Trying to get better at feeders, lots of questions!

[etclement]

Hi! I have a 2-3 month old veiled in my care and all he eats currently are dubia. He seems to like them, but I know that veileds get bored really easily when it comes to food. I wanted to branch out a bit (no crickets, never again) possibly into green banana roaches. If an experienced GBR or dubia keeper could help me with a few questions, that would be great!

Dubia colony:
Currently, the dubia are housed in two containers, 66 quart clear bins. Each bin has water crystals/ oranges, 3 big egg cartons, and 2-3 small pieces of egg carton. No substrate at all. They are kept in a sauna with adequate humidity and temp. (about 50% and 85° F). I keep temps steady using heat pads and a space heater. The breeding colony currently houses 25 large nymphs (3/4 inch) 12 females, and 4 males. The feeding bin houses around 75 babies. Dubia are fed every other day. Breeders are fed dry roach food and oranges while feeders are fed a gutload. I've had no adults and a only few feeders die using this method.

Questions-
Do I need a substrate in the breeder bin? I heard that the babies sometimes like to burrow.
What cleaner crew should I use? I was leaning towards ordering springtails or catching rolly pollies from outside (Near a creek, so hopefully no pesticides).
Do either of the cleaner crews mentioned above need a special substrate or anything added to the dubia cage to survive?

GBR colony:
I'm planning on housing the GBR colony in the exact same type of bin I use for the dubia. I will have bark and about 2.5-3 inches of coco fiber as substrate. Not sure when or how I'm going to add humidity. GBRs will be all in the same bin as I'm going to try to use them mostly as supplementation, Im thinking around 70 at max. I'll expand the colony further if my cham seems to like them. The GBR's will be fed apples, bananas, and possibly oranges.

Questions-
How much bark should I use, and how should I arrange it?
Should the sauna be kept dark or are the lights OK on?
Can I use the same cleaner crew for GBR as I use for dubia, and/or is there a certain one you would recommend?
I was thinking of starting with 30 mixed adults and nymphs, is that enough to start a small colony?
Can GBR be used as a staple food alongside dubia, or are they mostly for treats?
How should I keep humidity up? I have a pressurized spray bottle I use to mist my cham.

Thanks for reading, I am very open to suggestions!

I also attached a pic of my colonies. Top left will be GBR, top right is adult dubia, bottom is feeder dubia. (Please ignore the mess!)
https://gyazo.com/db5a505a01c80e5b93a1b0ad83041d4c

 

[jamest0o0]

I don't think there is anything wrong with regularly feeding of GBR, but they usually take a long time to breed and stay pretty small. Your cham would need a lot... i know my guy enjoyed them when i had them, but personally i probably wouldn't bother breeding them. Maybe i'm wrong though. What about giving orange heads a try?

 

[jamest0o0]

-Would also keep everything in the dark
-not sure about springtails as a Cleaner crew, i use cleaner beetles.

 

[etclement]

-Would also keep everything in the dark
-not sure about springtails as a Cleaner crew, i use cleaner beetles.

Thanks! I was going to use GBR because I heard they were very good at breaking hunger strikes, and they are a bit smaller that dubia. What type of beetle do you use?

 

[etclement]

I'm probably going to be using these springtails.

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

I keep GBR originally from Nick Barta. Per his advice I keep them very warm and humid and with substrate and they've done very well for me. I keep mine on about 2" of orchid bark because it handles the moisture well. I keep them warm/hot with a heat pad and humid enough that there is condesation on the walls of the container and they reproduce quickly for me in a small plastic shoebox. I actually used to leave them directly on top of my dart frogs vivarium light and they did amazing there.

They're small. Even as adults the 'giants' are smaller than adult crickets. I use them as a treat. Only adults are green but the adults are the easy ones to feed off because they don't tend to dig. They climb and fly though so be aware of that. They're also fast and hide quickly so I tend to feed them off one at a time and make sure the last one got snagged before I present another.

 

[etclement]

I keep GBR originally from Nick Barta. Per his advice I keep them very warm and humid and with substrate and they've done very well for me. I keep mine on about 2" of orchid bark because it handles the moisture well. I keep them warm/hot with a heat pad and humid enough that there is condesation on the walls of the container and they reproduce quickly for me in a small plastic shoebox. I actually used to leave them directly on top of my dart frogs vivarium light and they did amazing there.

They're small. Even as adults the 'giants' are smaller than adult crickets. I use them as a treat. Only adults are green but the adults are the easy ones to feed off because they don't tend to dig. They climb and fly though so be aware of that. They're also fast and hide quickly so I tend to feed them off one at a time and make sure the last one got snagged before I present another.

Thanks for the feeding tip, I will try that.