Finally!!! Dubia Questions

[Tylerman]

After a year and a half of asking my parents if I could keep Dubia roaches for my two dragons, they finally agreed! My mom said that if she sees one in the house loose, I will be in trouble :shock: , sooooo that leads me to a couple questions

1. How do I keep dubia roaches?
2. How do I keep them from escaping?
3. Where do I get them?
4. How many should I buy?
5. How many per feeding?
6. Where do I buy these guys from?

Basically, I need all of the information I can grab about Dubia's from housing to feeding to getting eaten

If I can get answers as soon as possible because I'm running low on meaworms. There's a reptile show on the 17th, it's $4 admission. Should I go?

Sorry for all of the questions, I hope somebody can help a newbie out.

 

[CooperDragon]

I got mine from ABDragons in a mix pack. The more adults you get (more expensive) the quicker the colony will establish. I wasn't in a hurry and my 500 mix pack (no adults) took about 6 months to start a new generation. It would be quicker with a larger colony and more adults I would imagine. Get as many as you can, as old as you can within your budget. I read that a ratio consisting of more females to males at around 3 to 1 or so is better for the health of the colony.

This is a pretty good guide that I usually follow to get started http://www.southtexasdragons.com/dubia-roaches.html

 

[Tylerman]

Awesome! Thanks so much!

Now my questions are, how many per feeding? And I have maybe $20-$25 right now to buy some. Is that enough? And also, how do you provide heat for them? We keep the house at about 70°-72°.

Thank you soooooo much Cooper!!!

I'm also looking at starting my own colony of superworm instead, since I'm a newbie at breeding bugs. And also keeping hornworms, but for the price, they pupae too quick I think. What's your opinion?

 

[CooperDragon]

I'd start a colony of black soldier fly larvae instead. They're better as a regular feeder and having a colony on hand would be nice. I'm not exactly sure how to raise them but I think there's an article floating around here somewhere if I remember correctly.

$20-25 won't get you too many but if you're patient you could grow a colony from a small bunch. The mix pack I bought was around $60 I think but you could start with a smaller batch, it will just take longer for them to establish. You can use an under tank heater or an overhead ceramic heat emitter for heat. They'll multiply more quickly if at least one area of the enclosure is kept in the high 80s or low 90s but I've kept mine at cellar temps (60s) and they were fine.

 

[Tylerman]

I found 100 dubia for $15. How many do the dragons eat per feeding? And how many hornworms would a dragon eat per feeding?

I do insects one day, then a salad. And I repeat. Because sometimes they don't eat the salad, so I do the every other day

 

[CooperDragon]

I would only offer 1 or two hornworms because they are pretty big and full of liquid. They can eat a range of dubia depending on their hunger and the size of the roaches. Darwin usually puts away 5 or 6 adults in a sitting but could probably eat 20 small roaches easily.