Dubia Colony Question

[ridgebax1]

I really appreciate all the great info. I really do. So I have my whole colony in the same bin now. With 2 egg crates stacked on eachother and the Cricket crack on the other side... I will be going out to get the water cristals later on, as I had a few drinks today and thats a no no when it comes to driving. BUt for now I will give them a flukers orange cube until i can get some tomorrow.

Clarence really loved his Dubai... Now lets see if my mean *** female will like them... I am so excited that now I have dubia and crickets...


do the Dubai still need to be dusted with Calcium no d3?

Yes, I still dust dubias

 

[NosyBe15]

Honestly. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Chameleon Company]

Also. Did the little piece of cut sponge help keep up the humidity?

Wanted to add some thoughts, although you have a lot of good info here. In my experience:

1) The larger the container the better. A 10 gallon or larger bin is ideal.

2) You have no worry of humidity. Any of these plastic bins, with a hole cut in the lid, is going to hold humidity quite well. Your problem will likely be too much humidity, manifest as mold. With fresh veggies, and/or some other water source, forget about doing things to maintain humidity. Access to moisture is 100 times more important than humidity. Provide the former and do not worry about the latter.

3) It takes them a while to get going, but once established, they make rabbits look virtuous.

 

[ridgebax1]

I really don't do much in the way of fancy care for these critters. My current colony was originally started by my son for his daughter's beardie. For what ever reason he decided to not use them anymore and just quit taking care of them. No food or water for months. They still had some babies and dined on dead relatives! Since I rescued them they are once again thriving. No wonder they will outlast us!

 

[NosyBe15]

Now I am second guessing the size of container that I got.... I want to have a colony that can supply my 2nosy be panthers... and there future babies... obviously with crix and worms also... but since these dont stink I want to make them my main feeder instead of crix... Should I just go out and buy a bigger bin... will that also mean I neeed to buy a bigger heater pad???

I went out today and bought 3 more female size bredders and 20 small ones.

 

[NosyBe15]

and once again thanks everyone for all this info.. these are the best answers ive had on this site and ive started a few threads... thanks again!

 

[NosyBe15]

Completely off the topic

This is completely off the topic but here is a little video of by my Clarence eating his most favorite thing in the world, a Big ole hornworm..

http://web.stagram.com/p/621170493994913977_550339

He just attacks them at sight.

 

[Andee]

I would buy a bigger bin in my opinion, and yes a bigger pad would be needed, or you could use flex watt tape.

 

[spottea]

I bought an 18 gallon black tote bin from the Container Store. I wanted a taller one then the one I had previously so that i didn't have to cut up the eggcrate to fit, but could just stack them on end. They fit great in this bin, without touching the lid. I drilled about 3 holes on each side, and I'm going to cover these with either screen or small vents one of these days. A couple of the roaches got out and were wandering around! They must have climbed somehow from the top of the eggcrate to one of the vent holes. Anyway, this is unusual.
Also placed a flexwatt mat at one end of the bin, which i ordered from one of the roach suppliers. (I didn't want to make one myself.) I did have a sheet of cardboard between the mat and the carpet, but since then I found a polystyrene sheet, which I'm using instead, and the temps are much better with this. Around 80 degrees. The food goes at the other end of the bin, where it's cooler, and I usually give them orange peel, yam or sweet potato, plus cricket crack. Sometimes, I forget to feed them, but not usually more than 3 days. The bin is by the patio door, and even though it's not that warm there, and can be draughty, they have been been breeding! I haven't been doing this very long, so I've been learning by reading on this forum.
I really like these little guys. They don't smell, are quiet, and Piko loves to eat them! Which reminds me, they need cleaning out ready for the New Year! Good luck with yours!