Dubia Colony Size for One Veiled?

[RiftPoint]

What's the best size for a colony to feed a single veiled? I'll be getting a new sub-adult/adult male soon and dubias just seem like a better choice and easier to keep. Do full grown veileds eat adult dubias, or do the roaches get too big?

Any pointers people could suggest would be much appreciated!

 

[Blink]

Before ordering or starting a colony, I strongly suggest that you buy a very small amount for you cham to "taste test". You would probably be very disappointed and frustrated if you got an entire colony set up, but he hated them and only ate a couple here and there. Most of the time Emoji (my veiled) refuses to eat any roaches. I know that a lot of chams aren't roach fans. It really depends on the chameleon.
I don't know about anyone else, but I would never feed a full grown dubia to my cham. The adult dubias I have are the size of Emoji's head (or larger! ) Emoji isn't exactly the largest veiled (runty ) nor is he completely full grown, so perhaps some veileds would be able to put down an adult dubia. Personally I wouldn't try it, as the risk of choking is far too great. That being said, dubia nymphs are great, but they don't make up the entire colony. I find that it is easier to simply buy the nymphs and keep them around, as they do not grow very fast.
If you do start a colony, I would do small for one veiled. I bought nymphs from Mulberry Farms (which I highly recommend, by the way) and there were several adult in the mix. I didn't mind. With only a few adults and no added heat, they are already breeding a little, and I wasn't even trying! Dubias are incredibly easy to breed. You really should feed a variety of feeders, though, and not stick to just one. Hope this helps a bit. Good luck!

 

[RiftPoint]

Before ordering or starting a colony, I strongly suggest that you buy a very small amount for you cham to "taste test". You would probably be very disappointed and frustrated if you got an entire colony set up, but he hated them and only ate a couple here and there. Most of the time Emoji (my veiled) refuses to eat any roaches. I know that a lot of chams aren't roach fans. It really depends on the chameleon.
I don't know about anyone else, but I would never feed a full grown dubia to my cham. The adult dubias I have are the size of Emoji's head (or larger! ) Emoji isn't exactly the largest veiled (runty ) nor is he completely full grown, so perhaps some veileds would be able to put down an adult dubia. Personally I wouldn't try it, as the risk of choking is far too great. That being said, dubia nymphs are great, but they don't make up the entire colony. I find that it is easier to simply buy the nymphs and keep them around, as they do not grow very fast.
If you do start a colony, I would do small for one veiled. I bought nymphs from Mulberry Farms (which I highly recommend, by the way) and there were several adult in the mix. I didn't mind. With only a few adults and no added heat, they are already breeding a little, and I wasn't even trying! Dubias are incredibly easy to breed. You really should feed a variety of feeders, though, and not stick to just one. Hope this helps a bit. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply.

I was definitely thinking of testing which feeders my new guy will like before starting a colony of anything (my first cham wouldn't even recognize that roaches existed, but I also didn't have him long and he was young). But I wanted to figure out the feasibility of doing a small dubia colony just for a single chameleon. I've got a 10 gallon tank that I'll either use for crickets or dubias, and I would prefer roaches since they're quieter and have less odor.

At the moment I have no real concept of what sizes of feeders like roaches an adult cham can actually handle. But that's where hopefully all of you guys can clear up for me!

My feeding plan is to have one type of feeder on hand in larger amounts, either crickets or roaches, and then have other things like silkworms and hornworms, etc on rotation.

What would people consider a "small" colony?

 

[Lathis]

Before ordering or starting a colony, I strongly suggest that you buy a very small amount for you cham to "taste test". You would probably be very disappointed and frustrated if you got an entire colony set up, but he hated them and only ate a couple here and there. Most of the time Emoji (my veiled) refuses to eat any roaches. I know that a lot of chams aren't roach fans. It really depends on the chameleon.

So true... My Jax turned out not to be a fan. He will eat one every once in awhile but mostly he just gives me "that" look. You know what look I mean. I really wanted to use them to majorly substitute out crickets, but no dice. So now I have a big box of pet roaches...

I started with about 15 roaches, kept them entirely at room temperature (no extra heat tape or anything), and over the next few months, they bred like crazy, so now i have hundreds. If you're in KCMO - you can have mine

 

[MSMorgan]

What's the best size for a colony to feed a single veiled? I'll be getting a new sub-adult/adult male soon and dubias just seem like a better choice and easier to keep. Do full grown veileds eat adult dubias, or do the roaches get too big?

Any pointers people could suggest would be much appreciated!

Rift,
If you Veiled has decided that he likes dubias like mine, I have a 6 mo. old Veiled. I started with 6 dubia females and 2 males, a 3:1 ratio. This morning I awoke to 60 or so babies in the tub. Now, I'm "Papa Roach." It'll take a little while, but those 60 will EXPLODE exponentially. In the mean time I'll keep buying 100 med. (5/8") at a time until the little ones get to 1/2 to 5/8" and go from there. I hope I can keep the colony in check, but from what I hear they get out of control in a hurry. Do a search for raising dubias an read to your heart's content. There's a lot of info out there; some good and some bad, but take it for what it's worth; free info.

 

[Blink]

So true... My Jax turned out not to be a fan. He will eat one every once in awhile but mostly he just gives me "that" look. You know what look I mean.

LOL! Totally know that one!

 

[sapphira80]

My veiled Louie had yet to eat any dubias except for the very small nymphs. He's actually about 6 months old and big for his age, but he just doesn't seem to like them, despite my offering them three times a week. It seems to be hit or miss... Some peoples veiled loves them, others won't touch them. My juvenile female Xena won't even look at them.



I agreed with the above posters, start small and if your guy didn't like them, you can always sell the colony.