New to Dubia, any pointers appreciated

[krknieriem]

Ok so after having my cham for about 6 months I have decided to start a dubia colony and ordered a 1000 juveniles to start me off. The person I ordered them from here on the forums told me to get the 1000 so I could feed some off while others matured, any pointers people have on keeping the colony going is greatly appreciated

I think I have crossed some sort of line when the feeders start to become pets lol

 

[Chamifornia]

You should have ordered atleast 50 adult females and some males otherwise if they aren't too old it takes awhile for them to mature

 

[krknieriem]

Thanks Chamifornia, I may end up ordering more at some point, I will have to see how it goes

 

[pssh]

How big are the nymphs? If you have a good amount of large 1+" ones, you don't need to buy more unless you want to. They would become adults within the month if you give them optimal care.

 

[Maurer3D]

Here are some of the tips I use for my colonies....

• Feed them fresh veggies (Carrots, Romain lettuce, oranges), plus a high quality dried grain (I use Cricket Food as my dry food).
• Make sure they have access to temperatures from 75 to 95 degrees.
• Have plenty of room (but not to much) egg crates are you friend I have 6 crates in my breeder colony (about 500 adult to near adult roaches)
• If you are only keeping 1 colony (not separating breeders and feeders) do not feed the a high protein diet (like dog food).
• Only clean the tub ever other week (unless you start getting mold)
• Make sure to have descent air flow (don't need to be as extreme as crickets, I drilled holes along the side of my tub)

I'm sure I missed a few tips I'll post again if I remember.

Also here is a link to a post I made a while ago..
Dubias...Sweet : Post 13

I might update this since I got my new camera (Nikon 5100 so sweet)

 

[BallstoWall30]

How do you guys get the balls to buy roaches for food.... Blah... Idk how I'll do it sounds sooo gross. What do u do? Pick them up with tweezers or actually let them crawl on u? Once my Cham gets old enough it's gonna be an adventure to try to use them

 

[Chamifornia]

Haha thought they would be gross but they aren't bad at all to pick up.

 

[clarkrw3]

How do you guys get the balls to buy roaches for food.... Blah... Idk how I'll do it sounds sooo gross. What do u do? Pick them up with tweezers or actually let them crawl on u? Once my Cham gets old enough it's gonna be an adventure to try to use them

Don't knock it till you have tried it They are slowish, don't jump, don't stink, don't climb, don't squish easy, have live babies...So many positives the only negative is they sit in the cup and look like lumps of dirt

 

[krknieriem]

I dont know how big the nymphs are going to be but I am curious as to how this is going to go, the g/f already doesnt approve but I said they wont get out ...lol, and I said they wont make the noise the crickets do, it sounds like summer every night I go to bed...lol

 

[chameleonoobie]

I would recommend very high temps, like 90 plus all the time. Sweep the floor with a paint brush over to one side but leave it for the nymphs to eat and burrow in between major cleanings. Learn to tell males from females and only use males for feeding out of your colony until they are producing, which might take a couple of months.

 

[krknieriem]

After hearing everyones helpful insight it sounds like I will need to go get a heating pad, I already have a large tote from walmart that I was using for the bulk cricket orders I was getting before. I am going to occasionally feed off the males once I can tell as suggested and continue feeding crickets from a local pet store until it is self supporting

 

[EvilLost]

Maurer hit most of the key points....


I'd have to say the biggest things that have affected my success:

-NO HUMIDITY OR MOISTURE. Aside from rot/whatever, the roaches themselves hate it. What I did was cut a large hole out of my 64quart plastic tub LID and glue gunned on screen.

-Realize that the water crystals will EVAPORATE (esp when heated). So make sure you have VENTILATION!! I learned this lesson the hard way when I checked on my colony after 2 weeks to find the entire thing moist, rotten, and..mostly dead. After cutting that screen hole and trying again (2nd try setup feb 26), I have turned my 6.24 starting adults into over 500++ now and have been feeding out of it for about a month straight.