# Starting a Dubia Colony



## StevenM31 (Jun 14, 2012)

Hi everyone

I may be interested in starting a Dubia colony for my reps but wanted to ask some questions here to help get me started

1: how many of each male and females do I need and what ratio?

To help with the above question I want enough to feed off to all my reps and enough to still breed some and continuous feed off to them, I have 4 panther chams and 1 bearded dragon, if I had a few left over each feeding I don't mind having excess as I may take some up to my dad for his panthers. I know it may not be a lot to start off with until they breed, maybe 3,4 males and 10-14 females??

2:if I start off with a big under bed storage contain type tub with maybe only a small handful of adults in there will it be ok to leve them to it for around 4-5 months so I then have a few of each size?

3: where do people get there egg flats from? And is it best to have them vertical
Inside and not on their side so poo falls to the bottom?

4: Temperature inside? Also should they have hot and cool side? 

5: best place to buy my first few from?

6: what to feed them and how often? I heard they bed fruit maybe once a week? And what to feed them everyday until fruit day?


Thanks for the help

Steven


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## Spideypidey (Jan 23, 2014)

1. You need more females than males but I don't think I've ever seen a recommended ratio. I mainly leave my colony to manage itself and the males kill off other males if there is too many. At the outset you would probably feed off excess males and preserve the females so the colony grows.

2. If you leave them for 4-5 months as you say your adults will have given birth and their babies will likely be getting close to breeding if they haven't done so already. Probably the best start would be a mixed colony and then add adult females and/or males as needed i.e. from rickslivefood.co.uk

3. I get mine from Amazon and I like the purple ones. Also from ebay.

4. Temperature 25-30 centigrade. I have a heat-mat underneath at the egg tray end. Humidity is important too and they need that for moulting as they grow and for expelling and taking back their egg sac.

5. I like rickslivefood.co.uk but available on ebay and on these very forums.

6. Their staple is some sort of dry protein-rich food. I like bran but others like some other proprietary food or even make their own. If you're stuck you can feed crushed breakfast cereal such as Weetabix. If you're already eating green veg, carrots and oranges you already have a head start on their food. I feed mine on greens and fruit every other day while they always have dry food.


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## StevenM31 (Jun 14, 2012)

Thanks for the help  also do they need any water intake? I seen some people use water crystals? Or is this no good?


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## Spideypidey (Jan 23, 2014)

StevenM31 said:


> Thanks for the help  also do they need any water intake? I seen some people use water crystals? Or is this no good?


I give mine re-hydrated water crystals and they eat them pretty fast. If you're buying from rickslivefood.co.uk also get water crystals from there to save on postage.

There are alternatives to the dry food such as beetle jelly or Repashy Bug Burger.


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## Jakenicholls (Dec 31, 2011)

Hi , if you ever need any roaches, I sell them and am the cheapest on these forums and ebay, pm me with what you need or you can find my thread on the food classifieds :2thumb: i do mini colonies for £19:2thumb:


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## StevenM31 (Jun 14, 2012)

Thanks, i will try get all the bits and pieces over next couple weeks and will PM you


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## Spideypidey (Jan 23, 2014)

StevenM31 said:


> Thanks, i will try get all the bits and pieces over next couple weeks and will PM you


Just a quick note on egg trays: I put them in on their ends so debris falls to the bottom of the enclosure. Then when I want to take some roaches out to feed my tarantulas I clean the end where the food goes and then loosen the egg boxes and give them a shake. Then push the egg trays to the clean end. Then take out my feeders and then after the remaining roaches have scurried off into the egg boxes I get the vacuum cleaner tube and vacuum up the debris. Then that end is the new food end. It takes longer to type than it does to it.

Easier to get the roaches if you herd them into a corner.


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## mr stroudy (Mar 11, 2008)

Jakenicholls said:


> Hi , if you ever need any roaches, I sell them and am the cheapest on these forums and ebay, pm me with what you need or you can find my thread on the food classifieds :2thumb: i do mini colonies for £19:2thumb:


how many is in a mini colony :2thumb:


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