Dubia roach colony starter questions

[LittleTreeGuy]

So, I recently picked up two baby bearded dragons. I fed crickets for about a week and got turned on to Dubias and have been feeding them the past week or so. They're just easier, not to mention better feeders for the dragons. So... the thought of breeding them has crept up on me... I have everything I need, except the roaches... so... a couple of questions for anyone who may currently or has breeded them....

1. Is breeding my own overkill for two bearded dragons?

2. How many should I start with? I saw West Coast has a breeder kit (small) with two adult pairs and a hundred or two of mixed sizes. I've heard you shouldn't feed from your colony for a while to let it build, which makes sense. So I'm okay just letting it go for a month or two or three... no big deal.

3. I've seen some youtube videos... what I don't want, is to end up with 8000 adult roaches or ones that are too big for my dragons to eat. I know my dragons will grow quickly, and be able to eat larger roaches as the colony grows... so maybe this isn't an issue. Is it possible to "control" the population if it starts to get too large? Can you just separate males/female adults to do this?

[MarkS]

keep them warm, I keep mine on the top of my snake racks where the temps are in the mid/high 80's low 90's. I don't feed grains or water they get all vegetables or fruits. Don't feed off the adult females. It can take 6 months for these roaches to reach breeding age so if you feed off the biggest ones your colony will eventually crash.

[BFE Pets]

theres lots of ways to do it. they breed better in the upper 80's to low 90's. feed them fresh fruits and veggies once a week but be sure to remove any left overs before it begins to mold. mold will wipe out your colony fast. also you wouldnt want to feed them to your dragons if they are full of bacteria would you? if your colony starts to over produce what you can feed off just reduce the temps down to room temp (low 70s). how large of a starter colony really depends on how many your dragons eat in a week. also if you are completely overrun there's options for the excess. you can sell/gift off extras to local friends, freeze them and feed them at a later date or even feed frozen ones to fish, there's endless possibilities honestly. as for breeding I keep a colony of about 500 adults in the high 70's range and they keep me in constant supply for my tarantulas (about 80). I get over populated all the time

[LittleTreeGuy]

Awesome guys, thank you. I got a few adult pairs delivered today with about 150 mixed ages. They're currently in an 18 gallon tub with 5 egg crates, food, water crystals, gnat trap, and small cleaner crew. I'll be adding some heat tape to the outside in the next few days. I plan to just keep them fed and watered for a month or three and then see where I need to go from there.