Dubia Roach Colony

[BeardieLover<3]

Ok so here's the deal. My izard is going through her food way too fast! So i have been thinking of starting a Dubai roach colony. The thing is I have no idea on how to do that. I live in a small town and so craigslist is not an option as I am too young to drive a car. Will a normal heat pad for humans work to keep them warm? Also how many males and females? The food they need to be fed? Substrate? The overall cost to buy everything and keep them? Also how long does the colony take to establish? Will i have to buy feeders in between?

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Also how often will i ave to clean it?

 

[Broly]

Also how often will i ave to clean it?

Hey I don’t have any info or help regarding this but I’ve seen a few other threads on here with lots of info you could search for and read in the meantime

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Ok Ill try that

 

[BeardieLover<3]

So i pretty much found get 2 Rubbermaid bins. A 3:1 female, male ratio. Egg flats. Water crystals. Roach chow. Now i was confused on the heat source`. Most say a UTH but not to put it under the bin? Some other people say a CHE. So i was thinking i have a CHE for my beardie already but only use it at night. Sooo i was wondering if during the day i use the CHE for the roaches then at night for SUnny. Therefore they would still get heat just not 24/7. Found this starter kit. 2XL Dubia Colony With Roach Barrier and Cleaner Crews (readyreptilefeeders.com)

 

[Beardomania]

If you need to start a colony on your own, go with Discoids over Dubia. Dubia drop 25 babies every 2 months while Discoids drop 40 babies a month and Discoids mature and grow faster too. Dubia only have 2 advantages over Discoids; 1 is that they can be found in entire colonies for cheap on Craigslist and 2 is that they can be sexed just looking at them from above, making it very easy to determine if you have extra males and how many you can feed off. If I had to start a colony from a starter pack, then only number 2 applies and it's way not enough to offset the disadvantages of slow growth, slow maturation, and slow reproduction. Go on eBay and get a Discoid starter colony.

I think this is the only one available: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Discoid-Ro...364868?hash=item5b87eb3dc4:g:jMIAAOSw~sJgHRdn

But I would go to the website listed instead of buying off eBay to see if the owner can give you a better, more custom deal if you save him eBay fees (and it saves you taxes).

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Oh.. i live a pretty cold place its 23 f right now i cant order from ebay or the website i just checked it out. Also plenty of people do dubia roach colonies i dont need it to grow fast. It will grow just takes some patience. I will honestly have to many with the discoid ones. But thanks so much for the advice. I think ill try the CHE during the day for them and see how it goes. I hope only having heat for about 12 hours a day will still let them reproduce.

 

[Skybug]

Oh.. i live a pretty cold place its 23 f right now i cant order from ebay or the website i just checked it out. Also plenty of people do dubia roach colonies i dont need it to grow fast. It will grow just takes some patience. I will honestly have to many with the discoid ones. But thanks so much for the advice. I think ill try the CHE during the day for them and see how it goes. I hope only having heat for about 12 hours a day will still let them reproduce.

If you can make the roach bin bioactive that will make it all the more easy to take care of, yes it’ll cost you more but you will have a better product in the end, organic dirt a leaf litter top and tons of springtails, isopods, ear wigs, you can throw a couple meal or super worms in there too , they turn over ur dirt and eat all the crud ur roaches produce.

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Like this ? BIOACTIVE Dubia Roach COMPLETE Colony W Cleaners X/Lrg (readyreptilefeeders.com)

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Its actually cheaper to

 

[Skybug]

Yep! But that’s pretty expensive though, look up those products and get them cheaper if u can(do u have trees on your property? Go collect fresh leaves and let them dry out, saved ya 20$ lol) , then once you have it set up, then buy a ton of roaches, and ur cleaner bugs i feed my roaches veggies and dog food , their roach chow molds within hours :\

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Winter here right now very cold so no leaves. Ill look for differnet ones but these come with the males and females plus 50+ nymphs

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Found this on ebay... dont know if its any good Dubia Roach Colony Kit/Everything Needed To Raise Your Own 430+ Dubias Included! | eBay

 

[Skybug]

I think thats the best your gonna find, the tote is perfect , slap a heater to the side and you got a perfect setup, be mindful of the chow molding.

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Ok... i dont know if it comes with any mature dubias i think its risky but i like how it comes with the tote and heater

 

[Skybug]

Yea true, they do that on purpose :/ , id try and possibly order roaches from 2 different sources so your genetic diversity is good from the start, i know theres alot of fuss ._. You’ll spend alot at the start but end up saving in the long run, your beardy will live atleast 7 years or more he’ll thank you when he’s fat and happy

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Ok I will do that , i just want her to have a stable food supply. And she loves the roaches ill try and feed her a cricket and she will walk away So gotta keep her happy lol just bought her a hammock today as well and she hasn't gotten off it except 2 times to eat

 

[Skybug]

Ok I will do that , i just want her to have a stable food supply. And she loves the roaches ill try and feed her a cricket and she will walk away So gotta keep her happy lol just bought her a hammock today as well and she hasn't gotten off it except 2 times to eat

Awe how cute they love hanging out , roaches are my girl’s favorite , have you tried hornworms yet?

 

[BeardieLover<3]

No, sadly ive just done crickets, mealworms ( sometimes thats all i can get Waxworms, and the roaches but she loves the roaches the best

 

[Skybug]

This is where i get mine, don’t order to many if u do, they grow crazy fast, you should try em sometime if you can, i bet ur lil guy will go crazy for them