Dubias

[joelolly]

I have a 5 month old beardie named Ony. She is approximately 7" long and has been eating around 20 1/2" crickets a day. We also feed her turnip or mustard greens twice a day. I have been reading up on Dubias and I was wondering if I would feed her the same ammount of Dubias as I do crickets? Also, what do you guys store your Dubias in(what kind of container, what do you line it with to catch wastes, feed them, etc)? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Indie85]

Hi there,
I keep my Dubias in a big plastic storage box with some small holes in the top. I also have heat strip underneath. They breed very quickly!

i hated feeding crickets cos they stink and they die too easily. With the Dubias, I can feed the right size, so dont need to feed so many. Anyway, as your beardie gets bigger he'll eat less insects and more greens

 

[joelolly]

At what age do they start breeding? I hope to be able to breed my own one day. Do you use any kind of substrate in the bottom of your container? Thank you for posting

 

[spkdrgn]

If read in both feeding forums on here you will see lots of dubia questions, read all of those. Most people use plastic storage bins but make sure you read a lot before you buy any roaches. They also tell you the best places to buy them and everything else you will need to know.

 

[Indie85]

Well i've got quite a few. A local reptile store gave me a bunch of his adults, sub adults and babys too. I buy them off ebay when they come up and I order them online too. So I have quite a few now and they are breeding quickly. I dont have a substrate as such, just a bit of grain based cereal and then stacked egg crates. I chuck in grapes and fruit every now and then and give them water crystals. I understand that they breed quicker the warmer it is

 

[spkdrgn]

Keep them in a bin with a wrap of clear packing tape near the top so the babies don't crawl out. you should have 30 babies about every 30 days. They don't need any substrate but keep the poo in there for about 2 or 3 months so the babies can eat it, then clean. Make sure when you put grapes and stuff in there you take them out after two days or they will get moldy and kill your colony. The babies should reach maturity in 5 or 6 months. Oranges will help them get them in the mood to DO IT and will get them to make more babies. Keep the tub temps near 92 degrees and that should help them breed quicker. A high protein diet like kitten or dog food will make them happy and grow faster. Make sure you have a hole in the top with a screen for ventilation and make sure your humidity is near 40-60 %. They don't like light, and make sure they always have water crystal gel. It's best if you have 3-6 females per male and feed mostly males to your beardie. In a few months you should have several hundred roaches. Hope this helps