Dubia Roaches for Dragons

[blsmit]

The girlfriend and I rescued a 16in male bearded dragon last week (Scooby), and we already own a 7 month old male (Spock). At the beginning of February I contacted Ian to get a Dubia Roach colony started. I currently have 9 full females, and 3 Full Males (I just got finished feeding 4 males to Scooby) about 60-70 sub adults, and 20-30 baby roaches. There in a bin under the bed, with a regular human heating mat on high. Temperatures in the 85-90 constantly.
How much longer do I have to wait until I can fully feed from the Roaches?
&&
How can I make them breed faster?
Scooby hasn't eaten any crickets so I don't know how many he will eat, but he does eat 10-20 full superworms in the morning. Spock, will eat 15-20 3/4 in crickets in the morning.

Thanks & will trade answers for pictures.
Blsmit

Heres Scooby

&& Heres Spock

 

[Triage]

I am going to say a couple of more months. You seem to be doing everything right. Make sure they are kept in the dark at all times (as they are most active in the dark) and start putting some slices of oranges in there. It is said that Oranges are like roach viagra, but I guess only a roach would know that for sure. I try to always keep some oranges in the bin. I started my colony with a larger group than you (from Ian) and ended up feeding out of the bin too quickly and ended up with a ton of female and only a few males left. So I would let it go for a while longer. Even when you think "Wow, I have a ton of roaches" still wait another month. It does take time to get good colony going, but once its producing well, you will have plenty. ;-)

 

[ajkry2]

I am going to say a couple of more months. You seem to be doing everything right. Make sure they are kept in the dark at all times (as they are most active in the dark) and start putting some slices of oranges in there. It is said that Oranges are like roach viagra, but I guess only a roach would know that for sure. I try to always keep some oranges in the bin. I started my colony with a larger group than you (from Ian) and ended up feeding out of the bin too quickly and ended up with a ton of female and only a few males left. So I would let it go for a while longer. Even when you think "Wow, I have a ton of roaches" still wait another month. It does take time to get good colony going, but once its producing well, you will have plenty. ;-)

I agree. I wasn't comfy feeding out of the bin for 2-3 months after i got my first shipment. Oranges also produce humidity which is a plus (besides the fact that they breed like crazy when they eat them). just make sure to check on them every few days to be sure that nothing in there stinks or is rotting

 

[blsmit]

Thanks for the quick reply I was really looking for a number but I can wait a couple more months. In the mean time what can I feed scooby, he seems to be too slow for crickets and I understand that superworms are not the best in excess, impaction and high fat content.

 

[ajkry2]

Supers are okay as a staple. High fat, yes however they're so meaty it kind of makes up for it. Your pooper should be longer than 16" for the supers to be safe...

phoenix worms, hornworms, butterworms, silkworms

 

[blsmit]

Just got finished measuring him he's more like 19. Maybe well order some phenoix or silk worms for him to eat while we wait. Thanks for the help and as promised here's the picture.
IMG_0002.JPG [I hope] we think he's orange only because he was on orange calci sand.

 

[ajkry2]

just as an FYI, pheonix worms are freakin tiny. even the large ones. a 19" dragon might not find any interest in the PWs. they're quite expensive so maybe a small amount for the first purchase, as a test batch

 

[blsmit]

In a house full of reptiles...nothing...and I mean NOTHING goes to waste. If Scooby won't eat them, the Spock will. if Spock won't eat them the one of the three geckos' will. Plus I can pawn them off on my friends dragons.

Sorry that this is off topic but I saw somewhere something about micro or mini mealworms, are these good for dragons? I'm starting to get really sick and tired of crickets, and am getting antsy to feed off those roaches!

Thanks once again.

 

[puffsmama]

Order some turks, also known as rusty reds from www.thebugpros.com to feed while you wait for your dubia colony to take off. i ordered 3000 of them for Kiera while I wait for my dubia colony to grow. Some of my turks are actually having babies, as I have found the egg sacs in the bin, and lots of little ones running around. They are like 14.99 for a thousand. They are much better than crickets as far as I'm concerned!!

 

[blsmit]

I have some news Bout this topic.
Scooby won't eat the adult males. After she ate 2 he hasn't eaten anymore. I don't know if he just doesn't like them or of they were two fast for him but he just seems very uninterested. However Spock didn't have any isue eating them.

I have an order in with fluker for 500 crickets and 1000 suprworms, 100 of which I'm going to breed. The supers are for scooby. An the crickets are for Spock. Should I start feeding a few of he roaches to Spock to get him adjusted or wait till I run out of crickets?

Thanks for the help
blsmit

 

[diggerdrake]

Determining the sex of the nymphs before they molt to adults you can feed off the male nymphs and allow the females to mature. Keep in mind that you will need more adult males as the population grows to service the ladies. I just scored a colony off Craig's List of mostle 4-5 month old nymphs. After they matured I separated 200 females along with 25 males to serve as a breeding colony. In a few months I should be over run with babies and many sub-adults to keep the colony going. Adult males are a bit intimidating with their wings. So if you can sex them and feed off the males before they mature you wont have an over abundance of adult males. This may help in determining males from females http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=78729&p=614051&hilit=sexing+roaches#p614044

 

[blsmit]

Thanks for the information! I've been looking for a way to determine the sex before the adult.