Dubia Roaches

[ShannonC]

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

Most people that sell them don't bother trying to sex the smaller ones they are selling. Everyone that I know just does it from time to time when they are setting up a newer colony for themselves. The rest are just counted and sold! I would never want to try and sex that many dubias!!!!!!

 

[Tom]

Actually, I find that mine produce much faster in the opaque containers.

I've done it both ways. Mine don't care and reproduce at the same rate. I've heard other people say that, so I tired it out for myself. My 40 gallon clear bins got so heavy with the weight of the roaches that the bottoms were sagging.

 

[Tom]

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 have that problem either. I feed mine a little of everything.

 

[ShannonC]

I've done it both ways. Mine don't care and reproduce at the same rate. I've heard other people say that, so I tired it out for myself. My 40 gallon clear bins got so heavy with the weight of the roaches that the bottoms were sagging.

I haven't tried anymore clear ones since the first three.....so none of my newer colonies have ever been in clear bins. So, to be more precise, I should say that my first three colonies bred much, much better in opaque bins. I also use smaller (not sure of exact size) bins that fit on a closet shelf in my sunroom. I do like to change things up once in a while with a bin or two, just to see the results. I used to play around with my mealworm bins too, but those things will reproduce at an alarming rate, pretty much no matter what you do with them!!! I left a bin of them out on my back stoop through an entire winter once, in the snow, ice, and rain. (I had been treating my chickens and just never brought it in) I went to dump it out in the spring so I could use the bin.......I could not believe that they were still going!!!!!! Much more slowly than the ones inside, but I didn't expect anything to be alive in there!!

My husband laughs at me because he thinks I like raising the bugs as much as I like my reptiles. I will spend an entire Friday or Saturday evening inspecting, sorting, rearranging, whatever I can think of to do with the bugs.....LOL.....Too bad my tortoises don't eat bugs!

What do you feed your dubias to???

 

[ShannonC]

I don't have that problem either. I feed mine a little of everything.

I wonder what the difference is?? Mine always stinks when I put in fresh foods that don't get eaten!! But I do make my own chow for them.

 

[Tom]

My husband laughs at me because he thinks I like raising the bugs as much as I like my reptiles. I will spend an entire Friday or Saturday evening inspecting, sorting, rearranging, whatever I can think of to do with the bugs.....LOL.....Too bad my tortoises don't eat bugs!

What do you feed your dubias to???

That's funny. I love my bugs too. Couldn't tell you why. I just like having them. I had 18 species of roaches going at one time a few years ago. I just wanted to try them all to see what I liked best. Back then I was feeding black throated monitors, tegus, a box turtle, tarantulas, centipedes, scorpions, monkeys, cichlids and a few other odds and ends. Now its just some tarantulas and a couple of blue tongue skinks. I give my excess dubia to local friends with beardies and geckos.

 

[Tom]

I wonder what the difference is?? Mine always stinks when I put in fresh foods that don't get eaten!! But I do make my own chow for them.

My area is very dry. Might that be a factor? I throw everything in the bins. Leftover skink food, the stems left behind from the tortoise weeds, dried oak leaves, all sorts of produce and produce trimmings, overripe fruit from my trees, etc... They usually eat it up pretty quickly, but even the stuff not eaten right away gets the surface layers nibbled away before any rot can start. Sounds like maybe the difference is the quantity of food, verses the number of roaches eating it. My colonies are pretty full, and I'm not trying to feed them up to encourage more reproduction since I don't have as much need anymore.

Have you noticed that oranges seem to make them breed more? That's another commonly held belief that I tried out. I didn't notice much difference.

Also, I used to use the water crystals. I just found it wasn't needed and didn't do anything one way or the other. I did two 40 gallon dubia colonies side by side and starting with roughly the same number of subadults. One with water crystals and produce, and one with only wet produce as needed. Both colonies expanded at the same rate. No discernible difference in size, growth or numbers. After that I just stopped bothering with the crystals. I find it easier to just crack open the lid and drop a chunk of apple or orange in.

Thank you for the pleasant roach conversation!

 

[ShannonC]

My area is very dry. Might that be a factor? I throw everything in the bins. Leftover skink food, the stems left behind from the tortoise weeds, dried oak leaves, all sorts of produce and produce trimmings, overripe fruit from my trees, etc... They usually eat it up pretty quickly, but even the stuff not eaten right away gets the surface layers nibbled away before any rot can start. Sounds like maybe the difference is the quantity of food, verses the number of roaches eating it. My colonies are pretty full, and I'm not trying to feed them up to encourage more reproduction since I don't have as much need anymore.

Have you noticed that oranges seem to make them breed more? That's another commonly held belief that I tried out. I didn't notice much difference.

Also, I used to use the water crystals. I just found it wasn't needed and didn't do anything one way or the other. I did two 40 gallon dubia colonies side by side and starting with roughly the same number of subadults. One with water crystals and produce, and one with only wet produce as needed. Both colonies expanded at the same rate. No discernible difference in size, growth or numbers. After that I just stopped bothering with the crystals. I find it easier to just crack open the lid and drop a chunk of apple or orange in.

Thank you for the pleasant roach conversation!

My area is very humid!! And any fresh food I put in is stinking by the next morning! I can't STAND to smell my animals or supplies when I come in my house!! That's why I hate dealing with crickets!! Of course, with all the Beardies and Torts, we smell the occasional poops, but I'm talking about lingering odor. We also have three cats and two big dogs inside the house, and when people come over, they would never know it, even with 5 litterboxes!!

I do use oranges, and I have heard that it makes them breed faster, but I don't think so. I do it mostly because they love them so much! I also use a lot of water crystals.....I don't sustain them on oranges. I have to provide them with water since my chow is dry. I think they will breed as long as their needs are met, no matter which way you go. Between all the Beardies and the chickens, there's not much vegetable matter left around here to feed the dubias anyway....LOL.....and now with 4 Tortoises......not even any good weeds or flowers left!! If I ever do have stuff that I don't give to the other animals, I will throw it in with my mealworms, because they suck all the moisture out of stuff so fast, it never has time to smell.

This has definitely been a nice conversation!! I am just now getting to a point here on the forum that I don't feel like an outsider, so much. I have a lot of knowledge and YEARS of experience with reptiles, but haven't been comfortable enough to reply to people's questions and concerns just yet. Silly maybe, but that's me.