Introduced dubias to the clan

DeviousMike

New Member
I just started my colony of dubias. Purchased about 200 mixed with 10 breeding pairs. I decided this morning to try to see if my chams will like them and I have sort of mixed results.

First off was Aayla. She is the only one that will hand/tong feed so I tried her out first. Picked one out that was slightly larger then is recommended, held it with tongs in front of her and it was snatched in seconds. Took her a minute to swallow it but she got it down no problem after some crunching. Afterward, I tried to give her another and she did not take it. Tried something small, no reaction. So I tried a cricket and surprisingly she did not take it. So this leads me to believe that the first roach made her full. There are a few roaches roaming in her cage so perhaps she'll catch them later. The one issue is that I don't even see them! there aren't many hiding places at all on the bottom of the cage, so its like they pulled a Houdini on me.

Next up was Darth Veilder. I put a freshly molted white one in in his jug. He showed interest, but then turned around back to his basking spot. I put two more dark ones in just to see if the color might have thrown him off. Did not show interest until about 30 minutes later. He went to the jug and did not shoot one until some hard investigation. He finally took one then went back to basking. He usually does that with supers too, so perhaps he's letting his stomach settle before he goes back for more.

Lastly is Maul. I just threw 3 roaches of varying sizes in his jug. No point observing as he is eating less these days, and never when I'm around. I'll check on him tomorrow morning.
 
The one issue is that I don't even see them! there aren't many hiding places at all on the bottom of the cage, so its like they pulled a Houdini on me.

They are very good at hiding. Dubias are nocturnal and will hide from the slightest light. The best way to feed them off, is to use a light colored dish of some sort, kinda like the ones that mealworms from Petsmart come in. A small cream cheese or cottage cheese containers works too.
 
I found them actually. I just took them out and tried a cup. Aayla is not so big on the tong feeding of them but she will gorge them out of a cup.
 
I have to get a food colony going, I'm just worried about those things getting out into the house!

Where are you located? They are tropical in origin, so if they get out, they most likely would die or at very least not be able to reproduce. If you live in an area where you have a reasonably cold winter, they would die off if escaped. Plus, they can't climb glass or plastic, so escape is very difficult for them. Trust me- I was very apprehensive about bringing them into my home as well, but they've turned out to be very easy to deal with. I still don't like touching the winged adults though!
 
I think of crickets of being more "cockroachish" to me then dubias. My daughter keep 3 and put them in a container as "pets" that sit on my living room table. They don't stink and arent bad to touch and feed either. I dont feed my cham them everyday as I see her getting spoiled on them if I do and her to stop eating crickets. As much as I HATE crickets I feel I have a better gutloading system down with them. Dubias are new to me so I have only been working with them for a month now but like them alot better. There not gonna escape and turn your house into a roach motel like a cockroach will.
 
dubias will hide and not move so they dont get the chams attention. What i do is place the dubia on the vine near my cham and when it walks away he will shoot it. i tried putting it on the screen, but after 3 shots he chould not grab the dubia, when i tried to pull it off it had a real good grip on the screen which is why i think he couldnt grab it. they do seem to get full faster on the dubia though, more meat i guess.
 
thanks i was thinking of ordering some from mulberry farm
is this a good place or dose anyone know of anywhere better?
 
thanks i was thinking of ordering some from mulberry farm
is this a good place or dose anyone know of anywhere better?

I look at the classifieds on this website first. Usually there are a lot of members selling off some of their extra dubias, that is where I got rid of my excess ones, to DeviousMike even :)

I had the same reaction from my chams too. I used to get Samson to eat dubias, for a period of time he would eat them daily. Now he just gets ready to shoot but stops himself once he gets a good look at them, he just must not like them. Lol unless I had some bad tasting roaches, which might explain Devious' problem. :p Jk.
 
I haven't had any trouble getting all my chams eating dubias. Even the carpets like them now, although they did not know what they were looking at first. I usually put them in a feeder cup and put a stick leaning on a branch so the roaches can climb up. They get picked off as they are climbing out of the feeder cup. I gutload with shredded carrots and yellow squash and they all seem to really like them. It took a while though. If they don't like them keep trying.
 
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