Dubia Roaches

[rgibs590]

In anticipation of my new cham I have decided that I want to use dubia roaches as feeders instead of crickets! My cham is just old enough to ship however so I assume that he will need some smaller dubias, If I bought a starter colony would there be some in there that he would be able to feed on? or would I be best buying smaller Dubia's in bulk from elsewhere and just raising them up. Also where should I buy my Dubia's I've heard some members sell colonies? Help me out!

 

[camimom]

if you buy a starter colony, you might get some nymphs that are small enough, but eventually you can get them to breed.

i recommend using some crickets for now, in case you dont have enough small dubias to feed off.

But also when i feed roaches, i put a couple crickets in the cup too, since the roaches dont move much and chams like to eat bugs that move.

 

[rgibs590]

if you buy a starter colony, you might get some nymphs that are small enough, but eventually you can get them to breed.

i recommend using some crickets for now, in case you dont have enough small dubias to feed off.

But also when i feed roaches, i put a couple crickets in the cup too, since the roaches dont move much and chams like to eat bugs that move.

Thanks for the input! I will probably just buy small amounts of crickets from my pet store when needed rather than buying in bulk from some place online.

 

[camimom]

Very welcome.

be warned though. your cham, may not eat roaches.. so you may have to resort to crickets anyway.

 

[lisagr07]

be warned though. your cham, may not eat roaches.. so you may have to resort to crickets anyway.

i second that... i would much rather my guy ate roaches as to crickets! but he has his own opinion!!!
IMO roaches are waaaayyyyy easier and readily breed, don't smell like crickets and are just a nutritious as crickets. having said that Stanley prefers crickets, so i deal with the smell and continuous purchasing allthe while, my roach colony is exploding!!!!!

 

[camimom]

i second that... i would much rather my guy ate roaches as to crickets! but he has his own opinion!!!
IMO roaches are waaaayyyyy easier and readily breed, don't smell like crickets and are just a nutritious as crickets. having said that Stanley prefers crickets, so i deal with the smell and continuous purchasing allthe while, my roach colony is exploding!!!!!

Id be happy to take some of your roach colony off your hands! lol.

 

[lisagr07]

Id be happy to take some of your roach colony off your hands! lol.

we may vary well be able to work something out!!!!!!!

 

[camimom]

we may vary well be able to work something out!!!!!!!

Im here all the time! haha

 

[ISA my Veiled]

The difficult thing about the dubia is you won't be able to feed them off right away because you want your colony to develop so you can feed off the good sized nymphs for your Chameleon. Honestly though you may have to go with crickets for a few months just to assure your colony can develop well. Crickets aren't that bad I use them and dubia. But just throw in some superworms, silkworms, or hornworms and he should be good until it starts developing. Variety is key my friend!

 

[arnau666]

when i started my dubia colony i got like 200 adults and 200 nimphs .
now i really dont know the exact number but i assume i got like 500 adults ,500 new borns, and some nymphs

 

[rgibs590]

I bought 500 babies from the Roach Ranch, I figure I will just supplement with Crickets from Petco until my Roaches are up and running

 

[ISA my Veiled]

when i started my dubia colony i got like 200 adults and 200 nimphs .
now i really dont know the exact number but i assume i got like 500 adults ,500 new borns, and some nymphs

Yeah it depends on where you get them from. My starter colony only had like 150 roaches total if that. Only 20 bucks though so not a bad deal

 

[mpeek]

I don't think that there is a standard for "starter colonies" so it totally depends on who you are getting them from. I would recommend that you do buy some smaller nymphs for your little guy to eat, and leave the colony undisturbed for as long as you can. The more you can get your colony going the happier you, your cham, and your pocket book will be.

 

[rgibs590]

I don't think that there is a standard for "starter colonies" so it totally depends on who you are getting them from. I would recommend that you do buy some smaller nymphs for your little guy to eat, and leave the colony undisturbed for as long as you can. The more you can get your colony going the happier you, your cham, and your pocket book will be.

I bought 500 in hopes that I could feed some, mixed with crickets and by the time my cham was all grown up I would have a colony do you think this is how it will turn out or am I missing something? lol

 

[nightanole]

Some people start with 50 and are fine. Here is the math.

If you have the ideal 1 male per 3-4 female, the females will produce 30-40 babies a month. So if you have 500. and 400 are females producing 30-40 a month...

Or even 200 are females, thats 5000 babies a month easy, and females breed for over a year, and the life cycle is 4-5 months from egg to adult...

For training im having luck doing a 50/50 mix of crickets and dubia in the cham feeder (cut up jug with screen up the side for the food to climb vert). He still wont hand feed them, they dont wiggle enough...