G. pulchripes sling

dubia need temps in excess of 80 degrees to breed, with 90 being more optimal. Below 80 they will grow (slower), but will not breed.

Too many slings is exactly when you should be looking for alternate feeders....the more you have, the more variety of feeders I have on hand.

Having a colony actually means a lot less trips to the store, and if you get really busy, you can just feed of the roaches for a good while....mealworms are a great supplement to keep in the fridge.

@Jeff23 There is a relatively low range of temperatures that they'll breed/live in, yes. If you're adamant about avoiding dubias, I'd look into meal worms instead. They're pretty easy to breed as well.

@cold blood I have seen those temperatures but don't remember much else. I think the higher temperatures are needed for the baby crickets as well but that might have been bad information I saw on some website. I know crickets also require a substrate for breeding which creates risk of mold, gnats, etc. I will have to set up a micro climate container to do dubias or crickets because my thermostat is never above 76 degrees F. Unfortunately right now I am working 60-80 hours a week until my project at work gets finished, so I am not able to do a lot of new and different things.

@EulersK I actually like the idea of dubia's especially since they supposedly smell less and are quiet. I just didn't have much luck with them when I previously got a container of a limited quantity. I was really new to T's then, so I probably didn't plan it right.

@Jeff23 It's not hard to keep it warm enough. For most of the year, a heat mat is enough (for dubias, that is). They're really easy to care for, it takes me about 10 minutes per week in maintenance. It seems like they grow slowly at first, but their numbers get out of hand very quickly. They will far, far outbreed any collection of inverts you may have once they get going. When those numbers first started happening to me, I was killing off the ones that I couldn't give away for free just to keep a manageable colony. Through all of that, the smell is negligible and the noise is... acceptable. I mean, thousands of roaches aren't silent, but they're quieter than a single cricket! Cost is also next to nothing. Egg crates are free from restaurants, over a year's supply of water crystals is $8, and over a year's supply of food is $20 (50lb pound bag of chick feed). Those are the only things that you'll need to replenish - a $5 tub and a $15 heat mat will be one time purchases.

Seriously, it's just a matter of cleaning them monthly and keeping it dry in there. That's where I went wrong at first. I was cleaning enough, but I was offering way too much wet food in the form of fruits and vegetables. They don't mind the humidity, but mold and phorid flies get out of hand very quickly. Once I switched to 100% dry chick feed, my problems went away. Offering an orange once a week or so makes them breed quicker, but that's the only food they get other than the chick feed.

@EulersK Thanks for the great info. I would be willing to buy some dubia's from you if you have plenty, but it will have to wait a couple weeks. Unfortunately I am in the middle of a nightmare project at work.

@EulersK Good advice about the meal worms. I've been breeding meal worms and for 6 months now I have not needed to go buy any food for my Ts. The meal worm beetles make yummy snacks for smaller juveniles as well.