MOM GAVE ME PERMISSION!

Cleaner crews for dubia bins are usually darkling beetles of some sort, peanut beetles or dermestid larvae. I personally would never use dermestids on a new colony at all. Too much possibility for the dermestids to snack on freshly molted if there isn't enough extra food and dead/molts. Dermestids are voracious.
 
you just buy them, dump them in with the dubias and that should be that. I haven't replinished mine at all. I use... lesser mealworms for my colony and peanut beetles
 
Must admit I don't have any cleaner crews in mine, I have 5 eggs crate pieces stacked vertically , they are just on one side of the box, the rest is clear, that's where I leave their food, for cleaning I just push my hand over the floor pushing all the droppings into a corner and scoop up, they are so clean and non smelly it's no problem , I feed everyday, and harvest, so I just remove any leftovers of which there is usually very little, I guess you can get going well with them you always sell the surplus adults and keep the proceeds for more live foods?
 
Well my dubias are for sale right now, just message. Isopods not yet. Just sent out a starter pack to someone. No green banana roaches yet, they are slowly establishing. Silkworms it depends on the time of the year, right now I have had a horrible time with my last colony cocooning. So I had to buy some more. Stick insects are always seasonal (because they can take sometimes months to hatch from ova). But I always have enough dubia and general insects to feed my own animals. It just depends on when I can sell. When I do have an overabundance it seems to happen a lot at once and I can make around 100 dollars and I am even under charging a lot of the time.
 
Chameleon Crazy Chick said:
Hey guys! Mom finally caved when I went on an extensive rant about feeder insects, and told me that I could keep the insects in the garage... would that work out? I was considering getting the dubia roaches, and was wondering if they would be able to survive in a garage..... it gets around 1-2 degrees warmer in the garage than outside, and right now it's getting to about 40....

Also, if I need to I can get a smaller tub and keep that in my room, where I can gutload them more effectively before feeding..... I think i will do that. Questions, Comments, Concerns?
I know I will need:

  • A 40 quart Rubbermaid Tub
  • Lots of Egg Cartons
  • Gutload
  • Water crystals ( can you make these at home, or do you have to buy them?)
  • a 6x6 inch hole in the top of the container
  • a heat source (any recommendations?)
If I am missing anything, please tell me! I'm excited, and hope my buddy likes these things...
Click to expand...
Congrats! Where do you live? What's the extreme temperatures there? And would it be kept near a vehicle that would be parked in the garage? If so, consider the heat of the engine block, and also the exhaust. I know from experience with crickets, the heat gets'em fast!
 
I keep all my insects in the garage, and we do have a car near them that pulls in and out regularly. But we never close the garage until the car is turned off and has aired out a bit. I have not had any issues because of the sensitivity we treat the insects with and how aware my mom is with my animals <3 Gotta love her for it. But I do agree, you gotta be aware when during the summer (especially since I can get into the triple digits pretty bad during heat waves) when to turn off the heaters if need be. I always have my heat pads on thermostats, but sometimes they need to be turned off completely just in case, during heat waves I prefer turning them off so that the insects have a complete cool down at night. I also provide tons of water sources during those times of the year and make sure they have it around the clock. I sometimes also lightly mist my dubias with cooler water (which I never usually do). With my other species, such as the isopods, sticks, and banana roaches, they will often get misted twice a day on those heat waves.

This reminds me, I need to look into my dubia bin and rummage around to see how good the cleaner crews are doing (not so much with the cleaning part but with the reproducing part) just to make sure there is nothing to worry about.
 
Be aware that not all lizards will eat them. I have a HUGE colony because all 5 of my lizards and the frog won't touch dubia. I have tried soooo hard, but the lizards just aren't interested.
 
Virgil1972 said:
I don't think the water crystals are necessary. I never used them, I just gave my roaches fresh vegetables and some fruits.
Click to expand...
Ditto. I also use water sponge in a little water shallow container [a jar lid would work too], but the fruits seem to keep them well hydrated.
 
Andee said:
Cleaner crews for dubia bins are usually darkling beetles of some sort, peanut beetles or dermestid larvae. I personally would never use dermestids on a new colony at all. Too much possibility for the dermestids to snack on freshly molted if there isn't enough extra food and dead/molts. Dermestids are voracious.
Click to expand...
I will never use a cleaner crew again.. All mine grew into beetles and escaped the tub and flew around the house forever, and i still find them.. Just letting the poop fall to the bottom and cleaning it every few weeks works fine for me.
 
Mine have never escaped o_O that's an odd thing I have never experienced before. The only reason I can think that happened is you had a flaw in your containment plan.
 
UPDATE: My mother and father said that I am not allowed to use a heating pad for the roaches. They say that they will not pay the electricity for a heating pad to keep the roaches they don't want alive.... So, any ideas? Anybody? I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the temperatures on the RARE super-hot days are around 100 degrees. Usually we get to 90-95 in the summer.....
 
The thing is without a heating element they won't breed at a good rate for you likely not at all
 
I mean honestly you could easily pay for the heating they use yourself, roaches on a thermostat with the right heating pad (ultratherm are my preferred because they use the least wattage for heat), will use maybe 5-8 dollars at most for heating. All my heat pads for all my insects don't even add up to the lights I use for my reptiles XD
 
Alright, sounds good. Bribery may work on this, as it will save me money to pay for both the heating and the insect's food rather than buying all the food from the commercial petstore. :D:p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

elizaann2
Jackson's Juvenile on top of enclosure
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
Ghostbirb
Ghostbirb
M
Raising roaches experience (and advice)
Replies
5
Views
1K
Mark_C
M
The.pascal.show
Advice About Rehoming Veiled Chameleon
Replies
13
Views
1K
little leaf
little leaf
EnchiTheCham
Eye Cleaning… often
Replies
1
Views
684
Beman
Beman
bberry820
What do Chameleons do to survive in a Hurricane?
Replies
7
Views
2K
snitz427
snitz427
Back
Top Bottom