Sell me on Dubias

[kimmie]

Ok first off, I can't EVEN believe I'm even THINKING of this (getting roaches). Just the thought of them makes me ill and I certainly know I'll NOT BE TOUCHING them at all (forceps, pinchers, tongues, whatever).

I know they are more meatier and they don't stink. I don't think I want to breed them (not yet but I've learned in life to NEVER SAY NEVER).

So, do they escape? I read they aren't like the nasty German/American kind - WHY? What makes them different? What happens if one does escape, will I have an infestation later? (I have a ROACH free house so I'd need to get this across to hubby if I decide to get them).

 

[romanfj]

How to Convince One’s Parents or Spouse to Own Dubias

Get a nice big order of crickets in and let your parent/spouse smell those nasty suckers for a few minutes. Take a nice, deep breath. Especially if the crickets have been in the bin for a week or so - Dubia are odorless.

Then place that nice order of crickets next to his/her bed for the night and see if he or she sleeps - Dubia are silent.

Leave those crix by his/her bed for just a week and let him or her see how fast they die. A cricket's entire life cycle is 8 weeks. Dubia live for 18-24 months. Do the math on the economics with him. -You’ll get free baby dubias out of the deal if you use a heating pad.

There's far more meat per roach as a percent of body weight (less chitin) than a cricket, making them easier to digest for your dragon.

At the end of a month with your parent/spouse having completely lost their sanity due to sleeplessness and he/she smells like a giant pile of decomposing organic waste due to sleeping with the bugs, look around the house with them and see how many fugitive crix you have. Some of them escape. I don't care how careful you may be, they get loose! So, after a mere 30 days, you now have a cricket infestation because Mom/Dad/Spouse didn't want tropical roaches. The Japanese may believe finding a cricket in the home is a lucky omen, but I’m willing to bet they kill the second one after a few nights!

Adult dubia are entirely too lazy to climb out of a Rubbermaid bin. If you want extra security for the tiny nymphs, smear Vaseline around the top 4 inches of the bin on the inside or, if you can get it to stick, put clear packing tape around the rim with the slick side facing the interior of the bin. They definitely will never make it over the clear side. - Dubia can be contained. This will also contain/entertain your now insane parent/spouse as they smear that Vaseline around and around and around the rim of the bin with mad-eyed intensity.

Further, if you drop one while feeding your dragon, dubia aren’t that fast…and they get slower as they cool off. You’ll catch your escapee. Throw out a handful of crickets in the living room and have your glassy-eyed parent/spouse chase those babies down!

Crickets cannibalize their young and keeping the different sizes of crix separated when you breed them is a pain and takes up a lot of space. - Dubia do not eat each other. If you have way too many adult males, the most they'll do is chew on each others' wing tips. If your parents raised you properly, they certainly don’t want you associating with a bunch of cannibals.

Unlike the dreaded German and American cockroaches, dubia can't survive by just eating anything (like wallpaper paste, animal dander, etc.). They eat pretty much what we do, especially fruit so, if your home is clean, dubia couldn't survive due to lack of food. Even in their native homeland of Guayana, they do not infest homes. Tropical roaches actually prefer to live in leaf litter, such as a jungle floor would have.

Dubia can’t reproduce very successfully below 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Don’t know about yours, but my home is cooler than that. Ever been down in a basement in winter and heard a cricket? They’re much harder to freeze.

Dubia don't carry any parasites that I know of. Crix, on the other hand, can harbor pinworms and, since their cousin the grasshopper can carry tapeworms, it's likely crix can, as well, though I haven’t verified it yet.

To my knowledge, none of the bacterial or viral illnesses transmissible from common American or German roaches to humans can be carried by dubia.

If this doesn't convince your parents/spouse to buy dubia, it is a moot point because, by the end of your experiment, your parents/spouse will be clinically insane and legally unable to exercise judgement, which will leave the decision to buy dubia completely within your control!

Frank

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Ok first off, I can't EVEN believe I'm even THINKING of this (getting roaches). Just the thought of them makes me ill and I certainly know I'll NOT BE TOUCHING them at all (forceps, pinchers, tongues, whatever).

I know they are more meatier and they don't stink. I don't think I want to breed them (not yet but I've learned in life to NEVER SAY NEVER).

So, do they escape? I read they aren't like the nasty German/American kind - WHY? What makes them different? What happens if one does escape, will I have an infestation later? (I have a ROACH free house so I'd need to get this across to hubby if I decide to get them).

Before I start... Tongs not Tongues (tongue is the one in your mouth lol)
Couple things:

1. You can't stop them from breeding. If you have adult males and females... they're gonna do the dirty and you'll have babies assuming you don't feed off the prego females.

2. They don't escape because they can't climb smooth plastic or glass. This is because their legs are tipped with little hooks rather than the suction type deals on the german/american roaches... so the plastic being smooth leaves them with nothing to grab hold of.

3. No infestation assuming your house is kept below about 80, your floors aren't littered with food (german/american roaches will feed on pretty much anything... wood, pet dander, crap like that--dubia don't), and you generally appreciate having lower than about 60% humidity. As long as this is the case... any escapees will likely just turn up dead (or not turn up... but die regardless)

 

[kimmie]

Thanks for the replies (sorry for the spelling, then again, maybe I meant tongues )

Only one needing convinced is me - I'm the parent and as for the spouse, he pretty much doesn't say much about the caring for Angus. Although he DID comment about the stench over the crickets, but that was mostly because their bin wasn't cleaned.

I didn't realize they eat each other until I saw a lot LESS in the bin as well - EEWW! (and I feed them)

Ok so basically it would be the same setup I have for the crickets (egg crates, food, water crystals, etc - same bin well cleaned of crix of course).

What KIND of roaches (I still can't believe I'm even entertaining this idea). You see - roaches CREEP me out. Of course that's due to those lovely American/German NASTY kind. Watching them climb out of computer keyboards or knocking/patting the keyboards upside down and watching ZILLIONS fall out - well you can understand my hestitance!

I don't want any that fly - read that some adult males do so I don't want those.

How big do the adults get?

Sorry to have so many questions, always trying to learn something and want what's best for my Angus (yes even if it means getting over my HORRENDOUS fear of roaches).

 

[dmglakewood]

Thanks for the replies (sorry for the spelling, then again, maybe I meant tongues )

Only one needing convinced is me - I'm the parent and as for the spouse, he pretty much doesn't say much about the caring for Angus. Although he DID comment about the stench over the crickets, but that was mostly because their bin wasn't cleaned.

I didn't realize they eat each other until I saw a lot LESS in the bin as well - EEWW! (and I feed them)

Ok so basically it would be the same setup I have for the crickets (egg crates, food, water crystals, etc - same bin well cleaned of crix of course).

What KIND of roaches (I still can't believe I'm even entertaining this idea). You see - roaches CREEP me out. Of course that's due to those lovely American/German NASTY kind. Watching them climb out of computer keyboards or knocking/patting the keyboards upside down and watching ZILLIONS fall out - well you can understand my hestitance!

I don't want any that fly - read that some adult males do so I don't want those.

How big do the adults get?

Sorry to have so many questions, always trying to learn something and want what's best for my Angus (yes even if it means getting over my HORRENDOUS fear of roaches).

Trust me I grew up in Florida and I've seen roaches infest houses. No matter what you do in Florida it's almost impossible to keep them out. So I grew up hating roaches and they actually freak me out. One was on out screened in porch and I sent my girlfriend out there to kill it with RAID that's what freaked out roaches made me. However, I was tired of buying crickets and decided to start a roach colony to save money. I ordered 250 dubia roaches to start out. When they arrived I was so scared to open the box. I was freaked out about it. I opened the box and just shook them into the bin. After a few days of observing them I realized that these guys are actually kind of cool. The dubia roach when it's young looks just like a potato bug and doesn't even look like a roach. After about 2 weeks I started picking the little ones up to feed to out baby beardie. If an adult came close though I would still freak out and yank my hand out of there. After about a month I became so comfortable just reaching in the bin that I don't think twice about it. I still don't pick up the adults but that's a work in progress. Believe me when I say that over time you just become used to it. Don't let your fear stop you from making the best decision in feeding your beardie.

As for the type of roach I would suggest the dubia roach. The adults can get up to 2" in size. The babies (nymphs) vary in sizes. They cannot fly and they can't climb smooth plastic or glass. They do not smell like crickets do. Crickets will stink up a whole room or garage. The dubia do have a smell to them depending on what you feed them. However this smell never makes it past their bin. You will not notice the smell unless your head is close to the bin.

As for breeding there is no way to stop this unless you order all nymphs. Just like humans, roach babies can't have kids. Breeding isn't as bad as you think though. Nothing is required from you and you get free roaches.

 

[kimmie]

Trust me I grew up in Florida and I've seen roaches infest houses. No matter what you do in Florida it's almost impossible to keep them out. So I grew up hating roaches and they actually freak me out. One was on out screened in porch and I sent my girlfriend out there to kill it with RAID that's what freaked out roaches made me. However, I was tired of buying crickets and decided to start a roach colony to save money. I ordered 250 dubia roaches to start out. When they arrived I was so scared to open the box. I was freaked out about it. I opened the box and just shook them into the bin. After a few days of observing them I realized that these guys are actually kind of cool. The dubia roach when it's young looks just like a potato bug and doesn't even look like a roach. After about 2 weeks I started picking the little ones up to feed to out baby beardie. If an adult came close though I would still freak out and yank my hand out of there. After about a month I became so comfortable just reaching in the bin that I don't think twice about it. I still don't pick up the adults but that's a work in progress. Believe me when I say that over time you just become used to it. Don't let your fear stop you from making the best decision in feeding your beardie.

As for the type of roach I would suggest the dubia roach. The adults can get up to 2" in size. The babies (nymphs) vary in sizes. They cannot fly and they can't climb smooth plastic or glass. They do not smell like crickets do. Crickets will stink up a whole room or garage. The dubia do have a smell to them depending on what you feed them. However this smell never makes it past their bin. You will not notice the smell unless your head is close to the bin.

As for breeding there is no way to stop this unless you order all nymphs. Just like humans, roach babies can't have kids. Breeding isn't as bad as you think though. Nothing is required from you and you get free roaches.

Sounds like you know my fear very well! You also remind me of one of the guys I worked with that was DEATHLY afraid of roaches as we'd clean them out of the keyboards! Not having RAID around, he'd spray them with a can of that Canned Air you use on computers! It's got some chemical in it (freon or something) and it would stun them enough that he'd be able to get rid of them (until they woke up again).

Ok I can see where I'd probably not touch the adults if they got that large!

Thank you for your reply though! Knowing I'm not the only one that has this strong fear and you are handling them helps a lot! So now off to look for Dubias!

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Dubias are good, I have Discoids though. Main difference is male and female Discoid adults have wings, where only male Dubia have wings (can't fly still, at most they flutter their wings so when they fall they don't land full force on the ground-in my experience anyway). So they're a little harder to sex them if you're not exactly feeling up to being "hands on". I pretty much hate american/german roaches too... but these guys are more like big beetles, not to mention they're probably more sanitary than I am considering they live their whole lives in this bin. (another stigma I guess... these things aren't the typical run around your back yard and pick up diseases from the woods then bring em into your house either)

Pretty sure Dubia breed faster, but need slightly higher temps. I've also read that you would be feeding more dubia than discoid as they're slightly smaller ??(anyone who breeds both please help here)

small note: Dubia are illegal to ship to Florida if I'm not mistaken, however Discoid are not. Probably doesn't apply to you though.

 

[kimmie]

Dubias are good, I have Discoids though. Main difference is male and female Discoid adults have wings, where only male Dubia have wings (can't fly still, at most they flutter their wings so when they fall they don't land full force on the ground-in my experience anyway). So they're a little harder to sex them if you're not exactly feeling up to being "hands on". I pretty much hate american/german roaches too... but these guys are more like big beetles, not to mention they're probably more sanitary than I am considering they live their whole lives in this bin. (another stigma I guess... these things aren't the typical run around your back yard and pick up diseases from the woods then bring em into your house either)

Pretty sure Dubia breed faster, but need slightly higher temps. I've also read that you would be feeding more dubia than discoid as they're slightly smaller ??(anyone who breeds both please help here)

small note: Dubia are illegal to ship to Florida if I'm not mistaken, however Discoid are not. Probably doesn't apply to you though.

Thanks for the info Matt! NO - certainly NO HANDS on thing going on here, at least not me. I can't speak for my DD and I know my DS is just as squirrly as I am about some bugs! :lol: Well DD won't touch the silkworms, but she'll touch the hornworms and LOVES playing with the crickets! EEWWWW

So much to think about and look over! I won't be jumping on this soon as I have 1500 crickets coming today. Hopefully Angus will go thru those quickly and when it looks close to almost gone, I'll jump on the roaches!

MY GOD, did I just say that, DID I just say I'd get roaches? I must be feverish! ROFLMAO

 

[BlueDevil]

From reading your post I think you are already sold on them! Start a colony and get on your way to feeder freedom!!! (didn't Ian say that in one of his videos? LOL). I started a colony a few months ago (I don't actually have a bearded dragon I'm getting mine next week) and I think I'm close to being able to start feeding off the babies. As far as touching them they aren't bad, once you get use to them it's all good. Best of luck!

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

there is a delay from the time you buy them to the time you can feed out of the colony... i would say get it started ASAP and buy as many as you can afford to buy, the more the faster it starts.

 

[Bradleyv1714]

HI,

I was also going crazy feeding crickets... I would buy 1000 crickets every month which meant $25 every month. Ahhhhhhh! well, I read up on Dubia roaches and I convinced my g/f and I bought them... at first I didn't even want to touch them! I bought tongs and thats what I used until time passed by and cleaning up the bin one got on me and I kinda got freaked because the first thing that went through my mind was the feeling of the roaches in my house. well, long story short I got so tired of using the tongs I just grab them now. Lol! Crickets are tooooo dang expensive, Noisy, Smelly, and die off way toooooo quickly! when you decide to get the dubia's I recommend you do this test... however you feed your beardie - wether it's in his viv or in a seperate bin, through in a cricket and a roach and just watch him/her chase down the one that they like the most! if they are like my beardie's which had never had or seen roaches before I did the same test and they forgot about the cricket and went crazy to catch the roach!

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Forgot to mention this earlier... you only have to clean a roach bin like once every 3 or 4 months vs however often you have to clean a cricket bin. It's actually kinda bad to clean roach bins often... cuz the babies eat the more mature ones' frass (poo and such).This is why it's ok not to have a substrate because the roaches pretty much make their own (still doesn't smell like crickets though).

Yeah I get a much more aggressive response with roaches than I ever did with crickets. When I fed crickets, she'd go after them and eat them... but after she'd eaten a few she'd stop chasing and only eat them if they were by her. Roaches however... she can't get enough. She's actually jumped a foot in the air to snatch one out of my fingers, before I could drop it in (she's 16" mind you, so it's not like jumping twice her size lol, but still)

 

[kimbasmom]

Thanks for posting this, because like you I am FREAKED OUT by roaches. But definitely like the points listed here. I don't mind cricket noise, but maybe that's because I work third shift. But the smell is way icky. LOL

 

[kimmie]

Thanks for posting this, because like you I am FREAKED OUT by roaches. But definitely like the points listed here. I don't mind cricket noise, but maybe that's because I work third shift. But the smell is way icky. LOL

LOL it's still creeping me out thinking about the roaches, but like you said, the points listed, I think it's worth getting over my fears. And DD has already said COOL to the idea! (weird dd I have - hates spiders, doesn't mind handling crickets & roaches & hornworms, but doesn't like the silkies).

I do have 1500 crickets I just got in Friday (smaller than I ordered but they'll have to do). I can't order the roaches just yet as I'm going out of town Tuesday and I'm pretty sure my DD won't want to mess with getting them setup w/o me! I'll order when I get home and hopefully enough that by the time we're done with the 1500 crix, I'll be ready to feed the roaches!

I know deep down it's the best for our boy. Hey if I can handle grinding up raw chicken & bones for my cats food, this should be fine as well!

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Well the setup doesn't exactly have much to it. OR, you could do the setup together now prior to ordering, then order them and all that would be need to be done when they're delivered is to open the box and dump them in. But it's kinda nice doing it with someone who shares your enthusiasm as well. I mean a few days either way isn't gonna change the amount of time you wait to feed from it by much anyway. (You definitely wanna make sure its well enough established until feeding from it)

As for cricket size being small, I would think they'd send a mix of what you wanted + smaller ones. That way, by the time you've fed the appropriate sized ones the little ones will have grown to that size, rather than growing larger and being too big for your beardie.