Breeding Dubias or Crix in a SMALL Apartment

[JasonSinger]

Hi everyone:

I am looking to start up a little breeding project soon (maybe in a couple of months once Andrew is full grown), however I am a little worried about the size of the operation, and it getting out of hand so to speak. I live in a small one bedroom apartment with my girlfriend, and currently we purchase crickets and keep them under our sink.

Is there a way to make a small breeding project that will fit into a similar sized space? I am leaning toward dubias because they seem like a much cleaner and hardier option, but any input would be fantastic. I also understand you need a heating pad for incubation, but will a dark space work (aka under my sink?)

Thanks

Jason

 

[Olimpia]

I live in a one bedroom as well, and have hundreds of roaches breeding in a ~100 qt plastic tub out on the balcony. I like to keep them out there because in the shade it stays at about 85* max, so they are warm enough to breed like crazy but not too much to cook to death. But you can definitely keep them under the sink with a heat pad. They take a while to really get a good colony going, but in 5-6 months you should have hundreds in a colony you can feed out of comfortably. I keep all my crickets and worms in bins under furniture so I know what you mean about lack of space! lol

If you don't want it to get out of hand there are a couple things you can do. One is to not give them very long to breed, so you don't have hundreds of roaches you can't feed out. Another is to separate out the males and females into two different bins and only allow a certain number of them to breed. If you had the space I would almost get a third bin and only put together a certain amount of males and females to breed, so you have a controlled group if you find that all of them breeding at once is too much.

 

[Jamelon]

dubias dont like the light so that would be a perfect area to keep them in! and they need heat to breed so if you want them to slow down just turn the heat off or down, im gonna start up a dubia colony soon just need to get the supplies for it

 

[Stalker]

IMO you should breed Dubias not crickets ... the crickets smell pretty badly and i suggest using a room only for them or a basement where the smell won't bother you.And also they are a bit harder to breed than dubias.But as i said this is my opinion

 

[xanthoman]

nix on the crix

imo dubias are a much better choice for an apt than cricks. if you breed cricks in a small apt you will almost certainly end up with free roaming cricks in your apt, (especially if you have never bred them before) dubia are much easier to breed and manage, if a dubia or two get out , no big deal, they wont breed unless your apt is 90*+, and they will just hang out in some obscure corner for months, you can breed all of the dubia you need in an 18 gal or even smaller, rubbermaid, (slightly modified with a rectangle of aluminum screen on each end and one on the top and a small undertank heater (uth) under one end of the container (opposite end from the food) is all you need for heat. if your colony starts over producing, you can just cut back on the heat. jmo

 

[JasonSinger]

Thats cool!

So ... I need to get a bin with some screen in it?

Also - what do you feed dubias? How do you clean the bins without them all getting out? Are they cleaner than crix?

Can an adult panther eat adult dubias?

 

[pssh]

Dubia are great for panthers. You generally don't have to clean the bin more than once or twice a year (with a small colony.) they can't climb smooth surfaces so you don't need a top. You feed them the same things you would feed your crickets. Maybe once ever few week add some boiled egg yolk until you start feeding them off, then stop. The protien helps them produce without overloading them like with cat/dog/fish food (which I do not recommend.)

I would suggest you start out with at least 20 females and a few males if you want to keep it small.

 

[JasonSinger]

so a general dry gutload with some frush fruit/veggies changed a couple times a week? Water dish?

How do they not need cleaning? Do they not make poop (lol) ?

 

[pssh]

Their poop is very dry. The babies like to crawl around in it! I pick out all the big ones, then dump the poop (frass) into a bucket and put a piece of egg crate in there. Once or twice a day I'll pick up the egg crate and shake the rest of the babies into the tub with the main colony. It takes a few days to get the babies sort out, but it's not hard.

Sure thing. Don't have any free standing water as they will drown in it, or at least they will get stuck in it and not drown and just flop around until you rescue them. Water crystals or veggies/fruits work just fine as a water source. Also, if you find that the nymphs start to die during a molt, start misting a little water on the sides of the tub to bring up humidity.

 

[JasonSinger]

Cool! and i think the last questions i have is can a panther eat the adults or is it only juvies? and do you need a substrate for them to lay in?

Thanks so much for the info!

 

[reptoman]

You wil want to save your adults to get your colony going so I would feed off the mid sized nymphs. An adult panther can eat an adult dubia male but the females are a little beefy. I have seem my female panther take a large adult dubia and tear it in half but i'm sure most chams would attempt to swallow them whole. The food item should be able to fit between the space between your chams eyes. Thats the general rule on sizing feeders.

You dont need substrate for dubias. Just egg crates, water crystals, cricket crack or other cricket food, and fresh veggies to gutload before feeding. You need to keep their enclosure warm with a UTT heatpad to keep them breeding.

 

[pssh]

They give 'live births.'

 

[JasonSinger]

Just egg crates, water crystals, cricket crack or other cricket food, and fresh veggies to gutload before feeding. You need to keep their enclosure warm with a UTT heatpad to keep them breeding.

Does that mean a dry gutload will work until right before i feed to my cham? or should the veggies be a regular thing in with them?

 

[pssh]

Veggies don't have to be regular unless you are feeding from the colony. Just use water crystals.

 

[JasonSinger]

So i would separate out out the young and raise those to feed off ... using the dry gutload ... and then use veggies for a period before i feed them off?

 

[pssh]

Well, you could leave them with the adults and just throw in a few veggies ever few days and feed off young the day after. It really doesn't matter if you give them dry food or wet food until you want to feed them off. Then you want to use both so that they are gutloaded.

 

[dabears51]

My very first post and I'm giving advice on Dubias. lol. I have a colony of around 600+ dubias that I've had for almost a year now. They have all been kept in one bin/tote. No need to separate the nymphs. It's very simple! Heat source, bin, eggcrates, water crystals and dry/wet food. Veggies every now and again. They LOVE oranges. It helps them breed. It's like an aphrodisiac to them. Add some and you'll notice it will be gone in no time.

I use a standard size black Sterilite bin that I got from The Container Store. Cut two holes on the lid and hot glued some breathable fabric over it. I did put a strip of tape all around the inside of the bin as the real small nymphs can and will climb the sides. Once they reach the tape, they fall off since it's slippery. Bigger dubias don't/can't climb. Hope this helps.

Greg

 

[pssh]

If you use a slick enough plastic they can't climb up the walls at all.

 

[JasonSinger]

Oooo the questions keep coming!

So how many crix = 1 roach ... like how many roaches should i feed to my cham a day? And also, do I dust my roaches like I would my crix?

 

[pssh]

You dust the same. Gutload the same. It depends on the size of the roach and the size of the crickets you are referring to.

In general, 1/2" roach = 1" cricket. More so with the really fat 1/2" ones, maybe less with the flat half inch ones.

1" roach = 2-4 adult crickets (again, depending on if it's one of the fat or flat ones.)

1 1/2" roach = 6-7 adult crickets or so

2" roach = 8-9 adult crickets

I'm just making approx. Conversions for my roaches. You will have to use your best judgment when feeding.