Dubia question

[Shiro]

I figured it would be a good idea to start the colony before I get my beardie and was wondering how many I should start off with. I was looking at theroachguys starter kits w/ 180mixed or w/e the highest one was. I know itll be a few months before its ready for ''normal'' feeding but Ill only have one beardie. Shouldnt take too long for just one beardie even with them being slowish breeder.

 

[ScooterBlenny]

I'm no expert, but I suggest that you get as many as you can! I got 200 dubias from The Roach Guy about three weeks ago, and I suspect it will be many months before I start feeding my one beardie. Keep in mind that many of the dubias you get in the kit will be nymphs, and it will take months for them to mature...I'm considering ordering 200 more dubias!

A wise decision to get the dubias started before you get your beardie, I wish I had done that!

 

[Shiro]

Ya I figured most of them will be nymphs. That being the main reason Im starting them first. The other being Im a little strapped for cash and figured by the time I got my lil guy/gal settled in Id have a decent colony to go with.

 

[patrickb]

Wise decision to start the feeder colony now rather than later, it will definitely pay for itself in no time. You would be looking at about 6-8 months or so before you could sustain a single beardie off of 180. It all depends on how quickly the nymphs you get mature into adults. You might get lucky and have quite a few adults in the first month, and you may only have one or two adults. If you can add on some extra adults to your order, that will help to reduce the time by about 1-2 months or so roughly. About the time your second generation matures and actually starts reproducing it should be safe to feed from the colony.

 

[Shiro]

Thanks for the info. Thats a bit longer than I was prepared for (and my beardie will deffinitly be here before 6-8 mths). I do have a little extra I could spend on them so I may buy some more. Try to get over the 100 mark for the extra 5 pairs. That should help a decent amount right off the bat.

Also I was wondering how long the water crystals and chow would last them? Plus are there any alternatvies (perhaps the beardies greens?) that I could use instead of the crystals and chow?

 

[beardiebandit]

yeah i would snatch up any extra adult pairs you can. or just buy some females if you can find someone that will part with them. i wave a pretty good sized colony of about 200 adults and a huge mess of nymphs. i have had my colony for a couple months and i already have a couple hundred new nymphs that ive seen so far. i seperated the adults and "almost" adults from the nympsh last night. this way i can really see how fast they reproduce. i have 7 bd to feed so im psyched about getting this going strong. my bd's love them! ive feed a few just to see.

just be patient! lol! i was feeding my dubias last night and i realized that i may get sad when i start feeding out of my colony because ive put so much work and time into the little creepy buggers! : ( they are almost like pets them selves! lol! but they have a destiny that they cant avoid!!

i caught my self talking to my colony yesterday! i caught my self saying "how are you guys today? dang you ate all your food already...? well here ya go guys.. wow look at all you little guys running around! lookin good guys" kind weird huh...? i caught myself and was like dude what are you doin...?! these are freakin roaches! lol!

has any one else caught them selves talking to their colony giving them words of encouragement to grow faster and what not..? or is it just me and i should seek psychological council...

 

[NegativeCreep]

Something to consider, though. Are you getting an adult beardie? If not, you will only be able to feed the smaller dubia to a smaller beardie, and babies/juvies suck up insects like vacuums! So, even if you do start your colony now, it may also be months before your beardie will be ready to eat adult dubia anyways. You probably wouldn't want to feed off a lot of young dubia, too..

I mean.. I think. I don't have any personal experience with Dubia, yet, but I have done a lot of reading on them...

 

[patrickb]

Thanks for the info. Thats a bit longer than I was prepared for (and my beardie will deffinitly be here before 6-8 mths). I do have a little extra I could spend on them so I may buy some more. Try to get over the 100 mark for the extra 5 pairs. That should help a decent amount right off the bat.

Also I was wondering how long the water crystals and chow would last them? Plus are there any alternatvies (perhaps the beardies greens?) that I could use instead of the crystals and chow?

The more adults you can afford to start with, the quicker the turn around time will be. And yes, you can use fresh fruits and veggies as the food and water source for the Dubia with no problems. Just make sure to change it out with fresh stuff every other day to prevent mold. You can also use dog or cat food as the main food source for the roaches. I think with the amounts Jason sends you in the starter kit, you should have enough food and water crystals for 2-3 months or so, not quite certain on that.

 

[patrickb]

Something to consider, though. Are you getting an adult beardie? If not, you will only be able to feed the smaller dubia to a smaller beardie, and babies/juvies suck up insects like vacuums! So, even if you do start your colony now, it may also be months before your beardie will be ready to eat adult dubia anyways. You probably wouldn't want to feed off a lot of young dubia, too..

I mean.. I think. I don't have any personal experience with Dubia, yet, but I have done a lot of reading on them...

Feeding the younger dubia is fine. That's one of the big plus'es to having your own colony of dubia, having the different sizes available for all life stages of a beardie or any other critter available. As long as you have enough adult females producing the amounts you need, it is ok. And you would never want to feed off adult females, only the extra males. They are like machines that drop little gold nuggets.

has any one else caught them selves talking to their colony giving them words of encouragement to grow faster and what not..? or is it just me and i should seek psychological council...

Hrmm, I am sure I have talked to my roaches before. Never caught myself doing it, but I don't doubt one bit I do. We might end up meeting in the doctor's office one day!

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

Let me tell you this. I just did one of my monthly harvestings to one of my breeder bins on Monday. I keep 450 females to 150 males in each bin and this bin is full tilt. I must have got anywhere between 8000-10,000 nymphs. That was 2 days ago. I went in to check the food today and there's babies crawling all over the place already. Moral of the story? What's the worst that can happen? You get a S-ton of Dubia. Guess that just means you'll have to get a few more beardies to subdue the colony! Nothing wrong w/ that!
-Ian

 

[diggerdrake]

in all honesty the kits are a convenience to get started. I went ahead and got the larger quantity (375/$100) with Jason's over count and bonus adult pairs I got over 400 roaches. The egg flats I acquired elsewhere (you will over time need more than the 3 supplied with the kit) the screen I already had from redoing some window screens on my camper. I got some high quality dog food and added some vitamin and calcium powder to it and sent it through the blender to create some good roach chow. I did buy some water crystals to get me going but if you keep them wet they last a while. 3 weks later I now have well over 600 Dubia and I am feeding a few daily to Sappy. At the same time I ordered the roaches I got 500 crix to feed as the roaches build up. Crix are about gone and I feel safe in knowing that I have enough roaches to begin feeding regularly. I may enhance the colony with some more roaches soon as I feel that the roach population may dwindle a bit. But I am also thinking about trying to supply some of the local pet shops and some locals that may be in need of a better alternative to them nasty crix.Bottom line is get started with your roaches ASAP and buy as many as you can afford to start with and you may never have to endure a cricket invasion.