Dubia Roach questions

[TreeTops1015]

I'll start off with the is it true that they have better nutritional value than most other feeder insects?I've tried with crickets but not for reptiles but chickens last year in winter since chickens love bugs,few days in I tried to feed off all the males but it was hard as when I opened the container some would jump out and escape and chirp all night,it got to the point where me and my family were totally annoyed that I moved them to the garage where they all finally met their doom from the really cold temperatures,the chickens still ate them,now I'm going to try and see my luck with scorpions I'll be getting 2 species hadrurus arizonensis and P.imperator or P.dictator,now I have eyes on dubia roaches,how do you breed them and?what do people feed them?are they less annoying than crickets?more clean because crickets give this smell when they are dead?do you need substrate and what enclosure best for them?Is getting 25 dubias enough to start a colony as I'll only have 2 scorpions to feed and wait until there is a lot to start feeding the chickens some?what's a good ratio between female and male dubias?now the heating,summers in North Carolina are around 90° F in the day,In winter it is around 30° F if it's really cold, barely gets to 0° F around here,for the heating part both scorpions and dubias will be on my room which is pretty small 10 feet by 10 feet(dont judge) with a small heater?Only one challenge remains getting my parents to allow me to have roaches in the house lol,any ideas on how to convince them?they dislike roaches but not scorpions for some reason lol,thank you for helping me by answering this questions I really appreciate it

 

[ThatSpooderGuy555]

I'll start off with the is it true that they have better nutritional value than most other feeder insects?I've tried with crickets but not for reptiles but chickens last year in winter since chickens love bugs,few days in I tried to feed off all the males but it was hard as when I opened the container some would jump out and escape and chirp all night,it got to the point where me and my family were totally annoyed that I moved them to the garage where they all finally met their doom from the really cold temperatures,the chickens still ate them,now I'm going to try and see my luck with scorpions I'll be getting 2 species hadrurus arizonensis and P.imperator or P.dictator,now I have eyes on dubia roaches,how do you breed them and?what do people feed them?are they less annoying than crickets?more clean because crickets give this smell when they are dead?do you need substrate and what enclosure best for them?Is getting 25 dubias enough to start a colony as I'll only have 2 scorpions to feed and wait until there is a lot to start feeding the chickens some?what's a good ratio between female and male dubias?now the heating,summers in North Carolina are around 90° F in the day,In winter it is around 30° F if it's really cold, barely gets to 0° F around here,for the heating part both scorpions and dubias will be on my room which is pretty small 10 feet by 10 feet(dont judge) with a small heater?Only one challenge remains getting my parents to allow me to have roaches in the house lol,any ideas on how to convince them?they dislike roaches but not scorpions for some reason lol,thank you for helping me by answering this questions I really appreciate it

I just began my own colony a month ago. I would recommend buying a box of adult males and females, which can be found on amazing from “dubiaroaches.com”.

Yes they are cleaner, but people can develop allergies from them if not handled properly.

“Joshsfrogs.com” has an excellent tutorial video on Dubia breeder colony set-up, and they also sell a starter kit which includes your egg crates and some food. If you can’t find the starter kit there, they have another one on amazon.

Also, and finally, I would recommend buying at least 25 of each size from 1/4,1/2,3/4 and adult.

If you have any other questions, PM me!

 

[richard22]

I breed them in a decently large sterilite plastic container with egg cartons and potato slices switched out every other day, along with cricket gutload powder and/or fish flakes and wheat germ or bee pollen, and sponge pieces and water pillows for moisture. Do include one higher protein food, like cricket gutload powder or some custom blend. If you want better maintenance, add black cleaner worms (buffalo worms, lesser mealworms) to the container; and don’t give the worms their own substrate, just let them eat the frass. If the beetles get out of control just scoop out some or redo the container. I started out with a male and maybe 3 females from a local reptile shop in maybe February, now I have a first litter almost at maturity. They might breed a bit slower than lobsters or even hissers, but they’re a good and easy to obtain feeder. If you want fast breeding, put them in a hot room with a fan, like a heated attic or unused room; they’ll breed faster around 90F or a bit over that, humidity is no big deal but ventilation is important; install netting into a good part of the lid but not too much if you want moisture to say in before adding water to the sponges .

 

[Liquifin]

is it true that they have better nutritional value than most other feeder insects?

Not really true. They're just bigger, fatter, and can hold food in their digestive systems longer than most other feeders

how do you breed them

Warm temps, access to food and water crystals or fresh fruits and veggies as an alternative to water crystals.

what do people feed them?

Dry dog/cat food, fish flakes, and fresh fruits and vegetables

are they less annoying than crickets?

Yes, they're not as annoying as crickets

more clean because crickets give this smell when they are dead?

Dubia's are the most easiest feeder colony to clean and it shouldn't really be an issue.

do you need substrate and what enclosure best for them?

No substrate needed, just provide some egg cartons.

Is getting 25 dubias enough to start a colony

No, this is the downside of dubia's. The issue is that Dubia roaches is one of the slowest feeders to grow and reproduce. Not to mention small numbers will result in faster inbreeding leading to more shorter lifespans and issues as each new generation comes along. Dubia's cannot inbreed as well as other feeders such as crickets, mealworms, superworms, and lateralis. Which Dubia colonies will need to have more fresh bloodline in order to prevent the issue with inbreeding. Dubia's are slow growers expect 4-6 months from nymph to adult, which is very slow growth for any feeder.

start feeding the chickens some?

I wouldn't really chickens any dubia's because they're quite hard and not to mention how large they can get which will certainly be a chocking hazard for the chickens unless they're really large.

what's a good ratio between female and male dubias?

3 females: 1 male, but I prefer 4 females: 1 male

with a small heater?

that'll do just fine as long as it stays warm enough they'll do fine.

any ideas on how to convince them?

Just say it's for the pet's, what's more of a reason would you need?

 

[richard22]

Dubia roaches are common but they are slow to grow and might be bad to handle, so ordering other roaches from online would be optimal. Other good options would be lobster roaches (pretty small), giant lobster roaches or giant banana roaches (just a bit bigger than their smaller counterparts), discoid roaches (probably best alternative, though I have been unable to get them to reproduce for some reason), American cockroaches (they smell though), etc. If you live on the east coast, capecodroaches has a large selection but delivery times are not fast so eBay might be better.

 

[Liquifin]

and might be bad to handle

What makes you say that??

 

[TreeTops1015]

install netting into a good part of the lid but not too much if you want moisture to say in before adding water to the sponges .

what type of sponges?the type you wash dishes with?so the reasonable number to get is 100?seems quite a lot since I'll probably only be feeding off 2 a month lol,can you switch out the fish flakes,dog/cat food for chicken/goat pellet?since I do not own a cat or a dog at the moment,what type of container and how large should it be?do they sell water Crystals in any pet store?any store in particular that might have such big egg cartons?I never seen anything bigger than the 18 egg carton that walmart sells lol

 

[richard22]

What makes you say that??

Most sites say dubia roaches can give you allergies even if you don’t already have one (maybe 50% of people could develop one); I don’t know if the same goes for all other roaches. I doubt it, maybe dubias are special in that way. I have touched them and every other day I use my gloves and sort through to clean the old potatoes (breathing some particulates) so I might be fine. I am not experienced breeding them so if I am wrong please tell me.

what type of sponges?the type you wash dishes with?so the reasonable number to get is 100?seems quite a lot since I'll probably only be feeding off 2 a month lol,can you switch out the fish flakes,dog/cat food for chicken/goat pellet?since I do not own a cat or a dog at the moment,what type of container and how large should it be?do they sell water Crystals in any pet store?any store in particular that might have such big egg cartons?I never seen anything bigger than the 18 egg carton that walmart sells lol

Any sponge should do. I started off with dubia adults and 5-6 months later most are getting to maturity, though temps weren’t always high until May or June. You probably should buy mixed sized non-dubia roaches as some will be mature and overtime more will mature and lay eggs, probably giving you a steady supply, or just start off with all nymphs so you start off with lots of food and eventually you’ll have much more in the works. Lobster roaches are great, not too expensive, you can get 100 or more for The times of maturity should be better for other roaches that aren’t overly big (excluding hissers, they can mature in like 4 months). Let the fish flakes or dry food stay until it’s eaten or grows mold; it shouldn’t grow mold if ventilation is high, same goes for mites like grain/flour mites. I use a 25 quart Sterilite latching bin from Home Depot, it’s pretty tall and has a good area to work with. I never could find water crystals at the pet store, and they seem to shrink in size (even if rehydrated) in high heat, not to mention they’re not super cheap. That’s why I use sponges, and even water pillows aren’t able to retain as much water over time unless ventilation is poor, which will probably grow mold on the food. You can get cheap egg flats (big pieces of the same cardboard design) on Amazon and tear them up to fit the bin, also probably put one or two extra pieces on top of the first piece. Put the dry food in a lid, maybe a jar lid or mason jar lid that’s wide and deep enough. I don’t keep my bins overly humid and the roaches do fine, including dubias but they’re slower to breed than even hissers.

 

[Liquifin]

Most sites say dubia roaches can give you allergies even if you don’t already have one (maybe 50% of people could develop one); I don’t know if the same goes for all other roaches. I doubt it, maybe dubias are special in that way. I have touched them and every other day I use my gloves and sort through to clean the old potatoes (breathing some particulates) so I might be fine. I am not experienced breeding them so if I am wrong please tell me.

Never had this issue whatsoever with allergic reactions. I grab my dubia roaches by hand every week and still not a single reaction. I also just use bare hands to clean my dubia colony poop, which is a massive layer of poop every week. I haven't had anything detrimental or allergic with my interactions with dubia so far. If you haven't bred them then it's too soon for you to make the judgement on whether they're allergic to you or not. Breeding dubia is very easy, but very slow for sure.

 

[TreeTops1015]

I still dont get the part about the water soaked sponges?how are the dubias supposed to get water out of a sponge lol

 

[Liquifin]

I still dont get the part about the water soaked sponges?how are the dubias supposed to get water out of a sponge lol

I would not recommend a sponge at all, it's very harmful in the long run. Sponges can attract bacteria that are detrimental to the colony over time and dubia roaches will actually eat the sponge which is very bad to eat commercial sponges or any sponges being sold. For water it's best to offer water crystals for feeders or you can offer fresh fruits and vegetables as any fresh fruit and vegetable will have enough water and moisture for them to thrive on. I recommend oranges, apples, and cucumber as the best sources for water if you use fruits and vegetables.

 

[TreeTops1015]

Is moisture really important for dubias

 

[Liquifin]

Is moisture really important for dubias

humidity-moisture wise it's not really important, but it'll help with growth and breeding and they're quite tolerant to dry humidity. Moisture as in food/drink is important and should be offered regularly (weekly), since dubia roaches originate from south america.

 

[richard22]

Never had this issue whatsoever with allergic reactions. I grab my dubia roaches by hand every week and still not a single reaction. I also just use bare hands to clean my dubia colony poop, which is a massive layer of poop every week. I haven't had anything detrimental or allergic with my interactions with dubia so far. If you haven't bred them then it's too soon for you to make the judgement on whether they're allergic to you or not. Breeding dubia is very easy, but very slow for sure.

I do breed dubias, in fact for 5 months now, my 2nd gen is maturing now after being in subpar temps until June and now in 90F temps. I meant I didn’t have much experience breeding them, I have bred roaches only for 5 months now. Some I have substrate for some I don’t, but for some reason my discoid roaches aren’t breeding after 5 months, are they really that slow to breed? Also, lots of new horseshoe crab roaches died after introducing produce like lettuce and celery, I assume it’s all from pesticides, though I admit at the time I didn’t wash produce off.

I would not recommend a sponge at all, it's very harmful in the long run. Sponges can attract bacteria that are detrimental to the colony over time and dubia roaches will actually eat the sponge which is very bad to eat commercial sponges or any sponges being sold. For water it's best to offer water crystals for feeders or you can offer fresh fruits and vegetables as any fresh fruit and vegetable will have enough water and moisture for them to thrive on. I recommend oranges, apples, and cucumber as the best sources for water if you use fruits and vegetables.

I refuse to use water crystals, as they shrink in size within a few days, so I cannot. Same with water pillows but they are a bit better. So then I cannot have a supplemental source of moisture that will always be available; same for my field crickets. I also am unable to mist the enclosures everyday, only every other day. The field crickets and crickets in general are heavily susceptible to disease so I guess they’ll have to wait after the substrate and potatoes dry out in 4 hours for water the day after the next day. For unrelated reasons all house and banded crickets I have attempted to breed all died within a few days, and I attempted maybe 5 times from different places. I swear crickets suck, this is why I’ll have to end up eating cockroaches instead of crickets or buy cricket powder at an expensive health food store, defeating the purpose of breeding. Crickets may be more appetizing but they are hilariously susceptible to mass death, it’s a joke. My velarfictorus micado and gryllus Pennsylvanicus are doing fine though, not so much my allonemobius faciatus. I digress, I pretty much use a sponge or no supplemental moisture storage except in substrate or moss. If I try to keep the substrate from dessicating from heat with little ventilation mold will grow and it is very bad and also mites could infest if introduced on my gloves.

 

[Vanisher]

Cochroaches overall is high in nutrition. If dubia is more nutriant than others i dont know

 

[TreeTops1015]

Probably a dumb question but how big does the egg crate have to be?like how many eggs does it have be able to fit in?30 egg crate or more?I have a really old tub that I don't use anymore,can this be used?or is it too big to have inside?

 

[TreeTops1015]

 

[richard22]

Probably a dumb question but how big does the egg crate have to be?like how many eggs does it have be able to fit in?30 egg crate or more?I have a really old tub that I don't use anymore,can this be used?or is it too big to have inside?

Maybe break it up a bit and stack the smaller pieces, sounds good but you might need more of it if you have over a hundred or so. Five egg rows long and maybe 3 eggs columns wide.