Roach Colony Overkill for Only One Dragon?

[cvisions]

I currently have 1 dragon. I have no idea how old she is but I'm fairly certain she's 7-12months. I've been reading everyone extolling the virtues of roaches as feeders and I started to wonder if it would be overkill to start a Turk or Dubia colony when I only have the one dragon to feed. Of course there's always the possibility we will add another at some point...

So how long before I'd be absolutely buried in roaches? What do you do with your extras?

 

[NegativeCreep]

I want to preface this with the fact that I don't have my dubia colony.. yet. But, I have been doing a lot of research and reading on one, which is what convinced me that I NEED one.

From what I understand, you can control the amount of offspring your colony produces, fairly easily. If you notice that you have WAY too many dubia, you can feed off some of your adult females. The females are the queens of the colony and they are worth gold! You only need a few males to support many females, so when/if you decide that your colony has too many, you can pluck off your females. I saw someone on here 'estimate' that a female can produce about 15 nymphs a month (this was a conservative guess), so if you need 50 adults a week for feeding, then you want about 200+ per month. You would need about 15-18 adult breeding females to support this amount at any given time. Of course this is all an example. I don't know how many adult dubia that an adult beardie will eat (and I'm sure it varies from beardie to beardie, too!).

Does that make sense?

As for those crazy fast Turks, I don't think its as easy to control, but I don't know.

But please, if anyone (with some REAL experience with these guys) can correct me or exaggerate, I'm sure it would be appreciated!

 

[brunoboy]

I have one dragon too. My colony is still growing but eventually I will have lots more than bruno can eat. There are ways to keep this controlled. Once you have enough you can lower the temps in your roach enclosure---this will cause them to slow down on breeding. There are lots of folks who are looking to start a colony so you could sell some-----some people kill off extras----freezing them in the freezer. I don't know if I can do this . I might also sell some of mine at a reptile show. bruno loves his roaches and they are the cheapest way to go once you get a colony established. I keep dubia.

It takes about six months for a colony to really get going. I started with about 250 mixed last summer and have been feeding off male nymphs and culling adult males. I have a separate container just for extra adult males. There are LOTS of babies now-------and I'm have a fair amount of the size I need to feed.

 

[cvisions]

I'm Glad to hear the population can be kept under control; that makes the whole prospect much more appealing. I was envisioning hordes of roaches engulfing our house...OK maybe not that extreme but I did wonder what would happen if they just kept reproducing and growing exponentially in numbers.

 

[brunoboy]

yeah, like that old stephen king short about the guy with the roach problem....... oi. :shock:

 

[cvisions]

Now I just need to figure out how many to start with...

Serafina is a little piggy, she's gobbled everything I've offered her so far, so I'm sure she'll love dubias or turks.

 

[fresnowitte]

I believe the dubias are like the turks you can lower their temps to slow down growth and reproduction. If I were only feeding 1 beardie rather than 9 then I may have started with a lot less than 1k. :wink:
As far as offing overkill.........you can sell them or give them to friends that have beardies.

 

[BestRoach]

The population growth of most organisms is exponential. That said, its easy to control your dubia colonies. Dubias will breed down to the 60's, but it will be a much slower rate. They also take longer to mature at those cold temps, which effects colony output in the long run.

That said, never feed off adult females...ever. Never lower the temps of your colony. If you have to many dubia, simply freeze the excess and feed as snacks later. You can dump them of course.
My best recommendation is to donate them to a reptile rescue, or someone who seems they could use them. I sent out several free batches of roaches to people when my colonies were doing really well. You can donate adult females to reptile rescues.....and they will thank you forever. You can also sell adult females, and make a good profit off of them too!


You never know when you'll need more roaches. Its this reason why you shouldn't limit the birth rate of your colonies, just feed off the excess production.

 

[cvisions]

Thank you for the tips!

I'm liking the idea of starting my own colony more and more. What is a good number to start out? Would 300 - 500 be a good starting number?

 

[LittleRob]

I started with the 145 kit from theroachguy it cam with 20% extra i believe. Than 10 more females and one more male from blaberus. He sent a total of 15. They always send you a little more thats the good part. Both guys ship out on monday and you get them about wednesday. Thats what i started with because it came with food water crystals egg crates and a screen. All i had to do was buy a 30gln bin. And a heater. And I have Three beardies, Still feed them crikets greens supers, the reg until i see some more roachies.

 

[BestRoach]

You can start a colony with just a few roaches, but it will take awhile for them to breed up. I suggest starting with at least 50 or so, and giving them as much time as possible. A colony that small can be fed and watered once a week...and left to sit for several months while they breed. Keep them warm, and in about 4-5 months time, you'll be rewarded with lots of little roaches.

Unfortunately, it takes money to speed the process along. You could fork out a couple hundred dollars and buy an already established colony...or you can wait a few months, and make one yourself. Its up to you.

 

[cvisions]

Roaches are coming next week. Hurray. Never thought I'd be this excited about roaches :lol:

I'll probably have to get all decked out in dust mask, gloves, etc to clean and sort the little buggers since I have some real allergy issues, but hey I already do that when I give out hay to our rescue bunnies and guinea pigs.

I'll get their bin all set up this weekend. I have a heating pad that doesn't have an auto shut off and from what I've read that should be sufficient to regulate their heat correct? What about humidity. Do they require misting or is a hefty portion of water crystals enough to keep the humidity up?

 

[Theroachguy]

no need to mist the colony we never had any problem with humidity. as long as you keep water crystals and offer some fresh fruit or veggies you'll be fine. they will get plenty of protein from the roach chow or you can use cat or dog food. roach chow is included in our kits as well as water crystals. we tend to use a few different types of ingredients in our chow and often like to switch it up so the roaches don't get sick of the same foods. lol if this sound weird trust me it isn't you'll find yourself like the roaches more then your dragon.
if you have any other question about getting started feel free to PM me or email me where here to help.

 

[cvisions]

Thank for the tips and the link I'll go check it out.

I placed an order with you last night including chow and water crystals look forward to setting up the colony sometime next week.

 

[Theroachguy]

oh yes I saw that when I came in today, you'll be getting updates on your order threw you paypal email account if its different then you regular account. welcome to the roach world you want be sorry. if you have any questions shoot me a email [email protected]