Dubia Roaches

Got the new Blaptica Dubia colony up and going. They are pretty cool! We already breed mealworms and now these guys (and of course rats, mice and ASFs). I will get some pics of them later on. I think the most amazing thing to me is the stupid water crystals. 1/2 tablespoon of these things added to a quart of water and 4 hours later I had a full quart of water jello. Science is amazing!

So what are some of the benefits of these roaches vs crickets and mealworms....why would want to purchase these? I am not very familiar with them. :)

From what I've gathered doing research, they are significantly healthier feeders than crickets or mealworms. Higher meat to shell ratio and they don't smell like crickets do. Here is some info collected frrom blapticadubia.com:

BEST CRICKET ALTERNATIVE!
If you are considering getting a roach colony started, why not start with the best? Blaptica Dubia (Orange Spotted Roach) is absolutely the greatest feeder roach available for a variety of reasons:

# Calm demeanor that makes them easy to handle at feeding and cleaning time

# Very easy to sex as males have wings and females don't

# Meaty with softer body than other roach species

# Prolific and give birth to live young

# Breed easily in drier conditions

# Virtually odorless

# Herps love them

# Non-climbing

# Non-flying

# Quiet

Sounds intriguing. How fast do they reproduce...? Say you have a colony of 10 leopard geckos...how many breeders would you need to have a consistent food supply available?
-Josh

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Originally Posted by Jerhart

Sounds intriguing. How fast do they reproduce...? Say you have a colony of 10 leopard geckos...how many breeders would you need to have a consistent food supply available?
-Josh

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Questions that hopefully will be answered soon! We have 19 Leos and I got a starter colony of 100 mixed sizes plus an extra 10 adult females. There are probably 15-20 adult females in there. Each should give 30 babies every month or so from what I've read.

Colonies are a little slow to get up and running. I think I started with around 300 mixed and it took a few months to notice real growth in the size of the colony.

To keep them breeding, the temps should be maintained around 86 - 90 degrees - keep them fed and watered (also they like it dark). I use a coffee grinder to grind up cat food. They do not grow as fast as lobsters, but the other benefits of Dubias make up for the slower growth. Don't let them get too humid as mold will grow and that will kill off the colony. I keep the water crystals right under (4 - 5 inches) the ceramic heat lamp and it has been working great at maintaining some humidity, but not too much.

Heck, I've got so many I'm giving them away to friends now. They're starting their own colonies.

The Dubias are breeding! I found a bunch of new babies in there yesterday. Of course I still have no clue how to get them out of the egg cartons and into the gecko tubs! They are FAST!

http://www.glassreptiles.com/pictures/2008/roaches2.jpg

http://www.glassreptiles.com/pictures/2008/roaches3.jpg

Those things are scary. Spiders creep me out much less these big things. LOL. And I have snakes. weird huh?

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Originally Posted by tideguyinva

Those things are scary. Spiders creep me out much less these big things. LOL. And I have snakes. weird huh?

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I still haven't handled the big ones and Amy won't go near the enclosure! I don't mind the smaller ones.

Jamie ....... Those are absolutely the best roaches ever. Calm, they don't bite, and they can't climb glass! Good choice. Amy will come along, once she get past that they are roaches. there pretty cool little bugs!

oh yea ..... best way to get some small babies and not the big ones.

get a couple of home depot buckets.


drill holes in the bottom with a drill bit, just big enough for the size you want, and empty the egg crate in the bucket. of course keeping a bucket underneath to catch the ones you want



did this make sense?

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Originally Posted by Reediculous

oh yea ..... best way to get some small babies and not the big ones.

get a couple of home depot buckets.


drill holes in the bottom with a drill bit, just big enough for the size you want, and empty the egg crate in the bucket. of course keeping a bucket underneath to catch the ones you want



did this make sense?

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Makes perfect sense! Seem like I'll have to make a lot of holes though! What about a 1/4" hardware cloth?

The bucket idea is great, I have been pulling mine with tweezers for awhile now and it isn't fun to do alot of them. :gj:

You may also want to look into lateralis roaches. I keep both and the lateralis reproduce much faster and stay smaller (adult size is about the same as a cricket).

Jaime, you sparked me to get some, I just got 100 + with 6 adult females, that are readily giving birth.

My girlfriend says Thanks, thanks a lot!!!!! LOL

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

Jaime, you sparked me to get some, I just got 100 + with 6 adult females, that are readily giving birth.

My girlfriend says Thanks, thanks a lot!!!!! LOL

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Haha..She'll be thanking me for real when you don't have to have any more of those disgusting crickets in the house!!

Word!!!

I plan on not feeding any of these 100, just so I can see if I see a pop increase.


What was the number you started with, and what you keepin them in?

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

Word!!!

I plan on not feeding any of these 100, just so I can see if I see a pop increase.


What was the number you started with, and what you keepin them in?

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Keep in mind that it will be 3-5 months from birth to adulthood. Then you will get babies every 30 days or so and adults live 12-24 months. I started with 100 mixed plus 10 extra females and 3 extra males. I really haven't fed more than 10 off. I keep them in a large Sterilite with a cutout in the lid and screening glued on. I have one side at 95 degrees on heat tape and on that side 5 or 6 egg crates vertically placed. On the other side I have a dish of roach food, dish of water crystals and small dish of fresh veg or fruit which I change out ever couple of days. That's it. I leave them alone. The room they are in stays around 82-84. Warmer they are, faster they breed it seems!

Are feeding the fully grown adults to the leos? Looks like they'd be a mouthful judging by the size of the eggcrate?

Buying insect feeders sucks! I need to jump on the invert breeding bandwagon...

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Are feeding the fully grown adults to the leos? Looks like they'd be a mouthful judging by the size of the eggcrate?

Buying insect feeders sucks! I need to jump on the invert breeding bandwagon...

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give'em the babies! thats what i did with the smaller beardies! can't wait to get some more!