Dubia food consumption

[dirrtybirdy]

How much food do they eat? I have about 200 nymphs and about 25-30 adults.

I put food that the breeder gave me in there, some food i bought from a dubia breeder and fruits and veggies and they hardly seem to touch it. Is this normal?

 

[dodolah]

How much food do they eat? I have about 200 nymphs and about 25-30 adults.

I put food that the breeder gave me in there, some food i bought from a dubia breeder and fruits and veggies and they hardly seem to touch it. Is this normal?

wait till nighttime. You'll hear some rustling going on in the dark.
They loathe light. So, mostly, they'll hide under the egg crate/ whatever hiding place you used.

If you have made the gutload recipe I gave you, you can use the dry gutload and put it almost as thin substrate (not too much).
For water, either use vegetables (wet gutload) or some water crystal/ agar.

 

[xanthoman]

the food that comes with dubia is primarily crushed dry dog food , it is ok for getting your colony going, but can cause gout or other problems if fed to your chams, they will eat most veggies but it may take a little while for them to get used to , they love broccoli but i have been told that is not good in large amounts, lettuce has little food value except for the water content, but you can feed kale, collard greens, dandilion greens, shredded carots, most healthy veggies, most fresh grains , you can also supplement with a little bee pollen and the occasional flukers orange cube , i would avoid tomatoes, potatoes or anything starchy, remember dubia arent very active at temps below 85*, some sort of heat supplement is advised. if they are active and eating they should eat a noticeable amount of food most nights. they dont like light or being disturbed , cf member sandra chameleon seems to be one of the more knowledgeable on the nutritional aspect of things, so if she chimes in and you have specific questions hers would be a good lead to follow.most established gut load recipies are suitable as dubia food. some are quite extensive. a good idea is to collect recipies from a no of diiferent sources and then see what works best for you

 

[Chameleonboy]

They tend to eat when it is dark. You can try to put less food and start off with that and then work your way up, this way you can see how much they will really need to eat. You may be able to trick them and put them in a dark place, for some reason I cant trick my dubia they always know when it is really dark or when it is fake dark.

-Clemonde

 

[sandrachameleon]

How much food do they eat? I have about 200 nymphs and about 25-30 adults.
I put food that the breeder gave me in there, some food i bought from a dubia breeder and fruits and veggies and they hardly seem to touch it. Is this normal?

How warm are they? As previously mentioned, they will eat more at night and when kept warm.

When you run out of the food you got from the dubia breeder, here are some things you can use:

dandelion leaves; squash; carrot; yam; orange; collard greens; alfalfa sprouts; mustard greens; pomegranet; kale; romaine; apple; corn; berries; spirulina; bee pollen; dried alfalfa; raw sunflower seeds; dried seaweed/kelp/dulse; dried organic coconut; dried tree leaves (as in those that fall from trees in the fall season); ground almonds; ground brazil nuts; wheat germ; hemp seed; fig powder; limited amounts of dog food; limited amounts of avian pellets; small amounts of quality whole grain cereal; cooked egg; dead (from natural causes) crickets.​

 

[dirrtybirdy]

Well they are in a dark rubbermaid tub. Its completely dark in there. It gets about 80-90 degrees in that room during the day so I dont think an extra eating source.

I also feed them dandilion leafs, carrots and sometimes lettuce when the other two are not available.

I have water crystals in there and they dont see to touch it either.


When feeding crickets I have to drop new food in there almost every day.

 

[dirrtybirdy]

How warm are they? As previously mentioned, they will eat more at night and when kept warm.

When you run out of the food you got from the dubia breeder, here are some things you can use:

dandelion leaves; squash; carrot; yam; orange; collard greens; alfalfa sprouts; mustard greens; pomegranet; kale; romaine; apple; corn; berries; spirulina; bee pollen; dried alfalfa; raw sunflower seeds; dried seaweed/kelp/dulse; dried organic coconut; dried tree leaves (as in those that fall from trees in the fall season); ground almonds; ground brazil nuts; wheat germ; hemp seed; fig powder; limited amounts of dog food; limited amounts of avian pellets; small amounts of quality whole grain cereal; cooked egg; dead (from natural causes) crickets.​

Can I just make a dry mix of all these?

 

[sandrachameleon]

You can make a dry mix of all the dry stuff, yes. Adjust amounts according to what nutrients you are trying to get into the roaches. If feeding the roaches off to the chameleons, leave out the dog food, and use more "wet" stuff than dry stuff.

and yes, 81F/27C is warm enough. 90 might be a little too warm

 

[nick barta]

I got some shelf paper and stuck it on the sides of my opaque plastic container, and it made it dark even in the daytime. Seemed they ate more after that, don't know for sure if it was the added darkness.

Nick