How long to grow a baby roach into a adult?

[sweetiepie9]

I've have had a colony for since Xmas, keep it in a 20 gallon tank, with egg cartons on one side & food (dog food & oranges/apples/carrots) on the other. I've never heated the tank because I have a gecko & my living room is always over 73F. They roaches never seem to mind, I have tons of babies. The only problem I have is one of my dragons (I have 5) love dubia adults & will eat one daily. He won't eat any other feeder even though the other 4 will only eat supers. So I have a friend I gave most of the original colony to (it was too big, so I thought) and he's been giving me his excess adults to keep my 1 dragon happy.

My questions is how long does it take a baby to grow into an adult?

 

[Harry102]

6 months if I Am not mistaken, from baby, nymph, adult.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Ok, thanks for the info, didn't realize it took them so long but have enough adults to last Didi for quite awhile. And I have tons of babies & just bigger so they're at least growing. What do you feed your roaches? I feed them dog food & apples or oranges but was told they also like carrots. I also hear about water crystals alot. What are they & how do they help? I'm new to roaches, have never given them anything else than apples & oranges. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[aussiefreak101]

I have a couple of things that make of my roach chow. Mine love carrots, they'll drag them off the veggie plate into the egg flats. The water crystals allow for a more pure form of water than veggies if the roaches want. It also helps to keep the humidity level up.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks for that info. I put a bunch of carrot pieces into the tank, I'll see how they like them. I'll see about the water crystals, too. It's really humid where I live, would that matter?

 

[Dooter]

They like stawberries a lot, too... Carrots and strawberries are the 2 things that my colony will drag over into the egg cartons and devour.

They also REALLY like Cheerios, I've found. :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

cheerios, that's an idea. I'll have to check out the strawberries, too. I've been putting apples but they rot so quickly & so do the applies in the summer heat, maybe a few strawberries will be better. I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

 

[kjinxx2]

Yep, 6 months is correct

 

[Pixall]

We talking B. dubia?? There are TONS of species of roach, after all...

 

[sweetiepie9]

I think so, I was just told they're dubia. The females grow quite large, the males are smaller & have wings. I have tons of babies that are growing quite well. I wasn't told what type of dubia, so I'm lost there. I've been told by quite a few that will take 6 mo for a baby to grow to adulthood, and that's mainly what I wanted to know. Also if dog food & apples, oranges, carrots were enough for them to have sufficient nutrients and water to grow. Someone mentioned water crystals, so I'm looking into that. Otherwise I have a decent colony growing in a layers of 4 egg containers. I have only one beardie who likes to eat an adult female on most days, so that's why I wanted to know how long it took for a dubia roach to grow to adulthood. Just to make sure I have enough to keep him supplied. I have 5 dragons, only 1 eats roaches. I even have a gecko that prefers crickets. When I put small dubia into a cup in his tank, he lets them loose & herds them into his hide & won't eat them. It's strange, but that's Rocco for you!