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#2270302 Jeffmhopkins View Profile	Dubia Roach questions... Hello, So I had gone and obtained a few (25) of the Dubia roaches a couple of months ago and Monty, my CWD, really seemed to like them. Since then I went and got another 120 and am looking to start my own colony that can be sufficient to feed the guy. He isn’t too big right now, but easily eating 4-6 smaller nymphs a little less than the width of his head a day. Obviously I can’t feed him the really large ones, and I’m trying to get the population of the colony sized out. As of right now I have only one adult female and three adult males, but plenty of the juveniles that are just about ready to be adults by their size. My question is how many adult breeding females/males should I really have if my CWD is eating 4-6 roaches a day (with more probably as he gets bigger)? I understand that each female will make 20-35 babies a month, but is that enough to sustain the colony? All in all though Monty really seems to like the roaches. Easily twice as much as crickets. He gets excited when I open the top and very quickly eats them off my hand. I think he really likes the movement they have versus the crickets. I am kind of concerned about his diet though. He doesn’t like just about any of the worms (super, wax, butter, meal) and was eating just about only crickets before the roaches (we were dusting them). Now with the roaches, since he is kind of a picky eater, is it alright to feed him primarily roaches? I try to offer up some vegetables and fruits, but he just turns his head up at them. So, recap: 1) How many adult roaches (female/male) should I have to sustain my colony and feed the guy 4-6+ roaches a day? 2) Is eating primarily roaches a good diet, and if not what are some other things I should try and throw in there besides worms and vege/fruits? 3) As of right now I’m feeding the roaches fluker’s cricket food and crushed cat food, with occasional things like oranges, carrots, etc... Is there something else I can add to get the proper nutrients to my CWD? 4) Any other suggestions about starting a Dubia colony... 5) Oh, and another thing... When the females give birth how big are the babies? After my 120 package came in after a few days in their container I had some really small guys, about half the size of a potato bug, that might have been new borns, but I’m not sure how big they are at first. Wow.... sorry for the novel of a post. :)
06/17/12  01:47pm
#2270374 Raisdbywolvz View Profile	Message To: Jeffmhopkins   In reference to Message Id: 2270302  Dubia Roach questions... Rokdog is your man to answer most of your questions about the Dubias, but I can tell you a little about what to feed them. Collard greens (cheap at the grocery store) or dandelion greens (free from your yard as long as they’re chemical-free) are really high in calcium which your dragon needs. Here’s a page (for iguanas, but the same principles apply) about the greens to feed your bugs in order to gut-load them for feeding to your dragon. I turned this into a list of Staples, Treats, Occassionals, etc., and keep it in my bag for when I go to the store. That way I always know what I should be buying and what I can safely buy for them every now and then. Link
06/18/12  12:13am
#2270390 Cazicsmom View Profile	Message To: Raisdbywolvz   In reference to Message Id: 2270374  Dubia Roach questions... I am far from an expert, Rokdog really is the best. I will post what I know, and I am sure he will be along before long =) If he says anything that doesn’t agree with me, listen to him, and I will be too =) 1) How many adult roaches (female/male) should I have to sustain my colony and feed the guy 4-6+ roaches a day? -Alot depends on how soon you want to use it. If you want to be able to feed heavily right away, you need probably 150 - 200 females, with another 1/3 males (1:3 male:female ratio) It will not take long though and you will have more than you need. If you plan to buy them for 3-5 months, you could probably do 50-75 females. 2) Is eating primarily roaches a good diet, and if not what are some other things I should try and throw in there besides worms and vege/fruits? -Roaches are a great staple. They are nutritionally equivalent to 3-4 crickets, with less chitin. You want a variety, so if he ever gets tired of them you can entice him with something else. I use butterworms or hornworms about twice/week along with my roaches. 3) As of right now I’m feeding the roaches fluker’s cricket food and crushed cat food, with occasional things like oranges, carrots, etc... Is there something else I can add to get the proper nutrients to my CWD? -I use the progutload from Professional Reptile I talked with my vet and she recommended this to me. No one will give a "recipe" for their chow, so I like using this. Mine seem to love it =) 4) Any other suggestions about starting a Dubia colony... -Make sure to use a thermometer in your bin. You need the temperature to be at least 90-95 about 3-4 inches from the bottom of your tub. Most people (myself included) have better luck with their temps by using a heating pad or heat mat under 1/2 their bin. They are tropical and need the higher temps. Use water crystals for your water, they are great and you don’t get drowned babies. They will also help your humidity for their molting. Their humidity needs are fairly low - as long as they are molting you are good to go. I have two bins for mine - my breeding bin and my growing bin. I use two so that I am not stressing my breeders by digging out roaches every day. I give my breeding bin oranges (they say it helps a lot), greens, apples. My growing bin gets mango, apples, and greens. Oranges are not good for reptiles, and I don’t want my feeders filled with them. 5) Oh, and another thing... When the females give birth how big are the babies? After my 120 package came in after a few days in their container I had some really small guys, about half the size of a potato bug, that might have been new borns, but I’m not sure how big they are at first -Newly born nymphs are about 3/8 - 1/4". Hope that helps you a bit. I know Rok refers people to The Roach Guy for a successful colony =) Good luck, and if you have more questions, just ask.
06/18/12  02:02am
#2270406 Jeffmhopkins View Profile	Message To: Cazicsmom   In reference to Message Id: 2270390  Dubia Roach questions... Thanks for the replies. Cazicsmom, that gutload is actually some of the cheaper on the internet too... I think I’ll check that out. The roaches seem to like the cat food I give them, but gutloading cat food into a lizard just doesn’t sit right. Of course they get some of Flucker’s cricket gutload too, but still. I’ll look into getting me some of that pro gutload from progeckos. Thanks for the link. As of right now I have a heating pad underneath the tub, and temperatures are a little over a 100 on the floor and about 90-95 higher up. I’m currently using the cardboard drink holders from some fast food place in replacement of egg crates and that seems to do fine too. They are getting water gel and seem to be doing just fine... can’t wait for the larger nymphs to mature so I have more than just the one adult female. Shouldn’t be long though. I’ll probably have to purchase another lot of roaches to keep up with his eating until the adults mature more, but I can deal with that. And there is a local pet store whom I think are willing to accept any extra roaches that I might have in the future, so I don’t have to worry about the colony getting to big and not knowing what to do with them....
06/18/12  10:38am
#2270568 Jeffmhopkins View Profile	Message To: Jeffmhopkins   In reference to Message Id: 2270406  Dubia Roach questions...
06/19/12  04:11pm
#2270689 Rokdog View Profile	Message To: Jeffmhopkins   In reference to Message Id: 2270568  Dubia Roach questions... she’s purdy..... & raisedbywolves & cazicsmom gave you some good tips..... for a young dragon under 12"inches TL(total length) a starter colony of 300 mixed sized nymphs & 10 adult female breeders to 3 adult male breeders should suffice & keep up with productions demands. its advisable to keep your breeders in a seperat tub from feeders & to "cycle new adult sized nymphs" to the breeder colony as production wains as dubia age excellent info on roaches at this site..... TheRoachHut Happy Herping......!
06/20/12  08:30pm
#2270926 Jeffmhopkins View Profile	Message To: Rokdog   In reference to Message Id: 2270689  Dubia Roach questions... Well, we just had another four nyphs molt to adults, but three were male and only one new female, but we have other large nymphs getting ready to molt that will be female. I’llget up to ten pretty quickly, we just had another batch of babies come from the older female, so she still seems like a good breeder. Gave them collard greens and overnight it seemed as if a goodix or seven molted. Good stuff.
06/23/12  08:58am
#2271303 Jeffmhopkins View Profile	Message To: Jeffmhopkins   In reference to Message Id: 2270926  Dubia Roach questions... Well, the wife decided that we could really handle having another lizard so we just purchased a baby bearded dragon :) His name is Archimedes. Meanwhile, the 120ish roaches I ordered a little while ago are about eaten except for some very small ones. So instead of buying another 150 or so I went and purchased 1,000. ’1,000?’ my wife asked, eyes in horror... and then I explained they are all small nymphs. They were just as cheap as buying the 120 mixed, so I figured what the heck. I’m hoping the are small enough for our new little dragon as well, but we’ll see. I have a feeling that Monty (our CWD) will eat through these pretty fast as they are small. And then I can get the proper sized colony going as they mature. It’ll be interesting to see how many 1,000 roaches actually are..... :D
06/26/12  06:50pm
#2271424 Rokdog View Profile	Message To: Jeffmhopkins   In reference to Message Id: 2271303  Dubia Roach questions... 1000 small dubia nymphs isn’t much at all...they would all fit easly into a coffee cup..... I get at least 30,000 nymphs per month from my 4,000 dubia breeder colony and always have at least 20,000 mixed sized roaches sized in my other 3 colonies..... my madagascar hisser colony has really taken off & its quite a site to see my adult males CWD’s eat a 4" to 5" inch adult hisser.........1 adult hisser is comprable to 5 - 7 adult female dubia and quite filling...MMmmmmm
06/27/12  10:18pm
#2271446 Cazicsmom View Profile	Message To: Rokdog   In reference to Message Id: 2271424  Dubia Roach questions... When Kera was about that size, she went through 1k smalls in about 3-4 weeks...it will not take long.
06/28/12  12:17am
#2271512 Jeffmhopkins View Profile	Message To: Cazicsmom   In reference to Message Id: 2271446  Dubia Roach questions... Here’s a picture of Monty now a days.... sitting on my knee here....
06/28/12  04:12pm

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