Dubia vs Cricket

[kdc5019]

Greeting Everyone!

Kyle here. I am a proud owner of a 6 month old Ambilobe Panther Cham Thor!

Currently his staple feeder is crickets. The more and more I read articles on these forums the more I am curious about Dubia as a staple feeder.

So my question to everyone is, who wins the Dubia or the Cricket?

The Dubia seems easier to start and maintain a colony. They apparently dont smell as bad and the housekeeping is much easier than with crickets. But having Roaches in my house???? IDK

So I would love to hear some opinions on your favorite staple feeders.

Also for those who do love to use Dubia could talk about your experience with them and where a good source (a reputable supplier ) would be to get them online?

Thanks,
Kyle

 

[nightanole]

I started feeding dubia when the crickets were nearing 2 dozen a day, and they had to be large, so they chirped. They dont stink like crickets so i can keep the colony in the home closet. They dont really make noise and cant climb worth of crap(my tub has 2" between jail and freedom, no escapes).

The only thing i dont like about dubia is they dont move much and are very flat. I can only hand feed mine (yes the horror) since if you place a dubia down it does nothing. At least cricket hop, clean themselves, etc.

 

[CLP]

I started feeding dubia when the crickets were nearing 2 dozen a day, and they had to be large, so they chirped. They dont stink like crickets so i can keep the colony in the home closet. They dont really make noise and cant climb worth of crap(my tub has 2" between jail and freedom, no escapes).

The only thing i dont like about dubia is they dont move much and are very flat. I can only hand feed mine (yes the horror) since if you place a dubia down it does nothing. At least cricket hop, clean themselves, etc.

I agree. I hate crickets. They stink, they're noisy and they're alway escaping.

Dubia don't make any noise, the only smell is a slightly sweet smell, but it's not strong. I pretty much have to have my face right over the bin to smell anything at all. Second biggest "winner" for me is, no noise - none! I don't know if it's just me, but an escaped cricket is far noisier than the ones in the bin Once they're out, they chirp like they're on speed ALL NIGHT LONG . I've actually gotten up in the middle of the night and hauled the fridge out from the wall to try and catch the offending cricket!

As for escapees, I've never had any dubia escape from my bin, but have had the odd one escape from the feeding cups. As the males can "fly" short distances (not up, but can hold their elevation for a foot or two), I have had the odd one escape the feeding cup/bottle and end up eventually escaping the cage. However, I've always found them easily and while they were "free" I never heard any anoying chirping.

However, as mentioned, they tend to not move around much, so sometimes harder to get your cham interested.

As for suppliers, I'm pretty sure there are a few sponsors on here, but I'm in Canada so can't make any recommendations

 

[jannb]

I recommend both. You want to have a large variety of feeders for your chameleon. Also as mentions above some chameleons just don't like roaches. Out of all the chams that I've had not even half would touch a roach. I would recommend buying just a few to start with to see if he likes them.

 

[Ctg]

I was going both for a white but have since switched to dubias with phoenix and silk worms. What I do for dubias is set them on their backs with tongs in front of my cham (leaf, branch, etc) and it'll squirm enough that she'll eat them within seconds.

 

[ojr5]

I live in Manhattan where cockroaches are Enemy of the State #1. How would you recommend I assuage my roommates' concerns about dubias? The idea of BRINGING roaches INTO an NYC apartment is met with madness.

 

[Ksauber]

I live in Manhattan where cockroaches are Enemy of the State #1. How would you recommend I assuage my roommates' concerns about dubias? The idea of BRINGING roaches INTO an NYC apartment is met with madness.

I would love to know this too! The topic of breeding roaches is not going over well with my husband lol

 

[little leaf]

this is how I convinced my HUSBAND ( he is WORSE than NYC when it comes to roaches- lol) but I do know , roommates are not quite like husbands ( they are worse )
they do not smell - no noise - breed easily ( once started - free food ) bad climbers - they can not breed out of the bin - they need the heat - they can LIVE out of the bin- but they seem to be... STUPID - they do not rush off like some of the other roaches - and when they hit something- they seem to stop - so easy to catch ( sorta - I have never had any get lose - but they have dropped in the cage, and I just stab them - ) they have more "meat" than crix - and THEY DO NOT SMELL - lol
I do keep crix on rare occasions - if you drop one crix in the cup w/ the roaches, his jumping about keeps the roaches moving - (unless they eat the crix first ) but mine eat them about as fast as I can put them in ~ I HATED, FEARED roaches when I first got them- now I keep 2 kinds of roach, the dubia , and banana

 

[gar732]

I live in Manhattan where cockroaches are Enemy of the State #1. How would you recommend I assuage my roommates' concerns about dubias? The idea of BRINGING roaches INTO an NYC apartment is met with madness.

That's been my issue with dubias, the wife just won't have it and she feeds half the time. I've read that escapees can't survive or breed in the northern climates so no worries about infestations and as I understand they also can't climb so no worries with escaping a tall bin. I'm planing on trying them and just not telling the wife.

On a side note as long as you keep the cricket bin well ventilated and cleaned out regularly they really don't smell too bad.

 

[little leaf]

I'm planing on trying them and just not telling the wife.

you are brave - but I would have a great back up gift just encase she finds out

 

[Ksauber]

I'm planing on trying them and just not telling the wife.

This is the type of thing thy would make my husband throw me out lol

 

[gar732]

you are brave - but I would have a great back up gift just encase she finds out

Funny you that say that, ever since those pandora bracelets came out I've always kept a new bead for it hanging around just in case I needed it.

This is the type of thing thy would make my husband throw me out lol

Maybe but but she'd take me back eventually, if only for the Cham's sake, lol. And who knows maybe she'll see that they aren't so bad or maybe the Cham won't eat them and no one would ever need to know.

 

[Mijah139]

As an entemology lover, I dont see the huge fuss over keeping dubias in the house. Of the plethora of roach species, only around 30 or so are concidered to be "pests." Dubias that you purchase, unlike the roaches you find coming out of you sink, will not have been influenced to pathogens or bacteria and wont be carrying disease. If you have trouble convincing a roommate to keep roaches around due to the negative connotations wrongfully given to all roaches, tell them that the dubias are beetles they may buy it.

 

[little leaf]

Funny you that say that, ever since those pandora bracelets came out I've always kept a new bead for it hanging around just in case I needed it.

hmm - maybe I am to forgiving to my husband- he keeps new vines and gift cards to my fav/ pet shop to get off my " list" -

 

[Ksauber]

hmm - maybe I am to forgiving to my husband- he keeps new vines and gift cards to my fav/ pet shop to get off my " list" -

Wow my husband doesn't keep gifts around. Maybe I need to get mad at him more often

 

[Ninkylou]

I live in Manhattan where cockroaches are Enemy of the State #1. How would you recommend I assuage my roommates' concerns about dubias? The idea of BRINGING roaches INTO an NYC apartment is met with madness.

Just call them beetles ;o). The nymphs really look like pill bugs...

I find if I put them on their backs in the feeding cup their wiggling legs will attract the cham. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel but their destiny has already been decided.

 

[ojr5]

If you have trouble convincing a roommate to keep roaches around due to the negative connotations wrongfully given to all roaches, tell them that the dubias are beetles they may buy it.

boom, that's the solution.

 

[AndrewBrian]

With me i put a hanging fake plastic plant with a fake branch.... the branch is thick i can drill it and screw a plastic bowl at the bottom... I put my dubias there and they climb the branch that's when my chameleon hunts them down... sometimes they tend to hide behind the plastic leaves though but if not today my chameleon usually finds then the next... but true that i have 1 chameleon that seldom eats dubias.... and almost all my chameleons wont eat crickets they are weird.... their fave would be grasshoppers and superworms but i try to make dubia the staple for the 2 females that do eat it

 

[Albula]

When people say dubia can't climb, do they mean up the sides of a bin or will they climb up the side of our screened chameleon enclosures?

Also, my baby panther chameleon came in a homemade makeshift bin that looks like a previous cricket keeper. It is a large tupperware like container with lanai screening put in the cutouts. The screen is like the lanai screens though and not aluminum. If I was to get dubias or crickets and put them in this bin would I have to worry about crickets or dubias eating through the plasticlike screen? Thanks

 

[browncofan]

Dubias

I have been in Heaven since switching to Dubias. No smell, no chirping, they eat half as many since they are meatier. Way easier to breed than crickets. I don't use crickets at all, but I do have a huge variety of feeders available, butterworms, phoenix worms, hornworms, silkworms, superworms and Dubia, and flies when the phoenix worms turn into soldier flies.

They can climb, just not on smooth surfaces. I got an idea from someone on the forum about hot glueing a stick in the center of the feeding cup so the dubia will climb up the stick, they climb up and down the stick and Gleek sees them. I just cut a section of the Reptivine I had off and used that it is rough enough for the dubia to climb the phoenix and butter worms climb it too.