Dubia Roaches

[cmacusa3]

I was wondering about putting small dubia in with my hatchings, I know I could put pill bugs but I can't get any at the moment. My reptile store has very small dubia and I've read they are high in protein. I would just let 10 go in the enclosure and let them hunt. Has anyone done this?

 

[Reptileguy1741]

I've never dealt with dubias because they don't have them at my petstore but I hear they are the healthiest feeders.

 

[tortadise]

Never used them but go for it, just keep in mind they don't get out. Wouldn't want a nice wild colony of them in your house.

 

[cmacusa3]

They can't climb the glass, I put some in and the babies went right to work on them.

 

[tortadise]

They can't climb the glass, I put some in and the babies went right to work on them.

Nice

 

[Tom]

I've fed roaches to box turtles many times. Its a good food.

It is unlikely that dubia would survive in your house if they escaped. Stay away from Blatal lateralis for this application. They WILL colonize your house.

 

[cmacusa3]

Thanks Tom!

 

[TortsNTurtles]

I now feed mine in a container. They can't climb glass but can climb plants as I found some hanging out on the top of the plants were the turtles couldn't get them. They could easily get out were my light cord goes in at the corner of the top.They are smart little creatures. They have also hid under the water bowl and can hold on to the bottom for escape. I learned this finding one in the sink while cleaning the water bowl and hoped none fell off on the way to the sink .I use a plastic reptile dish for a water bowl but they could hold on to terra cotta too. I don't think they could if it is a glass dish. So now I feed them in a high sided bowl were the roaches can't escape.

 

[cmacusa3]

That's great info!

 

[ShannonC]

They can't climb anything that's smooth. I keep three breeding colonies in opaque Rubbermaid bins and never had any escape, except when I had a different bin and had the eggcrates leaned against a lip right near the top. Even when they do get out in the house, they don't last long. I think the only places they could survive in the US would be southern FL or maybe southern TX. (I think they are even illegal in FL)

But they are excellent feeders for any reptile that eats insects!! A lot more meat:exo-skeleton, resulting in higher protein by volume. They also retain food in their digestive system longer than other feeders, so when gut-loaded, it's ok if they hang out in the enclosure for a couple of days. Not to mention that they don't bite like crickets, so no dangers if some are left in the enclosure overnight.....less time fishing un-eaten crickets out is a HUGE plus for me!!

 

[cmacusa3]

How did you create the colonies?

 

[Tom]

How did you create the colonies?

Get an 18 or 40 gallon smooth sided tub. I've used opaque and clear tubs and found the clear tubs to be smoother and harder for them to climb, and the roaches don't care if its clear or opaque. Get some of those egg flats that hold 30 eggs. Find them online. Line up as many egg flats as you can fit in your tub (usually 5 or 6 flats in an 18 gallon tub) and put a cardboard divider between each vertical egg flat. This will leave a small open area in the front of the bin. I put produce of some sort in one corner and dry dog kibble in the other front corner. I then cut out some small rectangles on the top of the bin and hot glue some aluminum window screen over the openings for escape proof ventilation. You can put your vents on the front and back if you want to stack bins. Feed them as needed, don't "clean" the bins and... wait... Then wait some more... Then wait a few more weeks or months... Feed out the surplus males as they mature, or you can sex them by looking at their abdomens before maturity. You only need a few males. After 9-12 months you'll have so many that you won't know what to do with them all.

 

[cmacusa3]

Thanks, my guess then would be the ones I'm buying locally are probably all males.

 

[Tom]

Thanks, my guess then would be the ones I'm buying locally are probably all males.

I have not seen that. What makes you think they are all males?

 

[cmacusa3]

They may not want to feed out the females yet, they don't always have a lot where I get mine.

 

[Tom]

I found this with a quick search for you:
http://www.forums.repashy.com/showthread.php?t=38804

Its how to sex them.

 

[ShannonC]

I actually started off by buying an established small colony from a lady who couldn't deal with the ickiness of having giant roaches....lol....There were about 25 adults, but there were also a lot more that were too big for our reptiles to eat, so we waited for those to grow into adulthood in a different container. Then I weeded out the extra males.....I keep a ratio of about 4-5 females per male. It actually takes several months for them to establish themselves after you set them up. They like dark and warm conditions, so I keep them in opaque containers sitting on heat cables, with square egg crates, bug chow, oranges, and water crystals and disturb them as little as possible.

There are places where you can order a colony starter, or order adults to start your colony with, but at the time, I didn't know that. It took me forever to get mine breeding! I was having to buy from other people for a long time before I could ever feed out of mine!! Now, I am at a point that I sell to a few other people as well as feeding six Bearded Dragons and three Leopard Geckos. I also raise and sell mealworms. I sell a lot more of those than I use!! When I start to get over-run with mealworms, I give my chickens a nice treat....lol (they also get any extra males I have when I establish a new, younger colony, since you can't tell the sex until they mature into adults)

 

[ShannonC]

Get an 18 or 40 gallon smooth sided tub. I've used opaque and clear tubs and found the clear tubs to be smoother and harder for them to climb, and the roaches don't care if its clear or opaque. Get some of those egg flats that hold 30 eggs. Find them online. Line up as many egg flats as you can fit in your tub (usually 5 or 6 flats in an 18 gallon tub) and put a cardboard divider between each vertical egg flat. This will leave a small open area in the front of the bin. I put produce of some sort in one corner and dry dog kibble in the other front corner. I then cut out some small rectangles on the top of the bin and hot glue some aluminum window screen over the openings for escape proof ventilation. You can put your vents on the front and back if you want to stack bins. Feed them as needed, don't "clean" the bins and... wait... Then wait some more... Then wait a few more weeks or months... Feed out the surplus males as they mature, or you can sex them by looking at their abdomens before maturity. You only need a few males. After 9-12 months you'll have so many that you won't know what to do with them all.

Actually, I find that mine produce much faster in the opaque containers. I started out with the clear, but now they are all in opaque containers, and I use the clear ones for the ones we are selling or feeding. And I never put fresh food of any kind in my bins.....if anything is left uneaten, it causes the bins to stink. I don't want to have to clean uneaten food out of all my bins every night. I do put in oranges for a water source because they love them and never leave any! But I also use a lot of water crystals.

I also changed from the screen vents to massive numbers of drilled holes. I started out stacking bins, so I was drilling with that in mind, but now mine are all lined up on shelves with a heat cable under them.

There are probably a 1000 ways to make it work.....lol

 

[cmacusa3]

Thanks for all the help!

 

[ShannonC]

@Tom ....I already knew how to sex the larger nymphs that way, but that is the BEST tutorial I have ever seen on it!! I am bookmarking that one to show others!!