dubia colony

[chondrotastic]

How many dubias do you need to sustain one or two jacksons chameleons?

 

[pssh]

What do you mean? How many should you have in your colony? How many do they need to eat?

 

[chondrotastic]

i want to establish a colony so i dont have to constantly go to the pet store and buy crickets. I would like to just establish a small colony to constantly feed from. Also, I heard that you can totally substitute crickets for dubias.

 

[pssh]

Well, if you want the colony to grow quickly, buy at least 80 females and 15-20 males. You will eventually have lots of extras, but if you sell them off then the colony makes you even more money in addition to saving you money from having to buy less crickets. If you don't mind the wait, you can start out with 100 mixed and a few adults with a 3-6:1 female:male ratio.

You can use them completely instead of crickets, but remember, variety is a good thing. I feed my chameleons dubias but I also buy crickets to feed as well. Though right now, my male veiled has decided he will only eat one cricket a day or a few once a day if I wait a day or two between cricket feeding attempts. My female still prefers crickets or silkworms though.

 

[chondrotastic]

Thanks! I plan to mix it up a bit, but i just wanted a stable food source that is cheap and doesnt stink like crickets. Im sure they still have to be dusted for vitimins and calcium correct? Do most chams readily accept dubias?

 

[pssh]

Yes. They still need to be dusted and what not. Some chams love dubias to the point that they will only eat them for long periods of time, others won't touch them.

My male Veiled hand feeds regularly so he was quick to accept them when I held one out for him. My female Panther would not touch them until I didn't feed her for a few days and she finally ate them. She doesn't like them as much because they don't move as much as crickets (or at least that's my theory.) My friends female panther will eat just about anything so she was quick to accept them. This is the expirience that I (and my friend) have. If you're worried, try purchasing a few nymphs and see if yours will eat them at all.

 

[Dave Weldon]

...Do most chams readily accept dubias?

Howdy,

Before you dump too much time, effort and money into a big colony of Dubias, see if you can get some feeder-sized ones to try out. As was mentioned, not all chameleons will eat Dubias. Don't give-up hope right away either. I'd try offering them to a disinterested chameleon for at least a year before passing judgement . Over the years, mine have been on and off about eating Dubias, sometimes for months at a time. If you happen to live within driving distance (sorry, no shipping) of Manhattan Beach CA, or anyone else on the forum for that matter, and want to snag some to try out, just let me know .

 

[chondrotastic]

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately I live in ohio! I would love to be in cali right about now after a foot of snow we just got! I will def. try some out before I waste the money!