# Dubia Roach size for starting colony?



## stuart87 (Jul 16, 2010)

Im going to be starting a couple of breeding projects, I already have a small mealworm colony going strong, decided i'll try to breed Silent Crickets and maybe a small colony of dubia roaches.
Ive been looking on livefoodbypost.co.uk firstly id like to know what people think of there service? (Ive not purchased anything from them so far)
also what pack would I need to start a dubia colony? (Im looking at the medium dubia roach 10mm-15mm pack of 30) dont want to spend too much if possible.

Any advice, greatly appreciated
Thanks


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## AOTP (Mar 22, 2012)

Couple of points really, firstly there is no such thing as silent crickets, they are the same as the "normal" crickets just sold at a younger age before sexually maturing which is why they dont make a noise. Take a box of silent crix feed them keep them warm and dry and they will mature after a few days and start making noise. Crix are a nightmare.

Next up Dubias, they are awesome easily the best livefood ive ever used for many reps easy to breed easy to gutload on just about anything, really resistant to temp/humidity change and dont die often. Out of my colony of thousands of adults I get maybe 50 dead a month, though ageing.

As for buying a starter colony online Id not reccomend it. Dubias are not cheap and 30 medium size will take a long long time to mature and produce. An adult female will produce around 20-40 babies a month in ideal conditions and then after a few cycles die. 

Having a load of babies can make you feel confident and happy to feed them off but remember you will need them to grow and mature and continue to colony, a baby dubia will take up to 6 months to become and adult as they tend to moult once a month average and have 5 or so moults to adulthood.

How many reps are you planning to feed dubias to and how often, what reps would be my main question and how long are you happy to wait for the colony to stabilize. When I started a colony I started with about 4 thousand I bought off someone on a classified ad. I sorted them into adults and non adult tubs and monitored for 3 months their production rate so I could work out how any I could feed. 

Dont want to put anyone off breeding dubias as they are amazing livefood and well worth an investment, but often people forget how long it will take and overfeed from their colonies too early and have to continue buying livefoods to suppliment.

Happy to help though anyway I can. : victory:


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## stuart87 (Jul 16, 2010)

Thanks for replying, Yh i dont mind waiting however long it takes. Where do you recommend I buy some from? and how many should I start with? (I have no choice but to buy online, since i have no transport and we have no decent reptile pet shops here)
Mainly they will be for my Bearded dragon.(who eats like a pig) And maybe some for my geckos, depending on roaches size. 
I am hoping to get a few more reps eventually tho. (Blue-tongued skink tops the list :mf_dribble: )
Cheers


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## Whitey93 (Aug 4, 2012)

i have bought many bulk bags of insects of these guys there service is great and live food is exelent also free delivery on live food:2thumb: 

www.livefoodsdirect.co.uk


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## AOTP (Mar 22, 2012)

livefoods direct was also where I got my bulk locust bags from to feed and breed with. 

Roaches Id trawl classifieds on every kinda classified website you can find get a good deal.


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## stuart87 (Jul 16, 2010)

Ok thankyou: victory: So what would you say is the minimum amount of Roaches id need to start with? and is it better to buy them as adults or buy em young and gut load em myself?


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## wilko92 (Aug 29, 2011)

i started with 50 female 50 males fromt he roach hut.. i think 7-8 months ago.. now my tub is swarming with them.. although not ready to be fed as im waitingfor them to grow abit bigger.. the more you buy you will have more young.. and become over flown with them sooner :lol2:


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## jonodrama (May 7, 2009)

I bought a starter colony from the classified here and swapped some spare equipment for a similar size colony a few weeks later, that was over 18 months ago and I've sold lots of starter colonies myself now, 
I still buy the odd box of locust and wax worms for variety.

Great live food to use and breed.


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## stuart87 (Jul 16, 2010)

Great, Im just waiting for payday now:whistling2: then i can start it up.

I would like to breed something else too tho, Ive gone off the idea of Crickets because there chirping is sooo annoying.:bash: , ive been looking at locusts only thing that puts me off is all the bad stories ive heard about mites, anyone here tried breeding locusts?


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## PhillyDee (May 17, 2010)

Tried breeding locust, could never get the buggers to hatch. 

So the beardies had a feast of adults and I gave up.


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## vukic (Apr 9, 2010)

dubias are great... the more females you have the more you get... but adults do cost... but if you want to establish a colony quicker adults are your best bet... but on the other hand, juveniles are cheaper... so you could get more for your buck but the weight would be longer...
easiest way to work out a starter colony size is to think about how long you want to wait before you start feeding... don't forget, once they start breeding enough for you to feed it'll cut your live food bills... think of it as an investment... the more you put in the better the return...

hope this helps..


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## 1987will (Aug 26, 2012)

*Dubia roaches for sale*

Dubias for sale on ebay 1987will check me out

Thanks


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