Question for Breeders

[midmichicer]

Question for breeders that feed strictly dubia to their new born babies.

How many dubia does an average new born eat per sitting? I know you feed 2-3x a day.

Thank you.

 

[lizzywoodwardBD]

If i remember correctly they will eat around 10 each sitting if the dubia is just smaller then between there eyes. If they are pigs they will eat more.

 

[clear]

I dont know any breeders that can afford/fill the demand to feed exclusively dubia. I would guess 20-25 dubia per day depending on the size and what else you feed.

 

[Carnivorouszoo]

It *could* be done, but one would have to build their dubia colonies (yes multiple) to capacity before breeding just one female dragon. I doubt the big time breeders could be bothered when ordering tons of crix is so easy but for a hobby breeder who only breeds one or two females every now and then, I see no reason it could not be done. Heck, get going well enough and the breeder can offer feeder packages to go with your new beardie!

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Now here is the other side of the coin when raising babys on dubia.
You have a clutch of 20. They all eat dubia and are doing well.
You sell a dragon and 1 week later you get a call that the dragon wont eat crickets and your customer does not want roaches in their homes.
Relocation stress is sometimes tough for a new pooper, add new food on top of that and you have an unhappy customer.

 

[scubasteve25]

this issue is resolved by putting a disclaimer or something in your care sheet that they are dubia raised and there could be issues with new foods.

 

[midmichicer]

A well known breeder told me 20,000 dubia to raise 25 babies to 6 weeks. That doesn't seem that far fetched. If I buy a colony of lets say 3,000 baby nymphs. Let them get to adult hood (5 months) if they split 50/50 I would have 1500 females laying 20-30 babies a month. Thats 30-45,000 babies a month.

 

[MrWhite]

this issue is resolved by putting a disclaimer or something in your care sheet that they are dubia raised and there could be issues with new foods.

true, but this will most certainly cut down on the number of potential buyers which is never a good thing. People tend to accept crickets as cute little hoppy bugs that make pretty music at night until that have to deal with the smell and escapes. People tend to reject roaches as gross, creepy, plague bringers. and if they escape, will overtake your entire home in a matter of days... :roll:

 

[scubasteve25]

i suppose you have a point, but if i were ever to breed, i would more than likely sell the babies here or on fauna, and most people i know that are established with beardies or have multiples, have moved on to breeding dubias.

 

[MrWhite]

i suppose you have a point, but if i were ever to breed, i would more than likely sell the babies here or on fauna, and most people i know that are established with beardies or have multiples, have moved on to breeding dubias.

yeah, it all depends on what your purpose is for breeding. If you are breeding to enjoy the experience and possibly keeping one or two of the best looking one for yourself, then limiting your potential buyers is not that big of a deal because it's probably only a one time breeding scenario. But, if you are trying to make money, you definately don't want to limit your potential buyers because the longer you hold onto the product, the more money you lose in overhead.

well anyway, enough of this marketing mambie-pambie crap :wink:

 

[clear]

A well known breeder told me 20,000 dubia to raise 25 babies to 6 weeks. That doesn't seem that far fetched. If I buy a colony of lets say 3,000 baby nymphs. Let them get to adult hood (5 months) if they split 50/50 I would have 1500 females laying 20-30 babies a month. Thats 30-45,000 babies a month.

If it was so simple everyone would be selling dubia

 

[midmichicer]

It is that simple...People just don't want to deal with them. Not everyone wants to get into the bug breeding business.

 

[Claudiusx]

Yeah I agree with Clear.

That is a lot of room, and its not exactly like roaches cost you nothing to keep alive. Although I wouldn't know for sure how much it would cost to keep a colony that size since I don't have one that size.

The other thing is feeding the babies the right size before they grow into bigger nymphs.

-Brandon

 

[midmichicer]

Ive got a separate bedroom set aside for this project. I know it will be a lot of work, but the breeding process is simple. I thought that is what he meant. I have been watching a lot of videos on people with a lot of dubia and how they go about separating the larger from smaller nymphs with funnels and what not.

 

[Carnivorouszoo]

I'm going into the bug breeding biz Building turkistan, dubia and super colonies with plans for more in the future. Never plan to breed dragons though, too scary to even consider for me! :shock: :lol: