Starting dubia colony

Adgbop

Adgbop

Member
A buddy of mine just hooked me up with about 100 adult dubia :D i want to start a colony! What are some tips to get this going? Gutload, enclosure etc etc..
 
Adgbop said:
A buddy of mine just hooked me up with about 100 adult dubia :D i want to start a colony! What are some tips to get this going? Gutload, enclosure etc etc..
Click to expand...

Very nice! I'm not sure if I will ever be able to do roaches, but who knows, my fiance and I might get over that feeling about them in time.
 
Video Master said:
Very nice! I'm not sure if I will ever be able to do roaches, but who knows, my fiance and I might get over that feeling about them in time.
Click to expand...

I honestly think they are better than crickets.. Less smell and just cleaner in general. Im just trying to figure out the best gutload for these guys?
 
 
Last edited:
I like to keep it simple. I gutload dubia with the same thing I use for crickets. I keep them in a large glass aquarium, so the can't crawl out, use lots of egg crates for then to crawl on and heat them by a under tank heater and a heat emitter on top the screen. I use a heat emmiter rather than a light as roaches like it dark.
 
For me I bought a heavy duty tote for about ten bucks. Cut out a rectangular hole on each side. Applied some cheap screen like you use in windows and then a cover. This helped to prevent moisture build up in mine. Several egg crates for them to hide in and lay eggs on. For food, I use chicken food, but mix in reptile vitamins and extra calcium. I got these:
pACE3-12576547enh-z7.jpg

I fill them up, put the lid on, flip it over. Towards the now bottom but above the lid I've cut a hole so the roaches can walk up and feed and as they do more food moves down. Keeps the food from being all over the place. I also do one with water crystals. The jars for like 3 are $5 here, the chicken feed for a 5lb bag was $5 and I already had the vitamins.

For heat, I keep mine in my laundry room high on a shelf. That room is also where my heat furnace is so the temps stay nice and warm for them in there. I have a heating pad handy just in case however.

Every other day I give them fresh fruits or veggies...they LOVE oranges. lol:cool:
 

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Adgbop said:
A buddy of mine just hooked me up with about 100 adult dubia :D i want to start a colony! What are some tips to get this going? Gutload, enclosure etc etc..
Click to expand...

They're easy. Put em in a plastic storage tote with a hole cut in the top and covered with screen. Buy a cheap heating pad at Walmart and put it under the tote (they need approximately 90 deg F temp to breed). Fill half the tote with cardboard egg crates stacked vertically. This will let their poop fall to the bottom of the container. For food, give them chicken feed and fish flakes mixed together in a small container in the corner with a hole cut in the side so they can climb in. For water, but some Miracle Grow water crystals at Home Depot. Put a couple tablespoons in a gallon of water and let it gel up. Put the water-gel in a plastic container like the food. Every couple weeks or so throw in an orange cut in half, this promotes breeding.

For gut loading, dump in some dry bug burger. They love it. Fresh veggies are good too, but keep it fresh. Mold kills roaches.

Keep a ratio of about 4 females to every 1 male.

They breed like rabbits - but faster! Pretty soon you'll find yourself overrun with Dubia's. You cham's love them.

For feeding, I mounted a ceramic bowl in my cham cage and glued a stick about 4 inches tall right in the middle of it with silicon caulking. When I dump the roaches in, they climb up the stick and make themselves presentable as food.

If you've got any questions, feel free to message me.
 
Ratio to male/female is debatable. I have friends who keep it 1-10 others 1-20.

Males are useless, once they breed they hold no value, so they only compete for food kill each other etc. I personally keep it 1-6+ no real math too it, I just add more males when the yields are smaller that month. I separate the babies from the main colony, just to ensure they are getting food. Heat and humidity is also nice for them so that they grow faster.

High protein, fish flakes, dog food is fine for the breeder colony, they need protein. However, there are much better ways to go about giving them protein, I suggest checking out SandraChameleon's blogs on gutload, and only go high protein for the breeder colony.
 
Question

Questions: are you using just the water crystals made by miracles grow? Just curious becuase I used to work there and you have to be very careful not to get the kind with miracle grow actually in it! Just sayin, it chemicals which = poison! I just don't want to see more dead chams on here :\

kgallego said:
They're easy. Put em in a plastic storage tote with a hole cut in the top and covered with screen. Buy a cheap heating pad at Walmart and put it under the tote (they need approximately 90 deg F temp to breed). Fill half the tote with cardboard egg crates stacked vertically. This will let their poop fall to the bottom of the container. For food, give them chicken feed and fish flakes mixed together in a small container in the corner with a hole cut in the side so they can climb in. For water, but some Miracle Grow water crystals at Home Depot. Put a couple tablespoons in a gallon of water and let it gel up. Put the water-gel in a plastic container like the food. Every couple weeks or so throw in an orange cut in half, this promotes breeding.

For gut loading, dump in some dry bug burger. They love it. Fresh veggies are good too, but keep it fresh. Mold kills roaches.

Keep a ratio of about 4 females to every 1 male.

They breed like rabbits - but faster! Pretty soon you'll find yourself overrun with Dubia's. You cham's love them.

For feeding, I mounted a ceramic bowl in my cham cage and glued a stick about 4 inches tall right in the middle of it with silicon caulking. When I dump the roaches in, they climb up the stick and make themselves presentable as food.

If you've got any questions, feel free to message me.
Click to expand...
 
Tay And A said:
Questions: are you using just the water crystals made by miracles grow? Just curious becuase I used to work there and you have to be very careful not to get the kind with miracle grow actually in it! Just sayin, it chemicals which = poison! I just don't want to see more dead chams on here :\
Click to expand...

I'm just using pure water gel crystals. No added fertilizer. You can buy it at home depot in the garden section. I think a 1lb bag was like $4. It'll last forever.
 
SarahcoadunatioZac said:
Ratio to male/female is debatable. I have friends who keep it 1-10 others 1-20.

Males are useless, once they breed they hold no value, so they only compete for food kill each other etc. I personally keep it 1-6+ no real math too it, I just add more males when the yields are smaller that month. I separate the babies from the main colony, just to ensure they are getting food. Heat and humidity is also nice for them so that they grow faster.

High protein, fish flakes, dog food is fine for the breeder colony, they need protein. However, there are much better ways to go about giving them protein, I suggest checking out SandraChameleon's blogs on gutload, and only go high protein for the breeder colony.
Click to expand...

here is the link to sandra's blog on gutloading :)
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
 
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