Dubia roaches with only 1 Beardie?

[Smalltowngal]

Hi y'all! I'm new here and Im getting a bearded dragon because Ive heard of what great personalities the have and what awsome pets they make!
I have kept crickets in the past for differents pets and Ive decided I never want to do that again, so I was thinking I would go for Dubias as a staple instead, since they sound so easy. Im a DIY kinda girl so I want to start my own colony instead of constantly reordering them. I was just wondering if my colony will grow too large to handle with just one mouth to feed ? And how many should I start with and what male:female ratio?
Thanks!

 

[Mark1998]

All good questions, the Dubias (in my opinion) are much better than the crickets, for the small (or lack thereof) if nothing else. They are pretty easy, just some food, water crystals, and some egg crates. Very simple, and no more having to order a staple food through the mail.

I initially went a little nuts because I wanted to start feeding them to my BD right away, so I ordered like 750 or so (mixed batch with just a few adults) from a couple of dealers. That was great until Felix fell asleep on me for about 4 months, at which point the roaches started increasing. Now I have a lot. Lots of adults making lots of babies - I can't even guess as to how many are in there! Felix is back awake now and putting down about 10-12 half-grown Dubias a day, but that won't even make a dent. I am hoping he starts growing again so I can eventually feed him the adult males.

So to be honest, it all comes down to how patient you want to be, because the colony will take off on its own eventually. Even if you start with only a few, you are eventually going to end up with a lot.

 

[Smalltowngal]

Yea thats what I was worried about. I plan on starting with a full grown beardie so I can skip the delicate stage. So hopefully I can feed him some adults if I need to downsize the colony a bit.

 

[Mark1998]

It's OK. I am hoping my 9 year old (who's BD it is in theory though I do all of the work) will get interested in making some money and want to start shipping some adult Dubias to those in need. You would think the cash incentive would work - and it's more profitable than a lemonade stand.

That said, I am hoping that eventually nature will take its course and the colony will level out. If not, then I will start buying flat rate boxes and getting rid of the excess.

 

[Smalltowngal]

Well, nevermind then. I just found out all roaches are illegal in Canada. Which I find very useless, considering that the climate is too cold for them to survive.

 

[Mark1998]

So is growing pot, but that doesn't seem to stop a lot of people in the north of the state (spoken as a native Californian).

 

[BlueDevil]

Hi y'all! I'm new here and Im getting a bearded dragon because Ive heard of what great personalities the have and what awsome pets they make!
I have kept crickets in the past for differents pets and Ive decided I never want to do that again, so I was thinking I would go for Dubias as a staple instead, since they sound so easy. Im a DIY kinda girl so I want to start my own colony instead of constantly reordering them. I was just wondering if my colony will grow too large to handle with just one mouth to feed ? And how many should I start with and what male:female ratio?
Thanks!

PM sent......

 

[Honda99300ex]

So is growing pot, but that doesn't seem to stop a lot of people in the north of the state (spoken as a native Californian).

isn't that the truth!! haha

as far as the colony getting out of control and having too many, just sell off your extras every couple months, or swap them with people for other feeders. I'm always down to trade my hornworms,supers, or whatever else for some extra dubia, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Mark1998]

So is growing pot, but that doesn't seem to stop a lot of people in the north of the state (spoken as a native Californian).

isn't that the truth!! haha

as far as the colony getting out of control and having too many, just sell off your extras every couple months, or swap them with people for other feeders. I'm always down to trade my hornworms,supers, or whatever else for some extra dubia, you shouldn't have a problem.

Honda,

I sent you a PM - I would be very interested in trading for some other feeders.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

It's OK. I am hoping my 9 year old (who's BD it is in theory though I do all of the work) will get interested in making some money and want to start shipping some adult Dubias to those in need. You would think the cash incentive would work - and it's more profitable than a lemonade stand.

That said, I am hoping that eventually nature will take its course and the colony will level out. If not, then I will start buying flat rate boxes and getting rid of the excess.

to be honest, thats how my craziness ended up happening. i ordered 125 mixed then 8 months later i sold a bunch off for xmas presents. come 2 years later i made a small business out of it... now i understand most people wouldnt want a storage unit filled with 30 bins and an unknown number of roaches in it.. let alone have to deal with the upkeep of them, but they can be used to pay for certain reptile related expenses. they can also be traded for dragons, supplies etc. if you dont want to deal with shipping you can also check out local reptile stores. They are usually pretty willing to pick things up. if not i will buy up the extras =P

-Kyle

 

[valcash]

A whole colony for one adult BD would result in more than your one little guy could eat personally.

 

[noonthirtyfive]

I've been thinking about doing the same thing, starting a dubia colony with one beardie, but he is young and eating a lot so it might be worth it. I wish I could find someone in the area with a colony and maybe pick up their excess--that'd be even better. It might be worth a look.

 

[pumpkinman]

Because it takes a while to establish a colony even if you start with hundreds why don't you be proactive and start them now before you get your beardie.
A friend of mine did that and was glad he did because they eat a truck load of feeders when they are growing.

Cheers.

 

[Prodigyitachi]

Because it takes a while to establish a colony even if you start with hundreds why don't you be proactive and start them now before you get your beardie.
A friend of mine did that and was glad he did because they eat a truck load of feeders when they are growing.

Cheers.

I did the same before i got my bearded dragon. Result: My beardie dislike dubia... and i ended up w/ thousands....

 

[nordica]

Well, we started our colony for our two beardies and our two argentine tegus. Things were great... until we had to re-home the tegus (who made the biggest dent in our colony). So then we were stuck with a booming colony, and only two beardies, neither of which ate enough dubias to warrant keeping the colony THRIVING. All we've done to curb their breeding though, is lower the temps a bit. While the colony was establishing itself (and after it had hit that point), we kept it between 85*F and 90*F. Now, we keep it between 75*F and 80*F. Between that, and not being picky if we feed off males or females, we have things very well managed.