I hate crickets...

I can never keep mine alive... I keep them in a big plastic tub, there is no top on it, I keep tons of egg cartons in it for them and I have a dish that their food sits on, orange cubes, kale, lettuce, collard greens, etc. ya know, but once I buy them, almost half die after about 4 or 5 days.... I about 70 to 100 at a time and they last about 2 weeks or more, depends if I have supers or silks... any suggestions?

I wish I could get dubias but I am so scared of them, I was thinking about just buying some to see if I could just get rid of the fear but I don't know..

rachelk said:

I can never keep mine alive... I keep them in a big plastic tub, there is no top on it, I keep tons of egg cartons in it for them and I have a dish that their food sits on, orange cubes, kale, lettuce, collard greens, etc. ya know, but once I buy them, almost half die after about 4 or 5 days.... I about 70 to 100 at a time and they last about 2 weeks or more, depends if I have supers or silks... any suggestions?

I wish I could get dubias but I am so scared of them, I was thinking about just buying some to see if I could just get rid of the fear but I don't know..

Click to expand...

Rachel I hated crickets and I hated the thought of roaches being in my house but I tried it out and it's not bad at all. It's easier then crickets. When you get some Dubias out to feed to your cham you don't have to worry about them jumping out of the tank all you do is get alittle cup or something and grab the egg crate or paper towel roll and shake some into the cup. You never have to touch them.

I think it is more of the thought that they are "roaches" ya know... sick...

rachelk said:

I think it is more of the thought that they are "roaches" ya know... sick...

Click to expand...

This is how I seen it. Either stick with crickets and listen to their noises and the smell they kick off or Get Dubias which I hear nothing and smell nothing and are better for my chams.

"Roaches"!?!? Heck when the squeamish come around I just call them Beatles. Less controversial.

Ok, you really just talked me into it, from reading posts chams do seem to like dubias much better...

What do you feed your dubias and what do you keep them in? And how big should I get them for a 9 month old veiled??

Get a 10 gal aquarium, or rubbermaid tub. Throw in some egg crates, and cardboard tubes(From T.P. and Papertowels) for them to climb around on. I Use, apples, orange peels, Collard Greens, mustard Greens, and any other good stuff I can get my hands on... (Do a search for "Gutloading") for feeding. I use a UTH(Under Tank Heater) under the glass tank to keep them warm. Buy a mixed batch of a few hundred, throw them in... and they should reproduce like roaches, Just let them get established, and you should have a self sustaining Dubia Colony(Minus feeding of course).

NOTE: Some Chams don't take to Dubias right away, It may take some convincing, but once they have made the switch, you will wonder what took so long.

~Joe

Will they die if they aren't kept warm? And how warm should it be for them... would 68 to 74 degrees be too cold?

I have had Dubias for at least 5 months now and I can only get one of my girls to eat it. I only feed off the male Dubias in the cages. I keep the females and nymphs safely in there container, so if there is an escape from the cages, I won't have any breeding.

Is there any trick to get my other chams to eat them? I tried to cut them off from any other bug choices until I see them munch on the roaches, but I am just not as stubborn as these guys and I give in too easily and switch back to crickets and supers.

thought dubias were illegal in FL. palm bay has enough roaches without adding more am i right =P

rachelk said:

Ok, you really just talked me into it, from reading posts chams do seem to like dubias much better...

What do you feed your dubias and what do you keep them in? And how big should I get them for a 9 month old veiled??

Click to expand...

Just get a 10 gallon fish tank from petco or anywhere (I got mine with the screen top) that way I know none will get out. Lay some egg crates in there or paper towel rolls for them to hide in. Feeding you can use carrots, cricket crack and a few others they enjoy. As for water just buy water crystals which you can buy from ryan here on the forums..

LOL read my blog why am I typing all this...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sancho/91-do-yourself-dubia-roaches.html

They will only breed consistently at temperatures of 90F or higher. Production will be a lot slower at temps lower than that.