Dubia Colony.

[Oski]

Hi, i think im going to start a colony, as im constantly going to the pet store to get crickets/locusts, which is not a problem, but will save me doing this each week/2 weeks,

And also I hate cickets i dropped one today and he legged it still can not find it, lol

I can always mail order, but thought i would try these.

Any way i have a few questions?

Can i keep the colony in my garage/shed?, which is cold, but i could use a heat mat?

And also i have found a starter colony would this be good?

It consists of
10 Adult Males
10 Adult Female
15 Sub Adults
250 Small for £30
that is here in uk.

I know i want less males than females, would this be ok? i have to feed two young veileds with this, possibly another one day, obviously i would need to leave them for a month or two to breed? thanks

 

[pssh]

Start out with at least 50-80 females if you want them in a month or two... Yes you can keep them in a shed as long as they have some sort of heat that is around 85-90 degrees on one side.

The males will fight if they do not have enough females. Mine were fighting when there were only 20 males and 70 or so females... Though a good ratio would be 3:1 female:male or even more females if you can.

 

[Oski]

Hi Pssh thanks for the reply. i woll try and find somewhere where i can buy more, i iwll have a look and post back to see if it sounds good,

Would a heat pad reach them sort of temps? im not sure, thanks

 

[pssh]

You woud have to do some research. I've been using an old 'night time' heat lamp that was a stupid buy... It hasn't burnt out yet though!

 

[Digby Rigby]

if its cold in the area where you want to keep them you would be better served by keeping them in a cabinet and heating the cabinet. Ceramic heat emitters are excellent for this purpose, use a pulse proportional thermostat for best results. Heat tape is only good for raising temperatures in a sufficiently warm area not for heating things in a cold room. Meaning if the room is already in the 70's and you want to heat it more. Otherwise a cabinet like I mentioned is better and more efficient.

Digby Rigby _______________________

 

[Oski]

Hi ,

someone local to me is sellling 100+ adults and 30+ nymps he said the adults were mixed.

I haveno idea of the ratio,

I might get these as they are very local to me only half hour away in the car.

If i got these and left them for a month or so,would you think i could get a nice colony started?

The only other thing if i have to many adults, i think they are too big for my chams at the moments, so i dont know what to do with surplus adults? thanks

 

[pssh]

Sounds good. If the males start to fight just give some to someone with a larger lizard. Or you can smash them.

 

[Oski]

Lol smash them Yeah i have a freind with a large bearded dragon. I can give him the extras, as i doubt i could just squash them, thanks i will hopefuly get them weekend.

 

[knauzeris]

Why is it bad idea to feed this collony with caf food for example.
Someone told it is not good. Som other sites tell that it's good for the food.
What is the idea overall?

 

[Oski]

I dont think the chameleons need the protein, in the cat food, iirc

 

[pssh]

Protein is good for the roaches, but not good for the chameleons. It can cause gout. It also is a source of Vit A and chams can overdose on that, which is bad. That's a very basic answer, do a quick search on it.

 

[knauzeris]

OK - thanx for the idea.

And is there some kind of main diet for crickets and roaches - or it is only mixture of fruint and veggies? And that's enaugh!

 

[pssh]

Well, it depends. I prefer to keep all my feeders gutloaded all the time so mine are always eating veggies/fruits and other items. If you need to give your roaches protein you can use ground nuts and bee pollen. If you do a search on gutloading you'll learn about wet and dry foods.

 

[atsutane]

Why is it bad idea to feed this collony with caf food for example.
Someone told it is not good. Som other sites tell that it's good for the food.
What is the idea overall?

animal food is high in animal fat, so cat food is made out of chicken or beef or fish and these are not a chameleons natural diet. Chams are used to feeding of insects that eat (for the most part) plant material. and when you feed something that eats animal material its like giving a long time vegan straight protein again... simply put, their body doesnt like it and it can cause severe problems like gout. just like feeding your insects dog and cat food before giving to the cham.

now maybe i exaggerrated and it wouldnt be as bad as a vegan eating meat, cause i knew a vegan who ended up in the hospital because of that. and some chams deal with it better than others but on this fourm we have taken the approach better safe than sorry... so...

we merely suggest DONT DO IT! you may or may not listen to us

and your cham may or may not die. if you continue cat food...

you can see im not the only one suggesting this either (https://www.chameleonforums.com/cirx-box-clicking-yemen-chameleon-36883/)


there is the answer pretty clear, please rate my post if you thought it was helpful

 

[Oski]

Hi. so cat/dog food is a no go.

But if you were to leave a colony for 6 weeks or so and not use any for feeders would it be ok to use it then?

And make sure to stop using it for 3-4 weeks before i use as feeders? or will they still be laden with proteins?

And also what would be good feeders for them? as i have read on one site, they dont like high calcium food? im not sure if this is legit information or not. thanks.

 

[draetish]

Hi. so cat/dog food is a no go.

But if you were to leave a colony for 6 weeks or so and not use any for feeders would it be ok to use it then?

And make sure to stop using it for 3-4 weeks before i use as feeders? or will they still be laden with proteins?

And also what would be good feeders for them? as i have read on one site, they dont like high calcium food? im not sure if this is legit information or not. thanks.

You could always have another bin to keep the ones you will be feeding off and gut load them with the fruits and veg. for a couple of weeks. Oranges are great too, it has calcium and is a good hydrator for the dubias. Then you can feed the others (breeders) the (dry) cat food along with fruits and veg. The feeders should be fine if you have them off the cat food for a couple of weeks. I didn't see were any mentioned that the reason for the heat for the roaches is so they multiply (good temp is about 85).

 

[atsutane]

exactally what i was going to say about the cleansing period,
also thanks for the draetish for the info on heat for the roaches

 

[Oski]

Hi. well im off today, i am going to pick up my Dubai 100+ mixed adults. 30+ small, i was looking at containers, like a plastic storage contaoner, does it have to be black?

Also i have a few heat mats around if i stick this to the side? will this be ok? i was bothered about the plastic melting.

Also i will cut a hole in the lid and replace with mesh.

Apart from that, anything else i may need? thanks

 

[Oski]

Right i got my roaches, i have roughly, 70 Adult Females, some are really bloated so i take it are ready to drop more.

I have around 10-12 adult males, Does that seem a good ratio? he has been feeding off the males for this reason.

I have around 5-10 mediums lol.

And i reckon about 100 ish tiny little ones maybe more, but no way of counting theses, but there are loads, quite pleased with them, im going to get a good setup as they are in a tempory plastic box thing, and leave them for a few months, will this be enough for me to start feeding two young chams possibly three? thanks

 

[Oski]

Bump,

Hi, at the moment i have my roaches at room temparture untill i sort out a few bits will this cause any problems, they seem happy enough, i have seen some new white babies crawling about, as well, but i think a few of my females were already laden, thanks?