Dubia Colony Justified?

[Tweak]

Hey guys, sorry I couldve sworn Ive seen a thread similar to my question in the past but I had no luck finding it. Anyway, after the Hamburg show in a few weeks it looks like I'm gonna be up to 17 T's total and I was wondering if I'd be justified in starting a dubia colony. I know I could limit their numbers by lowering the temp for em but do you guys think I'll produce to many? Also, most of my buggers are either slings or juvies btw

 

[hamhock 74]

Decision is totally up to you, you'd just want to time it right so you have a self sustaining colony going when your juvies and slings get big enough to munch on roaches but not too early that you'd find yourself with a population boom and not enough mouths to feed.

(Which happens eventually anyways.)

 

[catfishrod69]

I dont think it could hurt. You could let your numbers boom, and sell/trade off some. Or just keep a large colony as feeders/pets. With only 17 tarantulas, you definitely have plenty of time. And as you know 1 tarantula turns into many overnight.

 

[Tweak]

Thanks you guys I deffinitely think I'm gonna pick up a starter colony at the show while I'm there. It didnt even cross my mind to trade or sell lol brainfart haha. But my main drive to do it is so I have total control over what's going into my Ts

 

[El Viejo]

B. dubia are definitely the way to go. They are easy to care for and reproduce well and often. One thing you can do to control their numbers is to separate the males as soon as you notice them (They have wings as opposed to the wingless females). What I do for slings & juvies is to take the smaller dubias, crush their heads & drop them in the T's enclosure. They'll still wiggle around a bit but aren't able to harm your Ts. I'm currently keeping 25 Ts and my B. dubia colony keeps them all well fed and "happy." Good luck with it.

 

[Masurai]

I say go for it. Personally once my T collection grows to 15 I plan to start a dubia colony and just sell the extra to local pet shops

 

[jarmst4]

I need to go that way. Flukers is killing me. I'm spending way too much money a month on crickets. I've got somewhere around 40 ts and about the same in reptiles.

 

[Tweak]

I understand lol next week I'll be making my last purchase on crickets which is a nice feeling

 

[Zeph]

I only have 4 T's, not enough to justify a dubia colony yet, but I do have D. hydei colonies and I like that I can feed my excess D. hydei to my fish. Can you feed excess dubia to your fish?

 

[Tweak]

I'm not familiar with fish but I remember reading somewhere that Dubia are an acceptable feeder to fish that are large enough

 

[Zeph]

I only have 4 T's, not enough to justify a dubia colony yet, but I do have D. hydei colonies and I like that I can feed my excess D. hydei to my fish. Can you feed excess dubia to your fish?

I tested this with an uneaten dubia (I have cheap fish anyways, mollies and such) and they ripped the roach's legs off one by one and gobbled him up. I can't wait to have my dream collection of T's so I can justify a dubia colony!

 

[rockhopper]

Get a reptile, they'll eat up the excess for you. My bearded dragon eats them up like crazy. He could probably take out my whole colony on his own.

 

[Zeph]

^ Great suggestion, I've wanted a beardie for a long time.

 

[Masurai]

I can't speak for all fish. But My brother used to have some Oscars that he would feed dubia to and they loved them.

 

[Tweak]

I tested this with an uneaten dubia (I have cheap fish anyways, mollies and such) and they ripped the roach's legs off one by one and gobbled him up. I can't wait to have my dream collection of T's so I can justify a dubia colony!

It's not out of the question to start one sooner. Now that I've committed to getting a colony, I've been reading up on their care and such and most people suggest leaving the starter colony alone for 6 months or so, enough time for the first generation of nymphs to reach adulthood. This way the colony is official "self sufficient" and is much more stable in terms of population. Also this way the colony will have all sizes of nymphs to choose from. This is probably more or less the route I'll have to take also since almost all of my collection are slings and will need varying sized nymphs

 

[Tweak]

Besides, unless you acquire a massive collection in the triple digits your gonna have excess regardless to sell or trade

 

[Low]

You could also keep them as pets...ive got many spiders and a massive thriving colony of dubias...i like the roaches as much as the spiders...i still get a huge smile when I see a huge female airing out her oothe or a perfect specimen of a male with a huge pronatum and perfect wings...roaches make very interesting pets too..and u dont have to pay for feeders!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

 

[MrWindupBird]

Do you guys truly have no problem getting your Ts to take Dubia? I have seen videos of Ts eating them ravagely - but I tried a couple of mine, and they just all looked at me like "dude, what I am suppose to do with this thing?" Maybe I should wait until everyone is REALLY hungry before trying again?

 

[wesker12]

Do you guys truly have no problem getting your Ts to take Dubia? I have seen videos of Ts eating them ravagely - but I tried a couple of mine, and they just all looked at me like "dude, what I am suppose to do with this thing?" Maybe I should wait until everyone is REALLY hungry before trying again?

Try feeding adult males (winged ones), there's a somewhat inhumane way that I can tell you that pretty much interests every tarantula.

 

[Drakk]

Ah Wesker bro do tell lol.