Dubia Roaches

[Phases]

Got my first order of dubia roaches in. 100 medium. Wish I'd done large but nonetheless. Both Ts are eating right now.

These things play dead!! And fast. I wonder if my arboreal would even find one of these if I didn't put it in her hammock. And then nudge it some to simulate movement. I don't think she leaves it.

Does the playing dead take the hunt out for them? I mean they freeze right up as soon as they sense the spider or a web, so far in my experience. Both Ts basically ended up standing over them and feeling slowly until finally gobbling them up.

Oh, snap, as I type this she looks like she is sloooowly moving toward the second one, which is about 4 inches from her in her hammock. Its been frozen from what I can tell, but it would seemmaybe it moved a leg cuz she's on the prowl.

My guy a foot down into his burrow, I just put 3 at the entrance and they went down and he got the first one, by the glass.

I dunno what I'm asking. I guess.. if I just put these in tanks I suppose they would wander around, freeze when hitting my pink toes web, and... they'd eventually be eaten? I guess she'd hear them exploring.

I already like them waaaay better than crickets. And my hope is they don't die in a weeks time. I have them in a blacked out critter cage with feeder food, water, and egg cartons.

Do you use them, like them?

 

[Tomoran]

They play dead and they can burrow and hide. I crush the heads before dropping them in. It's gross, but they will continue to walk around like zombies and will stop hiding or playing dead. The Ts can then snatch them right up.

They shouldn't die on you like crickets. Those things are hardy as heck.

 

[Phases]

yessssssssssssssssss

...crush the heads. I tried that with the mealworms. They just died lol.

I assume nutrition wise these are far better and they'd be satisifed with one or two of these vs one or two crickets. I understand these are jammed packed with goodness. I am feeding them with cricket gut load food. These are medium, smaller by a long shot than I realized they'd be, I should have probably done large but, they'll grow! Nonetheless I'm pleased they are both eating them. My arboreal is actually afraid of worms, for example. At least when they are in her web ...probably feels unnatural, and they were destroying fast.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

These things play dead

Dubia roaches will still move around (or kick out if placed on their backs) with their heads partially crushed but don't burrow and are less inclined to play dead, I've seen them stay alive for at least a week after doing this (they basically just wander around until they die of starvation/dehydration).

And my hope is they don't die in a weeks time. I have them in a blacked out critter cage with feeder food, water, and egg cartons.

Setup sounds good, these are pretty bulletproof in regards to care and should last you several months.

I assume nutrition wise these are far better and they'd be satisified with one or two of these vs one or two crickets

Feed slightly less often than you would with crickets, they're very "meaty" so 1 roach has the nutritional value of several crickets (if you feed one cricket twice a week then feed 1 roach once a week or something like that). For example, my AF A. geniculata would get either 3 adult crickets or 1 large/adult dubia roach or 1 superworm once every 2 weeks.

Do you use them, like them?

I don't use them much anymore, I started breeding Red Runners so I use those for everything except my largest Tarantulas which get superworms (cheaper than dubia roaches and still last for months).
Red Runners don't get as big as dubias but they're just as easy to care for, easier to breed, they don't play dead, they don't burrow, they just run around (hence the name) and Tarantulas go crazy for them.

crush the heads. I tried that with the mealworms. They just died lol.

Quick tip, if you only crush half of the head or just partially crush the head (only apply just enough pressure to maim it, don't squeeze as hard as you can because that kills it) then they still writhe around rather than just spasm briefly and stop moving.

 

[Phases]

Nice thanks guys. I wanna try these red runners you speak of for sure.

 

[Trenor]

yessssssssssssssssss

...crush the heads. I tried that with the mealworms. They just died lol.

I assume nutrition wise these are far better and they'd be satisifed with one or two of these vs one or two crickets. I understand these are jammed packed with goodness. I am feeding them with cricket gut load food. These are medium, smaller by a long shot than I realized they'd be, I should have probably done large but, they'll grow! Nonetheless I'm pleased they are both eating them. My arboreal is actually afraid of worms, for example. At least when they are in her web ...probably feels unnatural, and they were destroying fast.

I only feed dubias. I had a colony going for my bearded dragon long before I had Ts. I've seen nothing to indicate that any of the feeders are better than the others when it comes to tarantulas growth/health. These guys have more innards than crickets so if you feed them (cricket sized) the same as crickets you'll end up with a fatter T. So keep that in mind. All of the recommended feeders seem to do good at growing Ts based on comments here on the board.

I will second crushing the heads on these as they will burrow and can hide out in the enclosure posing a problem later if you T molts. When I feed them I place them in a spot that is easy to get to from the enclosure opening. For arboreal Ts I I use bottom opening enclosures till they are large juvies or bigger. I place the dubia in the bottom part near the water dish and let them come down to get the food. I've not needed to place food in their webbing and I've had good luck with them eating this way. Most of my arboreal Ts will stretch out facing downwards when they are hunting. I'm guessing that cause it's where the food has been coming from.

Dubias are good feeders and if you just crush the heads (not causing too much damage elsewhere) they can keep moving for a few days or more. I usually leave them in a day or so and take them out if they are not eaten.

 

[Trenor]

I don't use them much anymore, I started breeding Red Runners so I use those for everything except my largest Tarantulas which get superworms (cheaper than dubia roaches and still last for months).
Red Runners don't get as big as dubias but they're just as easy to care for, easier to breed, they don't play dead, they don't burrow, they just run around (hence the name) and Tarantulas go crazy for them.

I looked into these when I was deciding on what I wanted to breed for my Beardie. They looked cool but I've always worried about these getting out. I know that dubias that get out of the box on occasion don't make it (they are usually males but I'm found a few females) once they are out. I think the heat and no water does them in pretty quick as the are often found dried up near a wall near the roach bin. I've never seen one outside the T room. I heard from a guy in my area (I used to buy dibias from him before getting my own colony) that had Red Runners infest his shed when they got out. Granted he had a cat knock over the whole bin (of 1000s) and not just a few roaches escaping so that maybe a difference too.

I've heard they make great feeders. I do fine with the dubias and it seems less risky to me.

 

[Walker253]

I have a Red Runner colony and a Dubia colony. Red Runners are much more like crickets and will get some of the finicky tarantulas to feed on them. A big fat Dubia is great for larger T's. Getting some of the T's to eat the Dubia is a challenge, I agree with that. It funny that the prey is more intelligent than the predator. Crushing heads does work.
If only I could get the cricket only eaters to convert to roaches. I hate crickets

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I looked into these when I was deciding on what I wanted to breed for my Beardie. They looked cool but I've always worried about these getting out. I know that dubias that get out of the box on occasion don't make it (they are usually males but I'm found a few females) once they are out. I think the heat and no water does them in pretty quick as the are often found dried up near a wall near the roach bin. I've never seen one outside the T room. I heard from a guy in my area (I used to buy dibias from him before getting my own colony) that had Red Runners infest his shed when they got out. Granted he had a cat knock over the whole bin (of 1000s) and not just a few roaches escaping so that maybe a difference too.

I've heard they make great feeders. I do fine with the dubias and it seems less risky to me.

It's probably too cool here for dubias to breed if they do escape, I don't think red runners have the same problem (they can still breed, just not as quickly as they would in a heated bin), I've found that the only ones that really try to escape are the males (they can't fly but they do glide short distances) but, yeah, I'm pretty paranoid about any gravid females getting loose during maintenance.

If you're careful to prevent escapes then they're great feeders, all of my Ts go crazy for them.

 

[mconnachan]

I have a dubia colony as well, their easy to care for, you've got different sizes for individual T's, nymphs for slings, medium sized for feeding larger T's, and big mama's, which I leave in the feeder bin to keep the numbers up, I've just cleaned out my bin, and their thriving, TBH their getting a bit out of hand "again". I feed left over fruit, bread, and a mixture made up of cat biscuits, oats, and wholemeal flower.They don't smell nearly as much as crickets, full of goodness for the spiders, only thing that annoys me with them is them playing dead. Great tip about crushing their heads, got to give that a go, I've never bought feeders since I started the colony.[EDIT] Meant to say, I've never had an escapee as they can't climb the side of their container. IME.

 

[mconnachan]

If only I could get the cricket only eaters to convert to roaches. I hate crickets

Me too...

 

[Trenor]

If only I could get the cricket only eaters to convert to roaches. I hate crickets

To me, I think of these kinda like I do a sasquatch. I've never seen one and I am not sure I believe they exist.

Just teasing you man, I have been able to get all my Ts to readily eat dubias so maybe I'm just lucky. If you want, send me your Ts that will only eat crickets and I'll be glad to take them off your hands... err I mean train them for you.

 

[Moakmeister]

yessssssssssssssssss

...crush the heads. I tried that with the mealworms. They just died lol

A roach's brain is in its abdomen. Crushing the head won't kill them.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

A roach's brain is in its abdomen. Crushing the head won't kill them.

"Contrary to popular perception, their heads also house their brains. However, much of their nervous system activity takes place in nerve ganglia located throughout their bodies. This is one of the reasons why a headless roach can live for more than a week."

 

[Moakmeister]

"Contrary to popular perception, their heads also house their brains. However, much of their nervous system activity takes place in nerve ganglia located throughout their bodies. This is one of the reasons why a headless roach can live for more than a week."

Ah, cool. Yeah the only reason they die is because they starve to death.

 

[Trenor]

"Contrary to popular perception, their heads also house their brains. However, much of their nervous system activity takes place in nerve ganglia located throughout their bodies. This is one of the reasons why a headless roach can live for more than a week."

That's also why crushing their heads makes them frail about there isn't any conscious thought after you crush the head. The ganglia are just randomly firing till they starve or die from thirst.

 

[Walker253]

To me, I think of these kinda like I do a sasquatch. I've never seen one and I am not sure I believe they exist.

Just teasing you man, I have been able to get all my Ts to readily eat dubias so maybe I'm just lucky. If you want, send me your Ts that will only eat crickets and I'll be glad to take them off your hands... err I mean train them for you.

Tempting, very tempting. You would acquire a bunch of nice species. Mostly Brachys and Aphonopelma

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Ah, cool. Yeah the only reason they die is because they starve to death.

That's also why crushing their heads makes them frail about there isn't any conscious thought after you crush the head. The ganglia are just randomly firing till they starve or die from thirst.

Yeah, basically the brain dies but the body still tries to feed/drink.

I think it's thirst that does them in rather than starvation, they can go a long time without food.

 

[Trenor]

Tempting, very tempting. You would acquire a bunch of nice species. Mostly Brachys and Aphonopelma

Well, just know I am willing to make that sacrifice if the need should arise.

I wonder if you're hitting that on Brachys and Aphonopelma because of their slow metabolisms. Maybe they can be stubborn longer without taking as much of a hit compared to a lot of other faster metabolism species.

I've got a few that were from sellers that only fed crickets but they all switched over to dubias with little trouble. I'd like to get a known hard-case sometime just to see if I could get it to switch.

 

[Walker253]

In those enclosures, roaches are also known as roommates. I could have two roaches in there and eventually drop a cricket in there and they'll hammer the cricket. I eventually pull the roaches and feed them elsewhere. I've tried Red Runners and Dubia. If you have any thoughts, I am always willing to try