what to do if you have too many dubia?

heartben

heartben

New Member
maybe its a silly question, but seriously. what do you do if you end up having too many dubia? (or roaches in general)

im sure someone will say like.. get more chams! (or other animals that eat them)

anyways, i only have a couple days left of crickets due to a lot of die off and now im thinking of getting dubia. i dont think im going ot have a problem for quite awhile or anything i just like to be prepared.

someone told me it was illegal to have dubia in iowa but i havent found any info on it so idk. for that reason, id rather not just toss them in a forrest or something.

thanks
 
i assumed that would be the popular response. that probably what id do if i got to that point.

itd be cool to sell locally too.
 
I'm actually in that boat right now. I've had my dubia colony going for a year now, and with two chams obviously they don't keep up with it. I have been considering a couple options. One is that I could sell some online of course, the other is that I found a local pet shop where the owner said I could bring them in for a trade. I was thinking I'd trade them for some rat pups or something for my snake, but I'm sure I could get a trade for just about anything I need at the time. I've also given quite a few away already.

I am thinking that I should do this soon because the other day my daughter said she saw a male dubia actually flying! I think this might be a sign they're getting too crowded!
 
If selling them doesnt work out
you could Eat them yourself? I can send you some recipies....
alternatively, smash the extra ones and let your superworms eat them.
 
radstusky said:
I'm actually in that boat right now. I've had my dubia colony going for a year now, and with two chams obviously they don't keep up with it. I have been considering a couple options. One is that I could sell some online of course, the other is that I found a local pet shop where the owner said I could bring them in for a trade. I was thinking I'd trade them for some rat pups or something for my snake, but I'm sure I could get a trade for just about anything I need at the time. I've also given quite a few away already.

I am thinking that I should do this soon because the other day my daughter said she saw a male dubia actually flying! I think this might be a sign they're getting too crowded!
Click to expand...

Dubia males do not fly. The closest thing I have seen to flying is they droped to the ground with there wings open and then hit the ground hard.
 
On another note...

If you are really worried about the size of a colony getting out of control on you, there are ways of controlling the population.

When I am trying to boost a colony I like to keep 3-5 adult females for every one adult male, to slow down production you could bring the female to male ration down a bit; say maybe 2 -3 females per male.

The other sure fire way to slow down an exploding roach colony is to lower the temperature at which the colony is kept.

You can play with these factors in your colony against the rate you feed off to try to find a stable method that keeps your colony around the size you like it.

Since my problem is the opposite of what you are asking, and I normally lack the patience to let a colony establish before I feed it all off:eek:... I take small tupperware containers and house mating groups of adult dubias in as warm a spot as possible, so that removing the babies into a nymph rearing bin is easier, and so that I am not tempted to feed off my breeders. Keeping the breeders in a confined space with each other seems to be working well for me, and I always have a good tab on how fast the colony is growing.

~Joe

EDIT: Also... I have witnessed male Dubia Flutter for a decent distance, from a high cage, a good distance accross the room. It wasn't very impressive, but it could be called flying. I think you are right in thinking that it could be a crowding issue. If you are providing ideal conditions in the bins you will never see one fly out.
 
SoCaliSon said:
On another note...

If you are really worried about the size of a colony getting out of control on you, there are ways of controlling the population.

When I am trying to boost a colony I like to keep 3-5 adult females for every one adult male, to slow down production you could bring the female to male ration down a bit; say maybe 2 -3 females per male.

The other sure fire way to slow down an exploding roach colony is to lower the temperature at which the colony is kept.

You can play with these factors in your colony against the rate you feed off to try to find a stable method that keeps your colony around the size you like it.

Since my problem is the opposite of what you are asking, and I normally lack the patience to let a colony establish before I feed it all off:eek:... I take small tupperware containers and house mating groups of adult dubias in as warm a spot as possible, so that removing the babies into a nymph rearing bin is easier, and so that I am not tempted to feed off my breeders. Keeping the breeders in a confined space with each other seems to be working well for me, and I always have a good tab on how fast the colony is growing.

~Joe

EDIT: Also... I have witnessed male Dubia Flutter for a decent distance, from a high cage, a good distance accross the room. It wasn't very impressive, but it could be called flying. I think you are right in thinking that it could be a crowding issue. If you are providing ideal conditions in the bins you will never see one fly out.
Click to expand...

I think mine are crowded. They are in a 100 gal tall aquarium. It is safe to say I must have 3000. And i have nothing that can eat an adult dubia. Last year the seniors at the high school wanted some for the fear factor challenge , a fund raiser no less. I gave them several hundred and can't even see the difference. Damn they eat a lot. I have never, ever seen one even think about flying or I would kill every one. UGH!!!!!!!!!!
 
You can always sell them or Trade with other members on the site for worms and butterflies and stuff. On another option, if you find the roaches are reproducing too much and you cant feed them off fast enough, remove the heat or even cool them a little, itll slow down the nasty as far as i understand
 
laurie said:
I think mine are crowded. They are in a 100 gal tall aquarium. It is safe to say I must have 3000. And i have nothing that can eat an adult dubia. Last year the seniors at the high school wanted some for the fear factor challenge , a fund raiser no less. I gave them several hundred and can't even see the difference. Damn they eat a lot. I have never, ever seen one even think about flying or I would kill every one. UGH!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

None of your chams are large enough to eat adult dubia? And Im guessing you sold all of your dragons as well lol
 
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