To be or not to be a roach breeder

[JoXie411]

I’ve said in the past I would not breed Dubias but I’ve come to the point that I hate crickets and need to get roaches added to my life. I’m still unsure if I should soooo if someone would like to talk me into it go for it lol. Rainbow has female and male Dubias for sale right now and I’m about to go a big order

 

[krikinit]

As long as your critter will eat them, go for it. I hear they smell less too. I bought 10 dubias to see if my cham likes them. I still have 10.

 

[jamest0o0]

I said the same thing... look at me now. I didn't even get into chameleons for the longest time because I thought they needed some roaches. IME you quickly get over their roachiness when you realize most of the fear comes from a stigma caused by like 4 pest species? Most roaches will turn their roach noses up to anything that isn't fresh food. You'll even see them clean themselves after you touch them lol.

 

[Beman]

I say go for it. Beman now loves them and it is soooooo nice to get away from crickets. I would breed but honestly my family is standing strong in opposition to this.

 

[teen]

I dont breed them but i had stayed away from them up until about a month ago. My chams seem to love them and i hate crickets so its a win win. Theyre not bad to handle and as said above, they're not like the pest species most ppl picture when you hear roach.

 

[nightanole]

Dubias are natures compost heap. Put them in a bin with a small heating pad underneath, throw in all veg table scraps and apple cores you find laying around, and you get lizard food. With the right cleaner crew, you never have to clean out the bins, maybe once a year if frass goes crazy high.

 

[Beman]

While we are on the dubia topic... I have noticed that when I handle them to get them out for feeding my hands get itchy where ever they crawled... I wash them right after with antibacterial soap and it stops. Is this normal or do I maybe have a slight allergy?

 

[teen]

Good question same happens to me

 

[Syreptyon]

While we are on the dubia topic... I have noticed that when I handle them to get them out for feeding my hands get itchy where ever they crawled... I wash them right after with antibacterial soap and it stops. Is this normal or do I maybe have a slight allergy?

Dubia is a fairly common allergy to develop, from what I hear! Wearing gloves would probably solve the problem. I'm allergic to crickets and it's the wooorst

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

I'm right there with you @JoXie411 but dubias are expensive so breeding an easy roach like a dubia should be a no brainer. Don't worry we can keep it a secret. No one needs to know we breed roaches in our basements but us. Not even our significant others lol

 

[snitz427]

@Beman @teen apparently roach allergies are fairly common (a few friends had allergy testing and all of them had moderate to severe cockroach reactions).

I got hooked up with a colony of Dubia. The adults still skeeve me out, especially when near the bin and I can hear them scurry around *shudder*. That being said, I'm definitely getting desensitized and the nymphs don't really bother me. I do not handle them, though. My veileds love the small nymphs. All they had ever had as a staple were crickets so I think they appreciate the variety!

For those who clean the bins out infrequently, what do you do about the food remnants? I've found mine carry anything they can under the cardboard to eat. I occasionally find funky carrot chunks or orange peels pulled into the egg crate. Maybe I need to add more CUC (derm beetles?). I have darkling beetles, maybe I'll add some of those... although I haven't seen them actively eat at all yet.

 

[jamest0o0]

While we are on the dubia topic... I have noticed that when I handle them to get them out for feeding my hands get itchy where ever they crawled... I wash them right after with antibacterial soap and it stops. Is this normal or do I maybe have a slight allergy?

Sounds like an allergy, but might just be in your head? Is it turning red at all? Usually people are allergic to the frass dust, not the roaches themselves. I may be wrong about that though. Gloves and mask is a good way to prevent it.

 

[snitz427]

I'm right there with you @JoXie411 but dubias are expensive so breeding an easy roach like a dubia should be a no brainer. Don't worry we can keep it a secret. No one needs to know we breed roaches in our basements but us. Not even our significant others lol

We were at a family event and my husband was telling people about all the bugs we've started breeding and I shot him the "DON'T YOU DARE!!!" look.... he started to say we are breeding Dubias... and I interrupted and said "just Dubias. They're like roly poly bugs." You'd think he got the hint, but nope, he goes on to say we are raising roaches and I swear Grandmom almost feinted right then and there.

 

[jamest0o0]

@Beman @teen apparently roach allergies are fairly common (a few friends had allergy testing and all of them had moderate to severe cockroach reactions).

I got hooked up with a colony of Dubia. The adults still skeeve me out, especially when near the bin and I can hear them scurry around *shudder*. That being said, I'm definitely getting desensitized and the nymphs don't really bother me. I do not handle them, though. My veileds love the small nymphs. All they had ever had were crickets so I think they appreciate the variety!

For those who clean the bins out infrequently, what do you do about the food remnants? I've found mine carry anything they can under the cardboard to eat. I occasionally find funky carrot chunks or orange peels pulled into the egg crate. Maybe I need to add more CUC (derm beetles?). I have darkling beetles, maybe I'll add some of those... although I haven't seen them actively eat at all yet.

I wouldn't use dermestids personally, those things freak me out and I'm sure they would eat a freshly molted roach given the chance. Darkling beetles aren't as aggressive, but do the job pretty well. Overall, I just leave stuff in there like carrots that dry out. The nymphs tend to burrow into the old carrots to hide lol. Anything that molds over I remove.

 

[snitz427]

I wouldn't use dermestids personally, those things freak me out and I'm sure they would eat a freshly molted roach given the chance. Darkling beetles aren't as aggressive, but do the job pretty well. Overall, I just leave stuff in there like carrots that dry out. The nymphs tend to burrow into the old carrots to hide lol. Anything that molds over I remove.

oh that's good to know! The first few things I cleaned out I put in a ziploc bag before throwing it away, just to be sure nothing escaped into my house lol. Maybe I'll stick to carrots... they seem to be the best bang for the buck. I add orange slices, too, and they skinned them pretty quickly. Bug Burger doesn't last 30 minutes in there.

 

[Beman]

Sounds like an allergy, but might just be in your head? Is it turning red at all? Usually people are allergic to the frass dust, not the roaches themselves. I may be wrong about that though. Gloves and mask is a good way to prevent it.

Nope it just gets itchy lol. Then I wash my hands and it stops. Might be psychosomatic because I still get the creeps when I do have to pull them out or clean them.

 

[jamest0o0]

oh that's good to know! The first few things I cleaned out I put in a ziploc bag before throwing it away, just to be sure nothing escaped into my house lol. Maybe I'll stick to carrots... they seem to be the best bang for the buck. I add orange slices, too, and they skinned them pretty quickly. Bug Burger doesn't last 30 minutes in there.

Carrots are great, cheap and don't mold. I use them as my primary colony feeding food. Along with any table scraps, about once a month I'll throw a protein source like seeds and pollen in along with a little more variety(roaches are good at storing nutrients). I still gutload with a big variety to mine that are being fed off a couple weeks prior, but the breeding colonies get primarily carrots and scraps.

 

[jamest0o0]

We were at a family event and my husband was telling people about all the bugs we've started breeding and I shot him the "DON'T YOU DARE!!!" look.... he started to say we are breeding Dubias... and I interrupted and said "just Dubias. They're like roly poly bugs." You'd think he got the hint, but nope, he goes on to say we are raising roaches and I swear Grandmom almost feinted right then and there.

This is so funny. Oddly enough, alexa is usually the one that tells people yeah we have roaches! I'm the one that never brings my critters up.

Btw if you think dubia scurry around a lot, try orangeheads hahaha. They took some time getting used to...

 

[snitz427]

Btw if you think dubia scurry around a lot, try orangeheads hahaha. They took some time getting used to...

I thought about getting orange heads since they are so prolific... but honestly I have WAY more breeding feeders than my guys will eat so why bother at this point. I think the orange heads would breed too quickly for us! I hear ivory head roaches are pretty docile, what's your thoughts on them James? Do you breed those?

 

[jamest0o0]

I thought about getting orange heads since they are so prolific... but honestly I have WAY more breeding feeders than my guys will eat so why bother at this point. I think the orange heads would breed too quickly for us! I hear ivory head roaches are pretty docile, what's your thoughts on them James? Do you breed those?

Yeah I don't blame you. Was just funny thinking about how they sound moving around fast. Idk if they're more prolific, they can have the tendency to eat each other and sometimes die easier than dubia for whatever reason.

Ivory heads like to burrow and get bigger than orangeheads. IME they're about as active though. They're a composting roach so you can make your own fertilizer with them lol. My only issue with them is their legs get really spikey. The big ones have made me bleed before from their leg spikes.