setting up my first dubia colony

[DawnsNova]

Despite being completely grossed out but unable to deny the benefits any longer, I will be getting my new dubia colony from Lance this week.

I already have the 27 gallon opaque bin with the rececessed bottom where I attached an undertank heater, fresh batch of water crystals, a pile of roach chow I whipped up using a lot of the great suggestions on this list, a digital probe thermometer and several egg crate flats.

Here's my question; I read that it's better to have the egg crates up on their sides so waste and sheds etc. fall to the bottom of the bin for cleaning. What's the best thing to attach the flats together so that they'll stand up? I don't think I should use any kind of adhesive like hot glue since I'm concerned the roaches may injest it and pass it along to Ellie. How do you guys out there set up your bins? What temp do you keep them at? Even though I currently only have one 6 month old 16 inch long dragon, she eats 20 - 25 adult crickets at each of her two daily feedings in addition to veggies and an evening snack of some worms, I need that bin up an producing as quickly as possible! lol

By the way, thanks for all the great information available, you guys are great! Lance (twobeardieguy) has been super nice to work with and even though I am going to need time to get over my "roach" thing and maybe even one day handle them *without* feeding tongs.. lol, I am looking forward to my new project.

 

[unkempt1]

Welcome to the world of roach ranching! Hopefully you will be as fascinated as I am at these little critters. My wife jokes that I enjoy the roach side of my hobbies more than the dragon side. :twisted:

As far as stacking egg crates, I just lean mine to the side of the bin vertically and stack them one on another reversed on each other, making sure I leave room in between each on for them to hide and crawl around in. Some people reverse two together and hot glue them (there are some decent vids on YouTube). I would play around with this idea, but don't have a glue gun and if I bought one, would only use it for that purpose. No thanks. :lol: My advice would be to keep it simple like I do at first, and tweak it as you go along. This method works fine for me, and the poo that gets caught on one side makes its way to the bottom when I move the crates around to pull out old veggies once a week.

I keep my bin between 85-95 degrees, usually somewhere in the middle. I've been told to keep it at or below 95 degrees because higher temps can kill males. My heat pad can't get it that hot even on the highest setting so I can't confirm this.

I have a question for you: how many adult males and females did you order? I have almost 40 females and I think 8 males if I remember correctly, and its taken me about 2 months to get them producing consistently. I am thinking in a few weeks I may start transferring babies into my feeder bin to see how self-sufficient these guys can be as exclusive feeders.

 

[Lindz0518]

As far as handling them, I can do the small and medium ones but when I go through the bin to get feeders out I use gloves, not because I am squeamish but because the adults won't stick and climb on the gloves.

 

[FishboneNC]

You can just use a small spots of glue on about 6 places to hold the egg crates together.
Just enough to hold it and not too much to be exposed...if they do eat it they would probably die, I doubt they'll eat it.
I saw one person use twisty ties.
Some people just wedge them in tightly...no glue, no ties.

I let mine sit flat, and don't tie or glue them together.
My bins are shorter, so I lay the crates flat...I use short bins stacked on top of each other. (saves on space and electricity)
Heater on the bottom of the breeder bin which stays around 90/95 degrees and around 65% to 75% humidity, (cheap tupperware with damp paper towels and holes in the lid) the humidity should be higher but that's all I can get in the dry air of my house, and on top the breeder bin, I have the nymph/juvi bin (they don't need as much heat), sitting on top they stay around 78 degrees.

Here's why I don't glue or tie.
First, I only clean when I harvest once a month, the nymphs will eat the crass (poop) of the adults, it's actually beneficial to them.
Secondly, when it's time to harvest, I take the egg crate, gently tip it over so the crass falls out onto the next egg crate in the bin, (any roaches that fall off get another egg crate to fall on and cling to) then take the crate with roaches stuck to it and shake it over a bucket, (a bucket with small 1/2" holes cut in the bottom), another bucket or bin to catch the 'harvest'.
You'll have to shake the crates pretty hard to get them off
If the crates are all glued together, the roaches won't shake off too easily!
And some crates get 'damp', I usually take the damp crates (mold will kill your colony) and let them dry out until the next harvest.

Now whats left in the breeder bin is crass, sheds and dead roaches and any roaches that didn't 'hang on'!
I through some empty egg crates in the breeder bin, so the stragglers have someplace to hide and start shaking the bucket (remember the holes?) the small ones fall through the holes, this takes awhile, shaking, let them fall and climb around each other...etc

When I have about 90% of all the nymphs from the skaker bucket, (you need some for the future!) I collect the stragglers in the breeder bin...what's left is, poop, sheds and dead ones goes into the compost bin outside!
Dump everybody back in the breeder bin and wait another month!

(WOW this is getting long!)
1. You need about 2 months before you'll have a good harvest of nymphs.
Feed them and LEAVE THEM ALONE!
2. Those nymphs will need about a month to get big enough to be a good meal!
3. Each harvest put back around 10%, in 10 months or so, these will be at/around breeding age and your original colony will start reaching 'old age'

Your beardie will probably eat less roaches, compared to crickets.
They're more nutritious too!

As far as getting over the 'creepiness'... it takes time!
I'm a guy that doesn't get creeped out too much, BUT, it's creepy when I grab an adult (no tongs for me) and that little nymph I didn't notice until it's half way up my arm... gets me ever time!

 

[DawnsNova]

As always, thanks so much for the replies.
The kit Lance offers for $25.00 is 5 adult males, 5 adult females and 200 - 300 mixed size. I asked if I could purchase extra adults, but his reply said he only offered the kits as listed. I would like to get more adults. My plan is to continue the crickets for as long as it takes for the colony to be up and running before I feed more than a few here or there out of it.
Pardon my blatant laziness for not doing the research online myself, but where is the best place to stock up on those square, cardboard egg flats? I don't think I've even seen them locally.

 

[Lindz0518]

You can ask about any grocery store that has a bakery or deli if they have some and they will just give them to you for free, you might have to ask them to save some for you or try a couple places but you can usually get them that way.

 

[DawnsNova]

Oh cool, what a great idea to check bakeries. Thanks!

 

[Lindz0518]

No problem!

 

[unkempt1]

You can ask about any grocery store that has a bakery or deli if they have some and they will just give them to you for free, you might have to ask them to save some for you or try a couple places but you can usually get them that way.

Be careful with these - you want to make sure they are formaldehyde and pesticide free. Awhile back I thought I was being smart and used a crate from a flat screen TV we recently purchased. All of my adults were dead in less than two hours and I had to start over.

 

[Lindz0518]

I normally go to the local market and haven't has a problem, I would be a little leery of bigger chains though. Thanks for the warning!

 

[unkempt1]

I normally go to the local market and haven't has a problem, I would be a little leery of bigger chains though. Thanks for the warning!

That's a really good point! I've been ordering mine online but when I run out I may give that a shot.

 

[FishboneNC]

As always, thanks so much for the replies.
The kit Lance offers for $25.00 is 5 adult males, 5 adult females and 200 - 300 mixed size. I asked if I could purchase extra adults, but his reply said he only offered the kits as listed. I would like to get more adults. My plan is to continue the crickets for as long as it takes for the colony to be up and running before I feed more than a few here or there out of it.
Pardon my blatant laziness for not doing the research online myself, but where is the best place to stock up on those square, cardboard egg flats? I don't think I've even seen them locally.

You're going to need a lot more than 5 adults.
5 females would produce around 30 nympths a month...5x30= 150

Check out Dubia Deli for a colony.
Or check out the For Sale section here.

 

[rafa2k]

I use http://www.westcoastroaches.com/for my online dubia purchases. I've only seen 1 or 2 dead from each order of 500 dubias. After a while it gets expensive so I contacted them about the breeding kits. They list breeding pairs, which is not the way to go because a 1 to 1 ratio is too many males. However I contacted them and they do custom orders. I got 80 adult female dubia and 20 male dubia for $80. They are a molt or two from breeding.

I stack my egg crates in the bin in an alternating pattern and stuck a toothpick in each top corner to keep them together. Just break off the toothpick ends once it's set. They stand up nicely and don't flop around when I open the crate. I got my egg crates at http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=102. I keep my bin between 86 and 96 degrees. The water crystals keep the humidity at a pretty good level at this temp. I already saw some of the females begin to molt so hopefully they will be breeding soon.

Once you get your colony started, check them regularly to make sure they do not die during molting. If they do, the humidity is too low. Everyone seems to think citrus makes them breed faster/better. I haven't seen any scientific proof but it seems to work for everyone so I add 1/2 an orange every other day. They seem to love it. That orange goes QUICK!

 

[unkempt1]

Everyone seems to think citrus makes them breed faster/better. I haven't seen any scientific proof but it seems to work for everyone so I add 1/2 an orange every other day. They seem to love it. That orange goes QUICK!

Try mangos if you have them available in your area. They are a little more expensive than oranges, but I happen to like mangos so I peel one up, eat all the good stuff, and put the peels and pit in there. If you have a large enough colony, you will be intimidated by what they do with what you and I would consider scraps. :shock:

The nice thing about it is that you actually get to eat the best part of the fruit, whereas with an orange you probably just drop most (or all) of it in there without enjoying it.