i am thinking about starting a roach colony

[desultadox]

There are supposedly documented cases of Dubia males flying, but it's clumsy at best and a rare event. Also, while they may be slow most of the time, they are quite capable of demonstrating some speed when they get freaked out. They're very poor climbers and usually don't even seem to want to climb. They'd rather huddle up in the lowest darkest part of any container. I got some relatively cheap from blapticadubia.com but i got a way better deal off of a forum member here. Because they're so prolific you can probably find an equally good deal off of an independent breeder. I've been trying to keep my colony at a manageable size, so I don't have too many extras, otherwise I'd sell you some.

 

[Chameleonboy]

it is rare but i was cleaning my dubia tank today and happen to see one fly i caught him and put him right back

 

[summoner12]

Dubias are the best! Just feed, keep warm and they multiply like mad.

 

[Chameleonboy]

i agree but sometimes they are just scared of them

 

[murtasma]

Will a Dubia climb up the side of a wire mesh screen?

 

[PINki]

Protein food builds muscles. So how dubia is going to be meaty (high in protein for chams) if they dont eat any protein food?

 

[BocaJan]

If I purchase 75 mixed dubias, how long before they start to multiply? Do you only feed off the large ones? How long from babies till they start producing? I have 4 chams and don't want to be overrun with them.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

I've had very good results with ground up alfalfa pellets (guniea pig food, for added vitamins).

I think I'm going to look into getting somethign cheaper - chick starter maybe - as the number of roaches I now have is increasing to such a degree that simply maintaining the colony is going to be expensive.

My advice is start now, with as many as you can afford, and plan on not using any (except for a few spare males as treats) for 6 months or more. You'll be happy.

I use them for the melleri and deremensis. My veileds dont' seem to like them as much. They like to eat things crawling in their cages, and I will nto allow a roach to crawl anywhere unsupervised. I must be present at all roach executions, for fear that one should escape.

Spare males are for hand feeding, not bowl feeding, as they could fly. I tend to use large nympths for feeding - they seem meatier than adult males (guess so much goes into their wing formation). Plus, they're a better size than the big females (thoguh I must admit melleri do love a massive female roach here and there).

I'm at the stage where my cricket usage could go down by 80-90%. I'm going to hold off though, and just let them grow out a bit more.

Dubia are hands down the best insect I've used. They are easier to contain than crickets, they don't stink, they are easier to breed than anything else I've tried (leave them alone and it happens)... the young are small enough for very young chameleons (but not for babies), while the adults are perfect for the largest chameleons - you wouldn't want a larger size feeder. They're meaty, and easy to feed. Unlike orange headed roaches, they don't kill each other... much.

and they are tough. They won't breed if they get out (I am pretty sure they won't- I had to increase the temps to get them to breed a lot.), and they can live through cold spells better than most other roaches. I recieved them via USPS i nthe winter, and they were all alive despite being on th eroad for 4-5 days.

And they do not stink - that's a bigger plus than any of them, worth repeating.

 

[CammieNLeno]

I would go with dubias. I started a turk colony about 4 months ago.. and I am surprised that you all say that the turks dont stink. Mine have a very distinct odor to them, quite notciable when I open the lid for feeding and cleaning. Its not as bad as crickets... but without a doubt, they have a mildly unpleasant stench to em.

One thing that is pretty awesome is that i have yet to see a dead roach in the container i keep them in. I think out of the 50 crickets I just picked up on monday, 20 or so are already dead.. I dont know why.. i treat those dam things better than my actual cham it seems.. and the roaches get the same treatment with 0 losses.

I wasnt super impressed about the turks. My vote for you is go with the dubias.

 

[budthecham]

awesome, i ordered a starter colony of 75 from PONDERS, it should be here mid to late next week.

 

[summoner12]

Will a Dubia climb up the side of a wire mesh screen?

Yes, but they like to hide.

I fed some to my veiled Fred... I guess he didn't eat the roaches and they were hiding in his cage.... for a while because one day I found two almost adult dubia sitting in his cricket dish. They must have fallen in by mistake, but boy were they a lot bigger than when I had fed them to him.

 

[viaaf]

Orange head roaches are good ones also!

These are another South American roach. They have the same build / shape as the dubia but (in my experience) will reproduce more quickly. They will also build up a big population in a container. As was mentioned before, for the first few months let them breed and just feed off a minimal amount. Higher heat increases reproduction, also make sure there is plenty of food and water -- water crystals, spraying a side of the container, etc. The reproduction is geometric which means the food consumption is, too. At various times I've realized that what was a lot of food suddenly isn't, you need to keep up with them. If you do use these, Eublabaris pasticus (sp?), they like protein. A time or two a week feed them dog food or cat food. You can tell they need to get more when you see the wing covers chewed short, they'll nibble on each other if necessary. I believe Big Apple has them at a good price. If you've got a colony of dubia, no need to switch, but if you're just starting one they can be a good choice too.

 

[ciafardo 4]

i just got a mixed batch of lobster roaches im workin up the courage to touch them i have a bad phobia of roaches i love insects i just got the problem with roaches i chose lobsters cause they kinda look like big crickets but they are climbers i used extra vasaline around the rim no just got to figure out how im goin to get them from the tub to the chams mouth with out me passin out hahaha

 

[ciafardo 4]

man i just read all the posts i put them outside in my shed the hardy thing just creeped me out im stickin to crickets this whole roach thing is creepin me out i hate them lol ive had reptiles for about 15 years i made it this far without nasty roaches