I got my first bearded dragon as a juvenile about a month ago and he's doing great, but I've been having some problems keeping up with the little monsters food. He's eating fine and I've made sure to feed him whenever he needs it, but it's starting to get pretty expensive so I was wanting to start my own Dubia colony. I have a tank and some heat all that to breed them with, my main question was how many? I only really plan on having my one Beardie and I don't want to go from lizard owner to roach rancher, I just want a stable enough supply to keep him fed and happy. Right now he's not fully grown, he's only about 5 months old and I know his meat needs are going to drop with age, so does anyone have advice?
Well you'd want one male for every 5 females. You'd want to maintain high temps and proper humidity and when you want to lessen their breeding rate, lower the temps. However, it will take a while to allow a colony to develop. By the time the colony is established, your beardy's protein needs will have been reduced, as you had stated. You can sell off excess roaches and maybe sell off your colony once your beardy's protein needs decrease significantly.