Getting more dubia........

[dolphinsilversea01]

A couple of months ago I bought like 30 dubia from a friend. Although they are doing good and breeding consistantly, they are just not breeding fast enough for me because I am still using stinky crickets :lol: so I am getting 200 more hopefully on Monday.
I have the colony I orginally bought in a 29g glass tank. I know that technically I could add the 200 to that and be fine for now, but I wanted to buy a tote and get that over with. I went ahead and got the biggest one Walmart had :shock: a 50 gallon :lol: Might as well go big or not at all right? I figured it was only like 2 bucks more than the 29 gallon - might as well get almost double the gallon for 2 more bucks!

Anyways... I have a couple of questions. I have been reading through here and plan on visiting the roach guys site after posting this - but going ahead with posting this just in case.

I plan on using regular heating pads at first. I have like 10 of them round the house - which means I don't have to spend any $$. I know that using one that doesn't have automatic shut off is wise and to put it on the bottom underneath where the egg crates will go. I haven't heard anything whatsoever about this so I am guessing not, but noone has had a bad experience with this? - rubber melting, etc?

I thought there was more, but I can't think of it now.
Thanks in advance for any advice =)

 

[LQDragons]

thats where I put the heating pads, roaches can climb up or down to regulate temps

 

[gregorydragon]

You might want to check that the inside of the tote REALLY is smooth. Some of them look smooth, but when you touch them, they actually have some texture. The best way that I use is to compare the texture to the inside of a clear tote because those are the smoothest. If you want to be able to feed from the colony faster, you really should buy as many roaches as you can afford up front. I have found that there are many sites that sell roaches. Some sell mixed nymphs, some sell mixed nymphs and include adults, and some will even isolate and sell specific sizes. If you are trying to establish a colony it is best to buy mixed. If you are trying to just feed your dragon then it is probably easiest to buy specific sizes (keeping in mind that these will go very quickly and will not directly help your colony).

 

[dolphinsilversea01]

It feels smooth. I even checked for cracks and/or holes - don't want them buggers gettin out :shock: . I think they are wonderful for feeding beardies, awesome to watch, and all around better than crickets - doesn't mean I want them loose in my house :bleick:

I should be alright. I have the 30 I bought a couple months ago and they are reproducing like crazy. I am getting 200 and the girl I am getting them from tried to urge me to buy less than that afraid I am going to end up with too many. Not so worried about having too many as having too little and going back to crickets! If I end up with way too many I will give them away - don't really care about that!
I think I will start feeding, but do it gradually. Do the crickets for a bit longer and let the 200 get going and just feed one or two roaches as a "treat" for now. He really enjoyed that the other day - funniest thing I ever saw was his reaction to those roaches!

 

[dolphinsilversea01]

I am curious if there is a certain amount of ventilation I need for the dubias. The tote is 50g and the lid is about 37"x18", it has divits(sp?) in it similar to this:http://www.kpcsupplies.com/images/full/MRHP1520.JPG, but not exact. They go more long ways to the half way mark - I was thinking of putting screen inside two of the divits, or cutting area of the two divits for the screen.
Does this sound good, or should it on both sides?