Dubias or Discoid?

[beardienewbie]

I am looking into using roaches as a staple but I am not sure which to get Dubias or Discoid? Also, are these a good staple? How are they better or worse than crickets?

Do they really breed as easy as people say? I dont want to pay 30 bucks for 25 or them and then have them die or get eated before they breed and have babies.

Thanks!

 

[gregorydragon]

As long as humidity, temps, and food are good, they breed great. I breed dubia. I noticed that Mulberry Farms stopped carrying Discoids, but I don't know why. Either would be a great staple. They are much better than crix. They have a higher meat to shell ratio which means more protein for the crunch. Your beardie should eat fewer roaches and still get more protein.

 

[augsburg1530]

I breed dubia and love them. I don't know about discoid, but Dubia are great.

You will need a lot more than 30 if you want to get a breeding colony going in the shortest amount of time. Check out http://www.theroachguy.com as he has lots of info on how to raise them and will sell you a starter kit. The guy is great at answering emails of pm's. Check out his site to get a great dubia education. Once you decide to raise dubia, you won't ever be sorry as they are superior to crix in every way, they don't die off, they don't make noise and most important they don't stink.

Eric

 

[gregorydragon]

Once you decide to raise dubia, you won't ever be sorry as they are superior to crix in every way, they don't die off, they don't make noise and most important they don't stink.

Eric

Eric makes a great point. They really are superior in every way. I walk past my cricket keeper with maybe 100 crickets and it smells like death. I open my dubia tote with several hundred and possibly even a thousand roaches and there might be a faint sweet smell. I can't describe it except to say that it smells like dubia, but it is hardly noticeable and it does not smell like rotting flesh (a.k.a. crix).

 

[patrickb]

Eric makes a great point. They really are superior in every way. I walk past my cricket keeper with maybe 100 crickets and it smells like death. I open my dubia tote with several hundred and possibly even a thousand roaches and there might be a faint sweet smell. I can't describe it except to say that it smells like dubia, but it is hardly noticeable and it does not smell like rotting flesh (a.k.a. crix).

That is possibly the best description I have read about the smell of dubia (or roaches in general) yet!! Sums it all up in a nutshell. The faint sweet smell. Not unpleasant, but not quite pleasant.

To the OP, Dubia or Discoids are fine either way. The Discoids are basically a smaller version of the Dubia and run a little faster from what I gather. Either one make great feeders to breed at home. Now, if you do decide to get them, do not feed from the ones you buy at all until you are producing a bunch. 25 roaches will take 1.5 years to produce enough to feed a single beardie. And that price is quite high. Definitely checkout http://theroachguy.com for a much better deal on Dubias.

Yes, they breed easily. Keep them supplied with water and food about twice a week, plenty of furniture in the form of eggcrates, cardboard, paper towel tubes etc and that's it. If you miss a feeding, they will still be there on the next round. Nothing like crickets which all die off if Santa Claus drinks whole milk as opposed to 2% milk. They don't stink, can't jump (well, not very much at all), move slower, don't stink, have much more meat to chitin, don't stink, don't stink, don't make noise, and don't stink. The other big thing is you won't have to clean them out daily or every other day like you should be doing with crickets. Spot checking for any dead bodies and removing them is all that is needed weekly. Once every 6 months or so depending on your colony size, you will need to do a tad bit of spring cleaning, but it is so much easier with roaches.

 

[peera]

So, how fast do they breed, with proper temps and all? If I got 90 right now, would I have a thriving enough colony to feed 2 adult dragons by March? (I'm not really sure how much I'm going to have Ms Priss eating by then, I currently feed her like a baby since she's so undersized, but at the rate she's gaining I'll probably be able to cut her back to once a day by then...) I know I really don't want to deal with crickets once I have an infant in the house.

 

[gregorydragon]

So, how fast do they breed, with proper temps and all? If I got 90 right now, would I have a thriving enough colony to feed 2 adult dragons by March?

As patrickb said:

25 roaches will take 1.5 years to produce enough to feed a single beardie.

March is only 3 months away. :shock: You would need to buy A LOT of mixed sized roaches with adult pairs thrown in ASAP if you expect to feed 2 dragons by march. You have to figure out how many each dragon will eat each month and make sure you have enough breeding females to actually produce that many babies. It will take 3-5 months for a new nymph to grow to an adult and start making babies. You can expect an adult female to produce about 20 babies a month. Just keep in mind you will not want to feed off every single nymph or your colony will stop growing.

 

[beardienewbie]

omg thank you thank you thank you!!

That was great info!

Now I have to convince my parents to let me get the roaches. Its taken me 6 months to finally have the guts to consider them lol.... I just cant stand the crickets smell any longer. Plus I read that roaches are a better staple.

Thank you sooo much!

-Amy

 

[patrickb]

Good luck on convincing your parents! That is another hurdle you will have to overcome and maybe we can help with that as well. If they will read through some of the older posts here and in the Feeders section, they may see the light and readily agree to them. I can definitely relate to how bad crickets stink and since moving to roaches, that one difference alone is more than enough to convince me that crickets are nothing more than the devil's minions. And if they have more specific questions, you can ask them here and will get plenty of assistance there as well.

 

[beardienewbie]

Yeah, do you have any ideas other than showing them the posts and stuff that might help with the convincing? lol

 

[augsburg1530]

To convince your parents, DON'T call them roaches. Call them dubia and tell them they are tropical beetles, which is really sort of what they are. The word "roach" has so much negative connotation in most peoples minds that they freak and just can't get over it. I call them Dubia and if people ask what a dubia is, I tell them it's sort of a tropical beetle that are beginning to replace crickets as prefered feeders.

Eric

 

[beardienewbie]

Yeah thats a great idea! I would have been "mom can I get roaches for diablo". She probably would look at me and be like "what have I told you about roaches in the house". lol

I will try that tonight. I want to get them as soon as possible because I want to breed them so Diablo can start eating them and I can wipe out those nasty crickets.

I was very hestitant to consider the "roaches" because of their name and I used to be terrified of them but now its like I dont even care they wont hurt me and they dont scare me at all any more. I believe Diablo should have roaches because he is lazy and doesnt chase the crickets any more. I have to move him so he will chase them lol... I just ordered some silkworms, he hasnt had them in a while and I figured it was time lol. I ordered 100 of them.

I wanted to take Diablo outside but its freezing and pooring down rain like I've never seen before. They actually said that it might SNOW! To me thats crazy because its not supposed to snow down here. I mean, I wont mind if it snowed it would just be a little freaky... lol

But any way, roaches, plan, I will talk to my parents tonight and see what they say. I will probably have to do chores around the house to get money because the starter kit is like 55 dollars. Hopefully I get money from relatives for christmas, (i know thats terrible for me to say but its 4 Diablo.) lol I didnt ask 4 anything so most likely I will get a gift card that I can give to my dad and he will give me the money. woot! lol Now I am just PRAYING my parents will say yes. I am going to print out caresheets and info on Dubias now.

THANKS SO MUCH EVERY ONE!

I will let you all know what they say.

-Amy

 

[patrickb]

This is one area I tend to avoid recommending that you call them "tropical beetles" just because it is deceptive and in your case might not be the best idea. The mature males of Dubia look like a roach, a BIG roach. If your parents are overly freaked out about roaches, then that would not be good if they discover the truth. Some people take that kind of info differently than others, so only you could know how your parents would react a few months down the road if they saw a mature male.

For people visiting, or in conversation I try to just refer to them as Dubia bugs. I do not call them beetles because they are nothing like beetles. I do avoid the use of the roach or cockroach word whenever possible though.

I think education is the most important part. Get them informed about the requirements, reproduction rates and process, their life cycle and benefits over the crickets. FACT: Crickets will escape quite easily since they are able to jump very high relative to their size. They get all over the place. Dubias (and roaches in general) don't jump like crickets do. Some species are capable of a very small hop but it is rarely a way for them to get lose. Example, a mature Dubia male is capable of hopping about 1-2" in the air and then fluttering their wings. They may get to about 3" vertical at the most with that initial hop and fluttering, but they can't get any higher. So unless you have him running around free on something he can hop off of and flutter away, he isn't going to get away.

Crickets also will eat anything, including carpet and clothing. It might not be healthy for them, but it doesn't stop them from destroying these things. Dubia don't seem to chew on everything they come across and won't tear up your carpet if they did get loose. Infestations seem to be another big concern, but Dubia simply won't be successful outside of the controlled environment inside of the totes you house them in. They need a certain amount of food and water supply, plus humidity and temperates to effectively just grow. Then the breeding part comes into play and with the lower ambient temps of the house, they won't be thinking about breeding. They simply won't infest your house unless you live in a mud hut in a rainforest somewhere down in South America.


And if the education route doesn't work, let em open up the cricket bin and get a wiff of them. That alone is a mindchanger (brainkiller really)

 

[beardienewbie]

Thanks! That is great information you provided!

 

[Dave94]

I breed speckled feeder roaches (species similar to lobster roaches) They climb but from seeing what you over sea's people keep there meat is nearly doubled then dubia etc. You just need to paint fluron or vaseline around the top as they climb.