# What do you think about dubia roaches??



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

Hey everyone, im thinking about starting my own dubai roach colony, just wondered what everyone opinions on them are, any tips you could give and are they easy to maintain etc.... Thanks alot :2thumb:


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

Whay are you planning on feeding them to? 
I've found them to be slower to mature than, for example, lobster roaches. However, they are slower [speed wise, as in running] than lobster roaches. I think they are a higher chitin content than lobster roaches. 

I only use Blaptica dubia adult males for my beardies (unless hand feeding then I'll use adult females too...but after they were accidentally breeding in the beardies fake rock I stopped that)

I only feed adult dubia to larger spiders e.g. Acanthoscurria geniculata and Lasiodora parahybana etc. 

My lizards such as leopard geckos and crested geckos have shown absolutely no interest whatsoever in cockroaches of any species. Though baby dubia were successfully fed to my skinks. 

I've found them to be very easy to maintain, provided the humidity does not get out of control.


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

MissCat said:


> Whay are you planning on feeding them to?
> I've found them to be slower to mature than, for example, lobster roaches. However, they are slower [speed wise, as in running] than lobster roaches. I think they are a higher chitin content than lobster roaches.
> 
> I only use Blaptica dubia adult males for my beardies (unless hand feeding then I'll use adult females too...but after they were accidentally breeding in the beardies fake rock I stopped that)
> ...


Oooo Right thanks for that, erm i want to start one for my bearded dragons got 3 adults, and 29 eggs ready to hatch haha, also didnt know if my emperor scorpions would like them, Do you have to seperate specific roaches to keep your colony going then ??


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

samw3011 said:


> Oooo Right thanks for that, erm i want to start one for my bearded dragons got 3 adults, and 29 eggs ready to hatch haha, also didnt know if my emperor scorpions would like them, Do you have to seperate specific roaches to keep your colony going then ??


They might like them, our adult Heterometrus swammerdami do. 

As for the second part of your comment, I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow...?


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

MissCat said:


> They might like them, our adult Heterometrus swammerdami do.
> 
> As for the second part of your comment, I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow...?


When your colony is up and running so to say, ive heard people seperate adult males out for feeding cant you just get a handfull so to say haha,


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

samw3011 said:


> When your colony is up and running so to say, ive heard people seperate adult males out for feeding cant you just get a handfull so to say haha,


Nah I don't separate any out especially for feeding, I just dig around in the colony until I find tasty looking roaches as and when they are needed. lol.


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

MissCat said:


> Nah I don't separate any out especially for feeding, I just dig around in the colony until I find tasty looking roaches as and when they are needed. lol.


Ahh right ok, isnt there a risk of you taking all the breeders out though so to say ?? Sorry properly a stupid question but im not to sure haha, Thanks.


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

samw3011 said:


> Ahh right ok, isnt there a risk of you taking all the breeders out though so to say ?? Sorry properly a stupid question but im not to sure haha, Thanks.


Well, to be honest I don't have a great deal of naminals that eat the dubia, most of mine are on lobsters, but that's one reason why, when feeding adults, I try to only use the males. As long as there is always a few males left in there, you'll always have breeders.


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

MissCat said:


> Well, to be honest I don't have a great deal of naminals that eat the dubia, most of mine are on lobsters, but that's one reason why, when feeding adults, I try to only use the males. As long as there is always a few males left in there, you'll always have breeders.


Ahhh ok, Thanks for all your help !!!! one last thing is it hard to identify the males from females?? Thanks a bunch once again!!


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

samw3011 said:


> Ahhh ok, Thanks for all your help !!!! one last thing is it hard to identify the males from females?? Thanks a bunch once again!!


Males have long wings and a thin body

Females are fatter, and only have tiny wing stubs. Very east to identify : victory:


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

Stephen17 said:


> Males have long wings and a thin body
> 
> Females are fatter, and only have tiny wing stubs. Very east to identify : victory:


Oooo thanks very much, Have you got your own colony aswell ?? :2thumb:


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

samw3011 said:


> Oooo thanks very much, Have you got your own colony aswell ?? :2thumb:


I do indeed, and by the sounds of it.. with that many beardies on the way, you better get started soon  

They will save you a lot of money, and could potentially make you some back : victory:


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

Stephen17 said:


> I do indeed, and by the sounds of it.. with that many beardies on the way, you better get started soon
> 
> They will save you a lot of money, and could potentially make you some back : victory:


Haha, do you find them hard to look after then ?? What do you feed them and how long would it take to start a full flowing colony ??


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

samw3011 said:


> Haha, do you find them hard to look after then ?? What do you feed them and how long would it take to start a full flowing colony ??


Put them in a RUB, add some heat, egg crates, ventilation and food and you don't really need to bother with them. They will do their thing whilst you just change their food, and clean them out every couple of months.

I feed mine oranges (I don't bother with the water gel, mine had no interest in it whatsoever) crushed up dog biscuits, and some veg. As long as you make sure you clean the veg first : victory:

Depends on how many you start with, and how often you are feeding. There are some people selling roaches on here at good prices. Check out Imginy (pretty sure that's her username) she was selling any 100 adults for £15, buy like 90 females 10 males, if you plan on feeding a lot from your colony buy more adults. Leave it for a couple of months and soon you will be over run by the little things :2thumb:

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/food-classifieds/764553-100-adult-dubia-15-any.html

That is a link to Imginy's advert if you're interested


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

samw3011 said:


> Haha, do you find them hard to look after then ?? What do you feed them and how long would it take to start a full flowing colony ??


I find them easy to look after. Try not to feed too much wet food as it can raise the humidity to disasterous amounts (inducing mould and bacteria growth). Mine get fed on fish flake/ pond sticks and things like sweet potato, mushrooms, apple, mango, banana etc. 
[EDIT: or feed wet food on a bowl and remove daily)
I avoid carrots like the plague with all my vegetarian inverts, particularly ones that are used as feeders to other inverts. 

I don't use any extra heat with mine, but my house never ever gets cold (I can't handle the cold at all) and they are still breeding well (they are in the warmest area of teh house though). They breed slower this way, but still breed at a fast enough pace for my use.

Edit edit, as per above, dog/cat biccies are also very good too 


EDIT EDIT EDIT (lol) try to remove any deads you might find in there, particularly if you keep other invertebrates (spiders/scorpions) as dead things encourage phorid fly and you REALLY don't want those.


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

MissCat said:


> I find them easy to look after. Try not to feed too much wet food as it can raise the humidity to disasterous amounts (inducing mould and bacteria growth). Mine get fed on fish flake/ pond sticks and things like sweet potato, mushrooms, apple, mango, banana etc.
> 
> I avoid carrots like the plague with all my vegetarian inverts, particularly ones that are used as feeders to other inverts.
> 
> I don't use any extra heat with mine, but my house never ever gets cold (I can't handle the cold at all) and they are still breeding well (they are in the warmest area of teh house though). They breed slower this way, but still breed at a fast enough pace for my use.


Bit of team work there Mrs  well done.


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

Stephen17 said:


> Bit of team work there Mrs  well done.


hehe, mine did require a million edits though


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

MissCat said:


> hehe, mine did require a million edits though


You are forgiven, I couldn't even spell "there" think we both need to invest in a dictionary : victory:


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

haha emailed that imingy now thanks alot for that link :2thumb: and thankyou both really helped me, think im going to invest and hope for the best haha!!


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

samw3011 said:


> haha emailed that imingy now thanks alot for that link :2thumb: and thankyou both really helped me, think im going to invest and hope for the best haha!!


No worries mate, any questions gimme a shout : victory: Once you get them going, it will be extremely easy to keep them going.

Good luck :2thumb:


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

Stephen17 said:


> No worries mate, any questions gimme a shout : victory: Once you get them going, it will be extremely easy to keep them going.
> 
> Good luck :2thumb:


Thanks i will do, befriended you so if ive got any questions i havent got search through posts to find you!! haha, oh yeh if i just bought 100 large would that start a colony off or not, because ive seen people say they need "breeder pairs" ??


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

samw3011 said:


> Thanks i will do, befriended you so if ive got any questions i havent got search through posts to find you!! haha, oh yeh if i just bought 100 large would that start a colony off or not, because ive seen people say they need "breeder pairs" ??


You would be better off buying adults, then you know how many of each you have gotten. 100 large you will definitely have a mix of sex, but you ideally want more females. That way you will have more little ones sooner, and less fighting between the males.

I accepted, message me anytime mate : victory:


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

Stephen17 said:


> You would be better off buying adults, then you know how many of each you have gotten. 100 large you will definitely have a mix of sex, but you ideally want more females. That way you will have more little ones sooner, and less fighting between the males.
> 
> I accepted, message me anytime mate : victory:


Thanks alot i mean from that imigy were you can choose males and females, also how long does it take for babies and do the roaches live very long haha


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

samw3011 said:


> Thanks alot i mean from that imigy were you can choose males and females, also how long does it take for babies and do the roaches live very long haha


I would suggest either 85 females 15 males or 90 females 10 males, if you want your colony to get going quicker then buy 200, will mean you can start feeding from them a lot sooner and it will save you more time/money eventually.

Babies could be seen any time from when you get them, to up to a month, but as long as you do everything right you will be seeing babies fairly soon : victory: I am not sure how long the live for, but I know males live shorter. I think if I remember correctly it was..

Females - 18 months

Males - 12 months

Either way Imginy will most likely send you new adults, and they will be breeding for you for a good few months


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

Thanks very much :2thumb::no1:: victory: you've been really helpful


----------



## Stephen17 (Jun 14, 2011)

samw3011 said:


> Thanks very much :2thumb::no1:: victory: you've been really helpful


Any time mate : victory:


----------



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

I can sex immature dubia, when the other half gets home from work i'll rob his camera and show you how. I can't explain without the aid of pictures lol.


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

MissCat said:


> I can sex immature dubia, when the other half gets home from work i'll rob his camera and show you how. I can't explain without the aid of pictures lol.


Oooo right thanks alot !! Be sure to post the pics and explain  haha :2thumb:


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

Another question for you both haa, Right as i live at my girlfriends mums house there being a bit off with the idea of roaches, they let me house 1,000 crickets every week in the house though so i dont see what the problem is. Anyway the only place i could keep them is the garage, the garage is freezing so i didnt think a heat mat would provide a high enough temperature in an open space on the container, is there anyway i could heat them easier in a cold room or anything i could do to keep the heat in or would just a heat mat be fine ??


----------



## popitgoes (Oct 24, 2010)

samw3011 said:


> Another question for you both haa, Right as i live at my girlfriends mums house there being a bit off with the idea of roaches, they let me house 1,000 crickets every week in the house though so i dont see what the problem is. Anyway the only place i could keep them is the garage, the garage is freezing so i didnt think a heat mat would provide a high enough temperature in an open space on the container, is there anyway i could heat them easier in a cold room or anything i could do to keep the heat in or would just a heat mat be fine ??


i would buy a small cheap cabinet with enough room for your dubia colony insulate it and heat that up in the garage but use a ceramic bulb for heating etc as it will be much better i would do this hope this helps


----------



## samw3011 (Sep 16, 2011)

popitgoes said:


> i would buy a small cheap cabinet with enough room for your dubia colony insulate it and heat that up in the garage but use a ceramic bulb for heating etc as it will be much better i would do this hope this helps


do you think it would work if i wrapped the container in insulation boards or polystyrene or something ??


----------



## popitgoes (Oct 24, 2010)

samw3011 said:


> do you think it would work if i wrapped the container in insulation boards or polystyrene or something ??


you can try it see how it goes but dont think it would work that well if you dont get a cabinet then just get a bigger container and insulate that and then put the container with the dubia in inside that container and heat it that way but if not got a big enough container then try use a cardboard box and insulate that


----------



## spit (Oct 9, 2006)

Hi,i'm about to start a colony of these guys and was wondering what size RUBS you guys use,i have a few spare but i'm not sure how high the sides should be.​


----------



## popitgoes (Oct 24, 2010)

spit said:


> Hi,i'm about to start a colony of these guys and was wondering what size RUBS you guys use,i have a few spare but i'm not sure how high the sides should be.​


Hi

i was told for every 40litre per 100 adult dubia so 200 dubia - 80litre but i would go 150 adults per 40litre


----------

