ROACHES ... why am i scared??

[blue11]

oh god this is embarassing. but ok, here goes ...
the last time i ordered some dubia, i THINK it was from theroachguy .... when opened the box and saw them running (FAST!!!) around, i just about had a heart attack. i screamed and ran and stared at the box. THEN i saw a few crawling UP the inside of the box, and one got out. i FROZE UP. i was like ... wait .. they are climbing WHAAAAAT?!?! RIP to those roaches. I could NOT do it.
i DONT know why am i this. they didnt stay in house for more than 15 minutes before the screaming little girl in me made sure that they were GONE. waste of money on my part simply all b/c i had a roach panic attack. it's hilarious when think back on it ... but today, i took a deep breath, i decided to make ANOTHER GO!!!

i ordered from the roach ranch ... i think they are the Blactipa Dubia, which i believe are different dubia than the roach guy sold. these are the tropical kind ... idk, the look a little different than the others, but i could be wrong. i also think, that the first time i ordered way too big in size, probably not too big for my beardie Blue, but too big for me to ease into the sight of them, ha! These extra small are about a 1/2 inch ... alot of ones i got before were an inch or slighty over!! *shiver*

SO, i got the extra small nymphs. even though Blue is almost 15 inches, i know she can do bigger ones, maybe even would be better off that way, i think i have to start this way.
i am not doing a colony right now, i need to see if i can deal with this again first. my hope is, that i can keep them in plastic bin so they cannot climb out, and im HOPING that i will be able to put them in Blue's slick ceramic bowl ... even though its not super deep, its really slick. if that doesnt work i will try to feed her them in a seperate bin.

just throwing this out there .... anyone who has ANY suggestions or tips on keeping them, or that will help my wierd phobia, please feel free to shoot away. i know i posted something similar to this before i got my previous large dubia about 2 months ago ... and people said that i would be starting a colony in no time, eeeeeeeeeep that never happened. and i KNOW that is a purely mental thing simply beacause the word ROACH itself is just assocaited with so many "taboo" bad things and what not. and i know its not that way, but its still in my head, that thought pattern , example ... dirty (which i know they are so much cleaner than crickets) infestation (yeah, i get paranoid but i know these are tropical roaches and i live in VA where its fall now and that wouldnt happen, i stiil THINK it will ) .... but you the the idea! ha!

i can handle big ol' superworms, butterworms, pheonixworms, hornworms w/o even getting the slighest bothered by them.
anyone have any tips? how do you pick them up to feed? the last bunch i tried long tongs but the things were SO fast and SO flat that i never could even grasp one. hands? scoop them up in a cup? shake them off the eggcrate? Blue LIKES to be fed certain thing in her viv bowl, so i ma praying these little ones cant make the climb out of her ceramic bowl.
can i feed them oats, carrots, collards or cricket meal? its not a colony right now, its just a starter feeder shipment.
THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH for any info, and i know i sounds like SUCH a wuss ...
~Have a BEARDIFUL day

 

[Pixall]

With the nymphs, think of them as rollie pollies. The adults, think of as /dubias/ NOT roaches. That was preeeetty much all it took for me. Also, call an exterminater and tell them you have BLAPTICA DUBIA roaches and are worried about them getting out and infesting your house. They will LAUGH at you. not kidding. They simply canNOT survive in your house, let alone breed. They need ~90*F to breed plus high humidity. So unless your house is a psudo sauna, you are safe.

 

[blue11]

ha! lol, yeah that is what i read all the time, they are tropical and SOOOO NOT going to infest my house. its all in my head i say!!! whyyyyyyy i do not know. :roll:
im gonna have to really step up and just deal with the little nymphs. i THINK i have a better chance with these little ones.
what do you feed yours if you are just using a small batch? just the stuff i mentioned before? oats, cricket feed, collards, carrots, etc?
i know there is the "roach chow" but i dont think they are gonna even going to be around long at all, if she likes them, with the small amount i ordered this time. trying to think, i think THINK i got 50 of the little nymphs.
thanks so much for the pep talk
If i can deal, and she loves them, we shall see what happens! i LOVE alternating proteins with her, and she likes the variety too. we went off crickets SO long ago, so she really hasnt has a super fast bug in a while. this will be interesting. im such a dork! :mrgreen:
have you ever been able to put the little nymphs in a slick shallow ceramic bowl without them getting out?
~Emily and Miss Blue

 

[blue11]

HA!
i just realized how many times i said the words "little nymphs" in that post. sounds funny when i re-read it. broken record. little nymphs, little nymphs, little nymps.

 

[Pixall]

LOL I just started my colony, but when I brought them home, I gave about ten to my two dragons. They LOOOOVED them! I feed in a separate enclosure, though so I don't know about the dish. I feed mine a mix of dog food, cat food, fish food, and monkey food with kale and oranges and water crystals. Just remember the dubias can hold their food up to 72 hours, so whatever they eat, your dragons eat.

 

[blue11]

NICE!
i suppose i will feed them what i feed my supers ...
TONS of collards, some squash, occasionally carrots.
i have a 20 gallon breeder that i used to feed her in, i guess i will do that with these.
thanks SO SO SO much. god i hope i dont let my mind get the better of me this time. GET OVER IT EM!
~Emily and Miss Blue

 

[Pixall]

Make sure to update when ya get the dubias!

 

[blue11]

Roger that ... i totally will!!!

 

[rdoyle]

I feel you I was the same way. the guy I got my bearded from gave me some when I got them home I could not give to my bearded. I but them in my deep frezzer to kill them. I live in louisiana

 

[Jess]

I've had my colony for about 2 months now, and I still can't touch the males! They freak me out! I'm OK with the nymphs and the females though. I think they are kind of cute.

Honestly, the best way to get ever your fear is to suck it up and hold them LOL! If I think that a bug looks scary, my mind just makes it even worse, and when I finally just pick it up it isn't as bad as I thought. I get really freaked out by bugs with wings, so I'd never been able to touch adult crickets with out screaming. When I fed them to Dudley, I had to convince my mom to take the extras out of his cage for me. :lol: But since I started working at a pet store I had to get over it, and they really aren't as scary as I thought they were. Except for when they jump down my shirt.

I had a foot-long giant African millipede for 4 years and I used to beg my mom for hissers and tarantulas when I was little, so the large wingless bugs don't usually bother me! It's just male dubias and the dead ones that still creep me out. I've actually had a few nightmares about them though LOL.

Did you ever give Blue a roach? Dudley LOVES them. Here is a video of him eating a male to motivate you!

 

[Pixall]

Except for when they jump down my shirt.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! :laughhard: Too much!

But I feel your pain. Crickets give me the heebie jeebies. Not nearly as bad as Phoenix worms. They just look like something that would burrow into your hand if you hold it too long. /shiver. I have had nightmares about pulling them out of my hand with tweezers. I still feed them though, The things we do for our dragons. LOL

 

[Jess]

See, I thought that PWs were kinda cute too! But I was always scared to open the cup, because I didn't want them to morph into flies and escape.

 

[blue11]

PW's dont phase me at all ... supers, butters, horns, its like nothing to me to handle any of them, but put a cricket in front of me ..... or MANY crickets even near me and have a total panic attack. and then there is the dubia ... yeah .... not a pretty sight. its wierd how one thing can creep us out to no end and something else can just be like, nothing at all to us!!!

 

[MrWhite]

I was a little creaped out by the adult roaches, but once I realize they didn't bite, I was ok with them. It still took me quite a while to feel completely comfortable picking them up by hand. Now I just reach right in and pick them up by the handful and it doesn't bother me.

Superworms on the other hand still creap me out, when I pick them up out of the bin, I have to toss them at Argos because them spin around on me and my brain says "WATCH OUT, IT'S TRYING TO BITE YOU!!!!!" so I fling them, lol

 

[Nixiemaiden]

Any kind of insect freaks me out too..I am ok with phoenix worms and I think I would be ok with other worms...as long as I can pick them up with tongs.

Crickets...roaches...no way. Early last week I had to feed Pouncey crickets because I ran out of phoenix worms and when I was getting him out of his tub, a cricket jumped on me and I screamed. My boyfriend thought it was hilarious but what he doesn't realize is that it is now his job to do anything involving crickets. If we are ever able to get roaches, those will be his job too.