Dubias & Crickets together??

[garcia031]

How goes it all-

Had a question, i'm looking into changing my chams diet from Crickets to Dubias. I had tried giving him in the past some wax worms, did't like them. Seems he prefers the crickets over all. SO.... Is it possible to keep Dubias & Crickets together in the same bin??? as a back up in case.

 

[nightanole]

Yes you can keep them together (might even keep down the smell since the dubia will eat the cricket poop). However adult crickets will eat pinhead crickets/dubia, so you cant breed dubia and store crickets in the same tank.

 

[garcia031]

good to know thanx...

Also thank you all in advance for ur help.

 

[Jac1582]

Yes you can keep them together (might even keep down the smell since the dubia will eat the cricket poop). However adult crickets will eat pinhead crickets/dubia, so you cant breed dubia and store crickets in the same tank.

If the dubias eat the cricket poop couldn't that pass on bacteria or parasites on to the chameleon? I've thought about cohabitating my feeders before but never tried it.

 

[nightanole]

If the dubias eat the cricket poop couldn't that pass on bacteria or parasites on to the chameleon? I've thought about cohabitating my feeders before but never tried it.

Dubia are recyclers, unlike crickets, so baby dubia eat adult poop. As for bacteria and parasites, The poop came from inside the feeder crickets, so they are clean. Your kinda just rearranging things. Its kinda like the question of does dubia spit harm the cham, well its in the dubia any way so the cham is gonna eat it one way or the other...


One thing you do want to pick up on is dubia's upper limit for protein is 12%, vs crickets that can be fed up to 25%. That shouldnt concern most of us, but some people feed the crickets chicken/dog/cat food, which is around 20%.

 

[pssh]

The crickets may attack any molting dubia, so be aware of that. You can house them together, but breeding one or the other together is probably not going to happen.

 

[arnau666]

if you keep them together you will need to clean the enclosure very often becose crickets are very smelly and make a lot of dirty poop.
i wont do this , becose i dont find it healty for both of them.

 

[Jac1582]

Dubia are recyclers, unlike crickets, so baby dubia eat adult poop. As for bacteria and parasites, The poop came from inside the feeder crickets, so they are clean. Your kinda just rearranging things. Its kinda like the question of does dubia spit harm the cham, well its in the dubia any way so the cham is gonna eat it one way or the other...


One thing you do want to pick up on is dubia's upper limit for protein is 12%, vs crickets that can be fed up to 25%. That shouldnt concern most of us, but some people feed the crickets chicken/dog/cat food, which is around 20%.

Never thought of it that way but your exactly right. I only use fresh veggies and fruits for wet food and tortoise pellets and dry oatmeal for dry food

 

[UrbanChameleon]

Isn't the crickets smell toxic when they die? I know it's harmful to other crickets, but what about Dubia's? I'm just curious. You should clean and take out any dead insects anyways. But would the toxic smell kill the Dubia's also?

 

[nadine]

Yes you can keep them together (might even keep down the smell since the dubia will eat the cricket poop). However adult crickets will eat pinhead crickets/dubia, so you cant breed dubia and store crickets in the same tank.

this is really awesome to know!!!!! i was wondering already if i should invest in some more larger sized lizards because the dubia just reproduce non-stop and i have way too many for the number of lizards i have right now

so, i will catch out some grown-up males and put in with the crickets - obviously, men CAN be useful for cleaning from time to time

nadine

 

[nightanole]

Isn't the crickets smell toxic when they die? I know it's harmful to other crickets, but what about Dubia's? I'm just curious. You should clean and take out any dead insects anyways. But would the toxic smell kill the Dubia's also?

Its the cricket smell in general that is toxic. Its why all the crickets die if their isnt any vents in the cage. Crickets must have vents on 2 sides or the smell ( ibelieve is ammonia build up) will oxygen starve the colony.

A dead cricket is just as bad for a colony as a dead roach.

 

[Jac1582]

Great thank you for all this info, it's something I've thought about before but never really delved into it. I completely tear apart and clean my cricket colony every 3 days so it never really smells much

 

[UrbanChameleon]

Its the cricket smell in general that is toxic. Its why all the crickets die if their isnt any vents in the cage. Crickets must have vents on 2 sides or the smell ( ibelieve is ammonia build up) will oxygen starve the colony.

A dead cricket is just as bad for a colony as a dead roach.

I'm sorry, that's exactly what I meant.

I was wondering.. if he houses both (Dubia & Cricket) together, will the Cricket's toxic smell kill the Dubia's? I was assuming so, but I didn't know what exactly makes them so toxic.

Thank you for clearing that up.