B. Dubia colony...?

[Stef41]

Hello

I have been considering starting a B. Dubia roach colony for quite sometime now...I've just never gotten around to actually doing it.

Earlier tonight though...as I stood over my enormous bin of noisy, leaping, stinking crickets...I decided it was time.

The site I am considering ordering from claims the following, regarding B. Dubia colonies:

"B. Dubia roaches are hands down the best feeder insect there is and here is why:

1. They can't climb.
2. They can't fly.
3. They do not have an odor.
4. They reproduce fast (female's have over 40 live babies a month).
5. There life span is up to 2 years.
6. They are great for gut-loading, they hold there stomach contents for 48-72 hours.
7. They do not carry parasites.
8. Having a B. dubia colony will ensure you have large to tiny feeders to feed at all times.
9. Hardly any maintance.

Getting a B. dubia colony will ensure you do not spend another penny on feeders again. My colony of 300 turned into a colony of 7,000+ with-in a year"

Now, some of that may just be his "opinion," but I am not here to debate the whole "best feeder" thing. My questions revolve around numbers 8 and 9.

Can anyone validate from experience? Are they truly easy to maintain and breed?

Anything I should know that his list didn't mention?

I'd really appreciate some input on this---if what that list claims is mostly true, then it sounds like Dubias could save me quite a bit of money (and headaches!)

Thanks in advance,

Stef

 

[Guest]

Yeah, keeping a Dubia colony is extraordinarily easy. And, in my experience that list is pretty accurate.

Maintenance is super easy and, unlike crickets, they don't smell like butt holes. I started off with a hundred adults and put them in a container and within a few weeks I had baby roaches. Now I have a pretty sustainable colony. I haven't bought a roach in a couple years.

I have two 56qt (I think) Sterilite containers and a bunch of egg crate. I just dump the gut load at the bottom of one container and fill it with roaches. When I need to clean it, I just fill the other one with roach food and switch the roaches out in to that one. That way there's always a clean one and I always have something to keep the roaches it. It makes everything way easier.

The only real maintenance I've had to do, other than the cleaning, is picking out the adults. I try to make sure that there are at least 3 times as many females as there are males.

 

[fireimp141]

Yah I actually just started a colony myself. Bought 50 from a reptile expo, stuck em in a 50gal tupperware thing with a lid, poked some holes added eggcrate food and water. Had em for 3 weeks and just checked em and I have like 60 babies. And all those facts are true. Super duper. Easy. I just stick em in the top of the closet where its nice and warm and they do their thing. No maintenance

 

[the enigma]

Thats a good point "nice and warm"...

I did have to use a black heat light for my colony to bring the temps into the upper eighties. Other then turnig the heat light on and off I only mess with them ever three days or when I need to feed the animals

 

[Beazer]

I love the dubias. Mine breed year round (I dont keep heat on them and sometimes the room they are in gets down to 50s during winter). I started off with like 9 males and 30ish females just about 18 months ago, now I have a colony of over 2,000. The babies are also born the perfect size for feeding to my Lygodactylus and the adults are perfect size for my Varanus auffenbergi lol. Definitely a good food item to add.

As for cleaning, heres what I do. I have egg carton flatts, stacked up. I lift them up, turn them a bit so all the poo falls off, then put the flats on one side, and do that so all the poo gets in one area, then I use a hand held sweeper and sweep one side, then scrub it with a damp paper towel until its clean. Then I go over and do it to the other side and wihtin just under 2 minutes its clean. Just check your dust pan to see if any babies are hidin in the dung heap lol.

For feeding, I buy (organic) vegetables like broccoli, carrots, squash (really good stuff), greens. Its pretty cheap and I always buy more than I can eat so they get whatever veggies I dont eat. Also, Ill drop them half a banana, sometimes apples (without seed), etc. I never give them water or spray lol. I also dump dry oatmeal in the corners and they devour it. You can wet it if you want but I sometimes get lazy with my roaches and if they dont eat it all it might stick to the container and requires more scrubbing lol.

So all and all, very easy to keep. But so are other roaches. They breed well too and are cheaper than getting colonies of B. fusca or other bigger roaches. Also, something to consider, since I was just diagnosed with reactive asthma (some stuff screws with my breathing), to keep down the "dust" that comes from the roaches I put one of those Ionic Breezes by it and I clean them outside. Also I go as far as wearing a dust mask, Ive kinda inhaled a lot of aspen bedding from working at a petshop for 3yrs so I gotta save my lungs a little lol.

-Jon DeLong

 

[Stef41]

Awesome, guys! Thanks so much for the responses.

It sounds like starting up a colony is the smart thing to do! I'll be ordering them early next week

I look forward to NOT having to deal with crickets anymore!! :app

Thanks again for the advice--it's very much appreciated.

~Stef

 

[Guest]

Stef41, I'm with you. I've about HAD IT with smelly, expensive crickets. I'll be starting my dubia colony soon as well.

 

[Stef41]

Stef41, I'm with you. I've about HAD IT with smelly, expensive crickets. I'll be starting my dubia colony soon as well.

Awesome, Nord!!

Here's to our soon to be cricket-free lives! :cheers

 

[Machs70]

I just bought 100 on Craigslist and my Jeweled Lacerta loves them. I work in a restaurant and get the large egg crates, I cut them in half then hot glue gun them together then put them in the plastic tub vertically as one unit, then the poo drops to the bottom. I also place another half crate on top (not glued) as a lid. I also keep their food and water crystal in small lids so the poo won't contaminate it. So when its time to clean I pick up the one piece egg crate with the roaches inside and set it in another box or tub, catch the strays and put them with the others, take out the water and food lids, dump the poo in the garbage, rinse out the container then put everything back. Even if you start getting too many roaches, you can then start selling them also on Craigslist!

 

[Guest]

Stef41, I just ordered my "starter kit" colony today!! TheRoachRanch.com was pretty much out of everything, so I ordered from TheRoachGuy.com... I'm so excited!! Right after I made the purchase, I went into where we keep our crickets and just gave them the most menacing glare of disgust that I could manage.