Dubias....bleckkk

I've jumped into the dubia world. They creep me out honestly. I'll have to post pictures of the set-up when I'm done. I ordered just 100 mixed for right now, mainly to feed off since I needed food anyways. Where can I find a pretty cheap healthy starter colony? Google isn't very helpful...the place I got my mixed ones from were all sold out of starter colonies.

You may be able to find someone local to you. If you are close to Southern Maine, I would help you out!

Mike is also up in the NE area as well. He loves pushing dubia starters on people. ;)

I am thinking of getting into roach feeders but have no experience using them yet. Do you have to buy a starter colony if you wanna breed them? Could you just buy so feeder and start breeding them? Does the colony just start the breeding faster or is there a better reason why you need one to start? Anyone know of a good breeding info site on them?

I got mine from the roach guy. I didn't like them much at first, but now they don't bother me. :P
They just kind of breed on their own, i give them veggies and stale bread and they just do their thing, i keep them near the reptile heat lamps too, they kind of congregate on the side of the tank nearest the lamp, so i think they like the warmth.

Sometimes, when I feed the roaches to my anoles, they squeeze out the egg-sac when they bite down... I just pick it up and put it back in the tank, and they seem to hatch successfully...lol.

Abdragons is where I got my dubia roaches. I bought a package deal of a bunch of different sizes and got some water crystals and food with it. I've bought a few batches of roaches from them and only had maybe 2 out of 2000+ show up doa. Their customer service is top notch too.

As for your set-up, they need to be in a solid color plastic bin, or put in a dark area. They do not like sunlight and will not breed properly if they don't have appropriate darkness. I feed my colony ground up Cheerios and put carrots and oranges in there from time to time. The oranges seem to really get the females in the mood to breed for me. Also, they are a tropical species of roach, so a heating pad inside the tank taped to the side is ideal. Water crystals serve two purposes, drinking source without drowning and a source of humidity.

Once you have meet those conditions, your colony should flourish. You should aim for a 3:1 female to male ratio, to allow the females more access to resources.

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

I am thinking of getting into roach feeders but have no experience using them yet. Do you have to buy a starter colony if you wanna breed them? Could you just buy so feeder and start breeding them? Does the colony just start the breeding faster or is there a better reason why you need one to start? Anyone know of a good breeding info site on them?

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You can do either. If buying feeders, just get large nymphs or be sure to get a male and females. Males are the only ones who have wings, and adult females have the tiny vestigial wing nubs. Starter colonies will usually have adult females and a few males along with some nymphs.

They do like the warmth! They won't breed/breed very very slowly at temps under 80. So anywhere warm and dark will be perfect.
They also don't have a smell like crickets, and even the Blaberus roaches (Discoidalis and Fusca) have a slight smell themselves, but Blaptica Dubia does not.

Often your best bet is to get a starter colony from someone local otherwise you can end up paying a lot for them. A couple of key things to keep in mind. NEVER feed off the adult females, it can take 6 months for a roach to become an adult and start reproducing, if you feed the big ones off your colony can crash pretty quickly. (I have a friend to whom I had given several starter colonies to until she learned this lesson) Keep them warm, they don't produce well in cold or even room temperature. I keep mine on top of my snake racks where it's always pretty warm. I prefer to feed lots of fruits and veggies for moisture, but don't overdo it or you'll end up with a fruit fly colony too, also if they start to mold it can be very bad for the colony. Make sure the previous fruits/veg are consumed before adding more. This is a lot easier to do once the colony has gotten big enough, with most of my colonies I can toss in a couple of chopped apples or sliced up oranges and they're completely gone the next day

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Often your best bet is to get a starter colony from someone local otherwise you can end up paying a lot for them. A couple of key things to keep in mind. NEVER feed off the adult females, it can take 6 months for a roach to become an adult and start reproducing, if you feed the big ones off your colony can crash pretty quickly. (I have a friend to whom I had given several starter colonies to until she learned this lesson) Keep them warm, they don't produce well in cold or even room temperature. I keep mine on top of my snake racks where it's always pretty warm. I prefer to feed lots of fruits and veggies for moisture, but don't overdo it or you'll end up with a fruit fly colony too, also if they start to mold it can be very bad for the colony. Make sure the previous fruits/veg are consumed before adding more. This is a lot easier to do once the colony has gotten big enough, with most of my colonies I can toss in a couple of chopped apples or sliced up oranges and they're completely gone the next day

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100% agree with you on keeping your adult females...they are the bread and butter of your colony. I keep my reptile room around 80-82 degrees and just keep my bins close to the oil radiator heater I setup in the room. I feed mine the powder left over from my rat food, carrots, apples, potatoes, and oranges. I also put in water crystals to help with humidity and provide a source of water. I've bought from several places. Here is an online breeder of roaches that I have used that does have starter colonies available: http://www.buydubiaroaches.com/forsale.html

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Originally Posted by LGray23

I've jumped into the dubia world. They creep me out honestly. I'll have to post pictures of the set-up when I'm done. I ordered just 100 mixed for right now, mainly to feed off since I needed food anyways. Where can I find a pretty cheap healthy starter colony? Google isn't very helpful...the place I got my mixed ones from were all sold out of starter colonies.

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Leah the roach girl??? What is this world coming to :P