How do you breed dubias?

[flinters]

Ok so I gave a shot at breeding crickets, but they aren't for me. Too smelly and loud. I've decided I will start a colony of dubias and in the mean time while they establish just order crickets online.

So, how do I take care of them? I know that they take like 6 months until you can start feeding out of them, but how many should I start with? Also, what size tub do I need for them?

Oh and where is a good place to buy them online?

Thanks

[Chandler reptiles]

I keep mine in a 90 qt tub, with some foil tape around the top just incase they get a foothold and alot of egg crates. When I need them to be in full swing I keep about half the bottom at about 95 degrees with the cool side in the 80's. Make sure you give them some sort of protein in their diet, I have been using a whey protein (the weight gain stuff from the health food store, mine love the chocolate flavor) mixed in with some ground high quality dog food. For water I have been using the water crystals with no issues. There is a guy on ebay that sells them in the dry form pretty cheap. They will also take any fresh vegetables you have.

Start with as many adults as you can, you will have a nice colony in no time. As to where to get them I don't know exactly which place online sells them but I know there used to be a few...if you don't have alot of luck finding them just send me a message and I can work something out (mine are only used for the tarantulas these days so I can spare quite a few).

[flinters]

Thanks thats extremely helpful! Do you leave the tops off of the crates or just use vents? I also heard cutting a hole in the top and putting a screen over it with hot glue works great. What counts as "high quality" for dog food? And do you have to crush it up? Thanks!

Justin

(I'll let you know if I need to buy any, that would be great if I could! I'll look around first though.)

[JimNAZ]

When I had my chameleons I used to breed Dubias. They are the easiest, cleanest and least smelling roach (IMO). Once the colony gets going you will be amazed at how fast it grows!

I kept mine in a plastic tub also. I never placed anything on the sides, but cut a hole in the lid and replaced with screen. This helped keep the humidity from getting too high. Never used any substrate and just used egg crates for them to hide/breed. They do breed faster when the temps are higher. Mine were in the high 80's and all I used was a cheap old (human) heat pad. (I only placed on the side of the tub without the food. If you feed a lot of veggies they will start to rot fast if the whole tub is heated.)

Water crystals are fine but you can also use oranges for their moisture. Just slice them up and they will be gone the next day. **You can use the water crystals sold at Michaels or any other craft store.
You do need a source of protein other than veggies.
Just be careful with what dog food you use. Too much protein is also bad for them.
Here is a link where I got my original group along with a premixed food.
http://www.blapticadubia.com/dubiainfo.html
The roaches you can get at a lot of places but I really liked his food (as did my roaches!)

Just thought i would add to the first reply. Hope this helps!

Jim

[crystal]

what do you feed these types of roaches to?

i hate crickets and would like to switch to something less stinky and noisy. i have a tokay gecko, a golden gecko and 3 bearded dragons. Can you feed these roaches to them?
thanks

[Chandler reptiles]

Bearded dragons will eat them with no problem, the geckos will sooner or later. I still have to buy crickets for a pair of cb tokays I am raising up that will not eat the roaches at all yet...

I did leave off the top part, I just cut a hole and used some hardware cloth to cover it, I prefer nuts, bolts and washers since I tend to break stuff (bull in a china shop at times) it just makes it more durable for me. Moisture will kill them quick. I feed my dogs nutro natural choice lamb and rice dog food so that is just what I use for the roaches, I believe it is 21% protein. You can use cat food to if you don't own a dog and don't want a huge bag of food.

I picked up super cheap food processor to crush the dog food, they don't seem to eat when you leave it in large chunks plus I don't think the babies can eat it at all. They are not nearly as evil as crickets.

The only thing I did different from the link is I used a dark container so they feel secure and I stack the egg crates up and down instead of on the side, that way all the frass will fall to the bottom.

[Don]

I have a colony for my Beardie, too. I feed them cheap cat food and they seem to do very well. I use a coffee grinder to pulverize the cat food. In addition, I will cut an apple in quarters and throw it in every once in a while. They go crazy over fruit. My colony is around 8-9 months old and grows so fast, I give them away to friends.

Mine are in a large tub with a screen top. I use a heat bulb draped over the top lip to keep the temps near 90 degrees. These things have very little smell and are very easy to keep. I will never keep crickets again - especially after the great cricket escape of 2007 in my living room.

There is a good FAQ at the place where I bought my original colony: http://www.blapticadubia.com/dubiainfo.html. I do mine a little differently by setting my roach crates vertical instead of horizontal. That lets all of the dirt and junk fall to the bottom of the tub. It is much easier to clean that way.

[JimNAZ]

I forgot to mention:

Adult males are the only ones with wings. I would recommend 1 male to at least 3 females. You do not need many males and they just will eat your food and fight with each other. (In other words . . . feed them off!)

I agree with using a tub that is not clear or opaque. The roaches will not be active if their tub has daylight shinning through . . .

Don: We listed the same website

[kjhowland]

I have mine in a 30 gal aquarium with a screened cover. I have it in the basement with a thermostat controlled UTH. Bare substrate and eggcrates. Using water crystals and feed purchased from blaterus, supplementing with baby carrots. Got them in May. The colony is starting to grow. Now to get my animals to eat them.