Cheapest Dubias?

[ThyTempest]

Where is the best place to buy stock to start my own dubia colony. Also, do you suggest all adults or mixed with some nymphs? We wont feed out of it until it is steady.

[JimNAZ]

Hi,

There are many options but this is where I got my starters and food. (You will get a lot of opinions on what food to use. Just want to let you know that the food at this site was loved by all the roaches! )
http://www.blapticadubia.com/

If you are not going to use any for feeding right away then just go with adults. One male for every three females is a good ratio but you can go with even more females if you want. I cannot remember what their life span is but you should not have any die off for a few months.

As you have already found out, they are easy to keep and multiply quickly. The biggest key is to keep them warm. High 80's worked for me. I started with a mix of 50 and had over 1000 in about 4-5 months. (I never kept track of the actual time frame but I know it was not long at all.)

Remember only the males have wings and rarely fly . . .

Good luck

Jim

[jglass38]

I bought from James Tuttle at www.blaberus.com . Great service and everything arrived as expectred.

[ThyTempest]

How much water crystal will I want?
Also, do you suggest the roach feed exclusively, or should that still be supplemented with veggies, rodent feed crumbles etc. Is an exclusive rodent feed diet okay, or not nutritious or healthy enough? If I feed the roach diet, do we need to gutload before feeding, or is the food enough. Also, if I can feed the rodent food only, would i need to gutload with that?

Thanks

[jglass38]

How much water crystal will I want?
Also, do you suggest the roach feed exclusively, or should that still be supplemented with veggies, rodent feed crumbles etc. Is an exclusive rodent feed diet okay, or not nutritious or healthy enough? If I feed the roach diet, do we need to gutload before feeding, or is the food enough. Also, if I can feed the rodent food only, would i need to gutload with that?

Thanks

I use the roach feed from Blaptica.com (which is prob just a ground of mix of cat food and fish flakes). I also feed any veggies or fruits that are starting to go bad. Always leave a dish full of water crystals. I use 2 tablespoons to 8 cups of water and that lasts me weeks to months. No need gutload if you are feeding the roach diet and veggies.

[JimNAZ]

You only need the water crystals if you do not feed any fruit/veggies that are high in water. I started with the crystals and just switched to oranges. Never had a problem.
Also, the food that is offered in the link I provided has a very good mix to it. I think he gives the ingredients on his website. Never needed to worry about anything with his food. (You can use pet food/fish flakes but remember that not all food is the same and may not offer what you need.)
I do want to mention that depending on how you have your set-up will determine how feeding fruit/veggies goes. If you keep a closed container with just some holes for ventilation, the food will decay fast and mold if you do not change every day. I started that way and changed to a screen top and never had any problems after that. The great thing is they do not smell very much (if at all) so unless you have your head right in the tub I never smelled them in the room.

Jim

[ThyTempest]

What type of colony should I start out with? We wont be feeding out of it much, if at all, until the colony is well establilished. For this reason, should I spring for only adults, or would a mix still be better? My local pet store has a connection with a breeder that breeds pretty much all the types of feeder roaches, and uses the same price guide as blaberus.com-minus the shipping. If I go this route, I dont have to use all the packages blaberus offers, I can pick and choose what I want.

Basically, if you were in my position, what would you buy. We have to feed 1 sling (pinhead crix) and 1 crestie (10 day pins) , and have plans to get a beardie, but not sure whether the beardie will be baby, juvie, sub or adult. We are hoping to find a good deal locally with the enclosure and all to save some money.

Once we figure out what we should get, I can shop around and see where would be best to get them, rather than shopping around and saying oooh they have this, but ooooh that place has this great package...which I think will lead us away from what may be best.

[shadi11]

The best price on dubia is from your local roseville michigan supplier. He can even potentially deliver them for free when he comes into town.

[ThyTempest]

I didnt see roaches, just mealies I thought. If so, that would be awesome. I know you had some beardies too, but I didnt know if you had any for sale, but we may be looking beardies too. Our cresty is doing well I'll shoot you a pm now.