Got to interract with two beardies

[DeeS]

Hubby Mike and I went to Ack's Exotic Pets in Cicero, NY this evening to check out beardies in person. Mike expressed his interest and Carl got out a baby, handed it to Mike, and left them to it. It was nice not to be hovered over. Mike was charmed by the little guy's calm. He just sat in his hand while Mike petted him. He closed his eyes and just chilled.

After he was done, Carl gave him an adult female to hold. Also very laid back and calm. We were both impressed by how easy it was to interract with both of these animals.

Ack's doesn't have enough dubia roaches to sell, he said it's hard to get enough to start a breeding colony, so he feeds mostly brown crickets. Mike and i were both impressed with how simple Carl made it look: he just grabbed an empty paper towel roll out of the cricket bin, shook it into a deep stainless steel bowl, and repeated until he had enough to feed several cages of critters. Then he opened each cage, dumped in some crickets and went on to the next. That's the type of thing no amount of reading and research can give you to get a good idea of what's needed and how to do it.

Do people breed dubias at home when they only have 1 beardie, and if so, how hard is it? Also same question about crickets.

Thanks!

 

[Hdrydr31]

It is super easy to breed dubias.. I have tons of them I have a breeder tub with just adults 3 females to 1 male, put some egg cartons (cardboard ones) water crystals, orange slices (roaches really love them) and dry food and or some greens/veggies left over from the dragon's salad..heat and dark and some humidity... Then to control how fast they breed I've separated all the others into males and females so only my breeder bin is producing..
you can have a small colony for 1 but they will produce more than what you need. you don't have to clean them for the most part, they don't stink, don't make noise
Crickets smell, they are loud, they jump, don't last long.

 

[DeeS]

I've found several YouTube videos that were very helpful on breeding and housing of dubias. I had wondered how to pick out the ones small enough for the size of the beardie and was amazed at the simplicity of the solution: A plastic bucket with holes just a tad smaller then the length of the roach you want to feed your beardie. They go through headfirst, and fall into the bucket below (this one has no holes in it, LOL).

I was also seeing conflicting information about keeping the roach house clean. However, I think that the correct solution is that you leave the frass alone until it's 3 to 4 inches thick, then remove enough so there's still 1 inch left for the nymphs to live in.

I think our next step is to start a breeding colony of Dubia roaches, see if that's something we can deal with, and if so, then buy Mike a beardie. He's a little disappointed that they get big so quickly. He asked the guy at the pet store if there was another lizard that was that comfortable with people, but didn't get quite so big. Apparently there is not.

 

[Canicke]

DONT BREED CRICKETS!!! they're noisy and they stink !!! I would recommend getting a beardie at least 6 months - the little guys require a LOT of time and care. and crickets.. and time.

 

[DeeS]

I would recommend getting a beardie at least 6 months - the little guys require a LOT of time and care. and crickets.. and time.

Can you be more specific about this? I haven't seen anything about younger ones being more time-consuming to care for. Thanks!

 

[PatsyB]

Can you be more specific about this? I haven't seen anything about younger ones being more time-consuming to care for. Thanks!

Little ones can be time consuming but if someone is home all day or can be home multiple times a day then it can be rewarding. Little ones should be fed live bugs 3 times a day. The old rule is they should be fed as much they can eat within 15 minutes however, we are discovering there are a lot of fat dragons out there! 15-20 small crickets 3 times a day is a good idea. I was lucky with mine that I was able to feed them before work and come home and feed them at lunch time and then when I got home from work. So that's a lot of feedings and a lot of bugs that need to also be looked after and fed.

 

[DeeS]

What is the equivalent number of Dubia roaches to crickets? For example, a small Dubia roach is likely to weigh more than the same size cricket.

Or do you simply put in as many roaches as it will eat in 15 minutes several times a day?

 

[DeeS]

From https://www.dubideli.com/collections/frontpage
"Contrary to what most people say, dubi males can fly. We have them flying all over when things are dark and quiet. I have seem them fly 30 to 40 feet in all directions. But they don’t always care too and if you have a lid on your colony you are fine. The males will tend to stay with the females (wouldn’t you) and only seem to fly when looking for females or food."

How much of an issue is this? It sounds like it would need a dark room for them to take flight.

 

[Hdrydr31]

From https://www.dubideli.com/collections/frontpage
"Contrary to what most people say, dubi males can fly. We have them flying all over when things are dark and quiet. I have seem them fly 30 to 40 feet in all directions. But they don’t always care too and if you have a lid on your colony you are fine. The males will tend to stay with the females (wouldn’t you) and only seem to fly when looking for females or food."

How much of an issue is this? It sounds like it would need a dark room for them to take flight.

In general 1 dubia = 5 crickets
Males can fly but I've never seen mine fly more than to control their fall from the egg cartons to right themselves when they are on their backs.. I have lids on all my tubs of dubia...mine are in our basement in a small room with red heat lamps for heat..