank so i can watch them like an ant farm. in the meantime i've been trying to order superworms because i was going to bred mealworms but everyone said not to feed them, that supers were better. well in the meantime somehow i got onto looking at roaches. i have no clue what made me start looking. i did some reading and i am going to start a colony in a couple of days. mean while i still have the superworms coming and i really dont' want them anymore. they freak me out also because those little pinchers. so i think in the long run i am going to end up feeding them off and just breeding roaches and my crix until i run out of them. i like the way the crix sound but i guess summer is coming up and i'll be hearing enough of them outside anyway. I have 2 breeding adult dragons, 8 juvies and 23 eggs that i need to feed and i don't think crix will cut it in the long run and i think it will take the worms to long to get started. i just hope i can get the colony started before my babies get here. i don't think i will really have a problem with that. i don't know how many roaches to feed my dragons. i don't want to feed to many off right away, that's why i am still keeping the crickets until i am waist deep in roaches.
My husband and i talked about getting roaches and we like the idea the thing is my parents. we live in thier house and he had to clean up apartments with roaches in the wall and stuff like that. so he is not for the whole idea. he was ok with it, when he thought we were getting the hissing ones, but not the dubia. so i have to school him that theses are not the house roaches he cleaned up after.

so i am going with what everyone kept saying about going with roaches instead of crix. thanks for all the helpful advice. i'll probably have more questions about raising them.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

way to go! roaches rule, crickets drool. . . haha sorry that was pretty elementary, but oh wells. I do love the dubia, except for the fact that the frass, or roach poo is pretty allergenic and will mess with ur sinuses if you aren't used to it.

 

[clear]

Roaches are really great!

 

[Dakotachristy84]

i think once i gt over the creep me out factor i think i will like them. we live on a farm so i am pretty good with the allergy stuff. i noticed a lot of people cut the tops out of the tote containers. i have the cricket set up with 4 side vent holes. i am wondering if that would be ok for them. we live in an old farm house that is kind of draft and i think i cutting the top of the tote will allow it to get to cold. then again i do have 3 totes that i could just mix and match with the sides cut and use another top for the screening.

 

[zebraflavencs]

I have Dubias, Turks, and Lobs. I love the way the babies I have eat them.. They don't really eat that many, but I know they are getting the protein they need, as I got them on Thursday last week, and today both are starting to shed ! I don't get freaked out with the roaches, though it is annoying when a lob runs up the sleeve of my sweater... Fast buggers.
Janie.

 

[Dakotachristy84]

i think i am only going to keep dubia's. i still want to keep my crix going for a little while.

 

[patrickb]

i think once i gt over the creep me out factor i think i will like them. we live on a farm so i am pretty good with the allergy stuff. i noticed a lot of people cut the tops out of the tote containers. i have the cricket set up with 4 side vent holes. i am wondering if that would be ok for them. we live in an old farm house that is kind of draft and i think i cutting the top of the tote will allow it to get to cold. then again i do have 3 totes that i could just mix and match with the sides cut and use another top for the screening.

Not sure that it will make that huge of a difference. I prefer using side vents since I like to stack my totes on top of each other, otherwise I would be just as content with the lid being screened.

 

[Dakotachristy84]

how do you heat them if you have them stacked? so far i have a tote for crickets and i am going to need a tote for the roaches but i guess i could put a heating pad inbetween them and that might help heat them both a little. i've been using a 40 watt light for the crickets. i just can't wait until i get them and i should be getting my supers thiw week or early next week. thankfully the weather is starting to break a little. here in this part of pa it's not suppose to go under 45 the whole week.

 

[patrickb]

Well, I keep them in my bedroom at room temp. I do have a heating mat underneath the Dubias since that colony I'm still trying to establish in larger numbers. But for the Turks and the other species, they are breeding like crazy, so no need for higher than room temps with them.
Eventually I am going to build a rack style system similar to how herp breeders use for babies as I acquire more species to add to my collection. And yes, the roaches have become a new hobby for me.

 

[cougarkeeper0]

Roaches are a better choice for feeding lizards. They are low-maintenance. Yes, they do get addicting. I have dubia, discoid, latteralis, and hissing roaches. They are fast breeders (when colony gets established).

 

[Dakotachristy84]

well i am enjoying them so far. the adults still kind of freak me out but i can handle the babies they don't bother me. since i had them for less then a week i think i already seen 2 babies. i've been trying to keep them at the right temp but i didn't know my heating pad was one of those turn off ones. i have them sitting on top my crickets which are heated by a light. so they are getting some heat from that. i have to wait until my paypal account gets money in it and then i am going to order 2 heating pads from drugstore.com for under $30 shipped which is the cheapest i found. im also trying to find out how to rewire a heating blanket so i can part it out and use it as the heating cable. i started a post in diy and i think the tank setup for it. i hope i can figure it out. i still have to do crickets until i get them going and i ordered superworms from reptilecity and i still haven't gotten them. i placed the order the 28th of jan and paypal was approved the 3. i called them and the guy said that he was going to email me yesterday morning but he never did. i am going to give him another day and then i am going to call him and probably just ask for my money back.