Dubia roaches

[JSchwarz98]

hi, I own one bearded dragon. Right now I am in the process of trying to convince my parents to let me get and breed dubia roaches. I want to know how many females i should get to start my colony off and be able to start feeding out of it pretty quick. My bearded dragon is about 6-7 inches old. I have had him for close to three weeks now. Don"t know if that helps, but would like to know how many i need to get.(and a cheap place to buy the dubia roaches, my parents saw the prices and which is a main reason they dont want to buy them)

 

[Baldwin]

There are sellers in the Fore Sale forum that will sell you a starter colony. It will take some time for the colony to establish itself in order to sustain itself as you feed from it. I purchased 1000 mixed small for $50 and 6 months later my colony is thriving.

As for cost, yes they are expensive initially, but last time I checked crickets were 12 cents a piece at Petsmart and your dragon is probably consuming 20-50+ a day. That will add up pretty quick.

 

[icelore]

Even if you buy crickets in bulk online, you are looking to spend $30-$45 a month to feed a juvie beardie. Yes, dubia cost a decent amount of money to initially set up, especially for a large colony that you can feed out of right away, but compared to the cumulative costs of crickets, it's easy to see which will cost less in the long run. Add to that the fact if your dragon goes on an eating binge and you have to order more, or has a slow period where he eats less, then you have cricket die off and that's wasted money. It's just hard to plan for their appetite when you have to order feeders and wait on shipping. It's so much more cost effective to have feeders in-home that won't hurt your wallet if they are eaten or not.

For a full colony that will sustain feeding immediately, I think like 50 females, 10 males, and a lot of mixed sized nymphs (500 or so?) would be the absolute minimum. You need enough adults to breed feeders, as well as extra to grow your colony.