my first attempt in dealing with my blattaphobia

[dodolah]

I finally decided to get rid of my irrational fear of roaches.
I have received my first Dubia colony today from a very wonderful member of this forum. i am a bit excited and scared at the same time

The male occasionally still make the hair on the back of my neck stand.
I know it's weird.. especially coming from somebody who can hold scorpion, tarantula, and other venomous creatures with no problem.

anyway, i am rambling.
i got couple of questions that hopefully you guys the roach expert can answer:

1. Do I absolutely have to provide them with high protein food? I research from 1 website that claim that i have to. If not, the roaches might start nibbling on the male's wings (not a bad idea actually. at least that make them unable to fly ).
The reason i don't want to provide them high protein food is because i don't want to introduce high protein feeder to my chameleon (since they are a low protein eater).
If I have to feed them high protein.. is there any other way beside feeding them dog food or cat food? I do not like the idea as it poses the risk of giving my chameleon gout.

2. I am using an ordinary screen cage for my cham's enclosure like the one from Flchams. Occasionally, crickets can escape. Is that mean roaches can too? they seem a bit bigger than crickets. but the flat body worries me. My cham is in my bedroom.
There is no way in hell i can sleep with the idea of dubia swirling around somewhere (at least not until i can get over my phobia).
I cup feed my cham. but sometime he shoots a bunch of crix together at the same time that one or two will fall to the enclosure..
I am a bit afraid this might happen.
Is there a way to minimize escapee as much as possible? especially during feeding and best not involving me touching them with my bare hand.

3. Is cricket keeper a fine enclosure for them? Cricket loves to climb the black tube. I love the tube as it prevents my contact with cricket.
But, will dubia climb those tube too?

4. Can i use Fluker orange cube for their water source?

5. Do I really need the heat source? or can I just let them breed during summer only. or will they die if they are constantly expose to 70s or 80s temp?

6. Again.. any tips to prevent escapee is greatly appreciated.

So far so good. and I already loving the fact that they do not stink.
My crickets probably harbor more diseases than them.
hopefully, my blattaphobia will be gone soon.
Or at least, a bit lessen.
O my.. the thing we do for our chameleon..

Thanks guys

 

[Chameleonboy]

dodola hi

yes you need to give them some sort of protien i put some kernals of dog food in my dubia colony its funny they move the food around it is almost like they are picking it up if you dont give them protien they will not only eat the males wings they will eat eachother so yes you need to give them protien

in order for your cham to not get the protien that the roaches have take the ones you want to feed to your cam out put them in a seperat container and gut load them for about 48 to 72 hrs and you should be fine

no the cricket containers are nto to good for them try a 10 galon tank you can get one from craigs for really chap if not go to petco and get one for 10 bux and buy a top for it

eww i really hate the orange cubes i give mine cricket yummies you can find that at petco and if not they have the water jello loll put it in a container and they will be fine witht that as far as food you know dog or cat food will work and give them some fruits and veggies (gutload food)

yes get a heating pad for them it works well you will see they wont move from the heat source they love heat and in order for them to breed you need it to be warm if not your gunna loose them all by feeding them off slowly and not getting any back

im not shure if they can get out of a screen cage or bite through that you are going to need to speek with someoen who knows about that or had a past experence with that

im shure they will not die in 70s and 80s but keep them warm so you can get more and breed them so you dont have to buy any more

let me know if you have any questions

-Clemonde

 

[Chamero]

Hey all, I too have recently acquired some roaches and must say I do enjoy them much more than the crix. They are silent and smelless so get my vote. Wish I could say the same for my cham though, he ignores them. Oh well, at some point he will have no choice. haha. But about the gutloading, you mentioned dog food... Is any dog food ok? I think I use ONE dry dog food, the burgundy colored bag.

I have also just put together my heat source for them and they haven't moved from the pad. I got the pad, a wall socket light dimmer and an extension cord. I cut the wires and put it together and it is working well. Just an idea I picked up from another member that is inexpensive and relatively easy so thought I'd share. Anyway, I like my roaches...

 

[Justin Carl]

hey dodolah!

i had order 12 dubias to give them a shot since igor was on a ridiculous hunger strike.
what sucked is i got all females! not one male! i guess that is good marketing.lol
thank god he is over it now. i should mention he isnt eating dubia though.
ill tell you what. i am 6'2" 210 lbs. and will NOT touch a roach!haha
i give mine the yellow water cubes with roach food and some greens
since i am not using crickets anymore i used my cricket keeper for my dubias.
i just took out the tubes and tossed in some egg crates and papper towel tubes.
if i were you i would cup feed the roaches. they dont like the light and are great at hiding. so you wont see them come out till the lights turn off.
hope that helps

 

[Chuck G]

I never feed my roaches protein,just organic fruits and vegetables.
There is small amounts of protein in sweet potato and broccoli.
I think the protein will enable the roaches to live longer but you are using them as a food source not as a pet. I am assuming this of course after reading your squeamish story.Which was great by the way,very descriptive!

 

[JimNPHX]

I have had a colony going for just over 2 months now. I would not consider myself an expert but here is my take on things anyway . . . (You did ask!)

Mostly everything has been answered anyway so I will just confirm:

You will want to keep the colony container at least in the high 80's if not higher so that they will continually breed. The cooler the temp the more their metabolism slows down. I would suggest to keep it as warm as you can get it (within reason) and let them breed away. Better to deal with having too many than not enough. I am not sure of their life cycle but I think it is only a few months. So you need to keep it going all year.

You can use any type of moist cube feed to give the roaches the proper liquid that they need. But, do not buy if you do not already have. Too expensive and you get the same result from water crystals (much cheaper) and of course the fruit & veggies you feed them.

Yes they need protein, just not a whole lot. The main food source can be fruit & veggies but you will need to supplement this with some sort of protein. Dry dog or cat food will work fine. (Because it will be a supplement you do not have to worry about brand. Just as long as their is a good % of protein.)

I separate the ones I will use as a feeder and place into another container. (I actually do use a cricket container for this. Without the tubes.) I gutload these with a pre-mix I bought from the place I got the starter colony from. Blapticadubias.com
It seems to work fine . . .

If you are just starting a colony do not plan on using any for feeders. Unless you have bought a boatload you need to let the colony get established.

I use cages like yours and have no problems with roaches escaping.

What I do notice happening (depending on the size of the roach) is that if you free feed them they go straight to the bottom of the cage. Usually under the potted plants. You can cup feed them as long as the cup is deep enough so they cannot climb on each other to get out. Again, depends on their size . . .

Again I am not saying I am an expert but this is what I have gathered and learned since I decided to go with them.

* Some local reptile stores usually have dubias to sell. You can always go and ask if they will sell you some adults. If not you can add to the colony. My local store sells them for $2 a dozen.

One last thing, he he heeee . . . never wear long sleeve shirts when handling them. They love to crawl up your arm!
Oops . . . maybe I should not have said that

Hope all this helps

Jim

 

[dodolah]

Jim! thanks for scaring me lol
i am using a very very very long tweezer to pick them up.

 

[JimNPHX]

Jim! thanks for scaring me lol
i am using a very very very long tweezer to pick them up.

Ha ha haaaa

There is a creepy factor at first but you get over it. Just keep reminding yourself that they are much better than crickets!!!

 

[PardalisGirl]

Roaches are great.........

Your fear will fade over time, I think. I used to do a lot of silent screaming in my head when I had to deal with them. I don't mind them now. I keep them in a glass tank with a secure screen top. I also use egg crate and paper towel rolls. I give them just a little cat food for protein. They don't eat it very quickly. They prefer to eat the fruit and veggies. I use Fluker's gutload and the orange cubes too.

I stimulate breeding by going through misting cycles. I provide them with just fruit and orange cubes for moisture for a month or two. Then I go through a cycle of misting the glass sides every day or so for several weeks. A month or so after doing this I see babies running around. This works for E. Distanti and E. Prosticus anyway. I like the roaches but I never want to see one in my house. I hand feed them with tweezers. If the cham will not eat them this way, it will not get to eat roaches. I want to see that roach being crunched by the cham before I turn my back. Most of my chams will eat them this way.

 

[dodolah]

hey dodolah!

i had order 12 dubias to give them a shot since igor was on a ridiculous hunger strike.
what sucked is i got all females! not one male! i guess that is good marketing.lol
thank god he is over it now. i should mention he isnt eating dubia though.
ill tell you what. i am 6'2" 210 lbs. and will NOT touch a roach!haha
i give mine the yellow water cubes with roach food and some greens
since i am not using crickets anymore i used my cricket keeper for my dubias.
i just took out the tubes and tossed in some egg crates and papper towel tubes.
if i were you i would cup feed the roaches. they dont like the light and are great at hiding. so you wont see them come out till the lights turn off.
hope that helps

aww... if you decided to move to LA, you can have my excess male dubia.
lol.. I might just breed them for fun and start giving them away too..(that's how i got mine anyway).. a little spread of love and kindness...
Maybe on christmas.. here a bunch of roaches as christmas gift from me.
hahahaha.

 

[dodolah]

Your fear will fade over time, I think. I used to do a lot of silent screaming in my head when I had to deal with them. I don't mind them now. I keep them in a glass tank with a secure screen top. I also use egg crate and paper towel rolls. I give them just a little cat food for protein. They don't eat it very quickly. They prefer to eat the fruit and veggies. I use Fluker's gutload and the orange cubes too.

I stimulate breeding by going through misting cycles. I provide them with just fruit and orange cubes for moisture for a month or two. Then I go through a cycle of misting the glass sides every day or so for several weeks. A month or so after doing this I see babies running around. This works for E. Distanti and E. Prosticus anyway. I like the roaches but I never want to see one in my house. I hand feed them with tweezers. If the cham will not eat them this way, it will not get to eat roaches. I want to see that roach being crunched by the cham before I turn my back. Most of my chams will eat them this way.

yes. i'm screaming silently right now lol..
took me an hour just to feed one tiny dubia for my chameleon.
He seemed to enjoy it.. I will try to feed him for 3 days continuously..
to see if he is a roach lover.

How much dubia for a juvie chameleon?
and uhhh.. he's a bit on the chubby side these day since his horn worms craving.. so, i am planning a diet regimen for him.

 

[Scotty]

The best way not to have to touch them...I have had roaches for years as I feed them to my other lizards, I got a new shipment the other day and that's the worst part transfering them from the container they came in to my enclosure...roaches everywhere....sorry dodolah.
Anyway back to the topic, place (like catherine said) a toilet roll or egg carton in the roach enclosure and everytime you want some pick the roll up, most of the will fall of, you'll have a few hangers on, tap the roll into your feeder cup and there you go.
Trust me it does work after practice, I promise...I'll post some pics of my roach setup when I get home from work.
Cheers
Scott.

 

[dodolah]

thanks, Scotty!
So far my veiled seems to enjoy this new feeder..
I feed him 6 and all gone within 2 minutes (he even eat them in front of me.)
but, boy do that roaches make him fat...

the next day his tummy looked full and he's getting chubby (plus i've been feeding him some horn worms)..
It's time to cut his portion...

He is so going to be mad..

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

First things first.
They're not "roaches" they're "beetles".... "semi social beetles"
You'll do better if you can get that into your head.
roaches are pests... these aren't.

Secondly, they're not going to hurt you
we would have known by now if they carried some deadly disease
personally speaking they're MUCH CLEANER than crickets.

I actually keep mine in the kitchen inside large storage tubs
there's no smell and it makes it easy to toss in the fruit rinds
and all the little extra scraps I have from when I cook
(yes I know how this sounds and what people are imagining right now)
but it's all part of a balanced diet... right?

Thirdly,
if you get a heating pad (colder climate homes)
you can put that under the tub and it'll provide all the warmth they'll need.
Egg flats make great homes and they're every easy to care for.

I use the nymphs to feed out to the chams
they're juicy with lots of meat and make great feeders
thus far no escapees and if there was one.
it wouldn't live long enough to molt into an adult and breed.

I have more problems with super worms getting out of the cages
and molting into beetles behind the TV and sofa than I do with the "papaya beetles".
enjoy.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Bah!
They're roaches! And they're cool!!
You'll be picking them up with your bare hands in no time.
I sold about 2500 last summer and if I had to pick through substrate and grab each roach with a pair of tweezers ... I'd still be at it
Seriously ... they are such nice, gentle insects ... keep working on the de-sensitizing!

-Brad

 

[dodolah]

another Q is the adult seems awfully big...
How old a veiled or panther should be be4 they can handle eating such large feeders?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I would not feed off female adults ... only males (when you start to get a surplus).
I would think an adult veiled could handle and adult male dubia, if he's at a year old and at least 15" or so tip to tip.

-Brad

 

[Dave Weldon]

...They're not "roaches" they're "beetles".... "semi social beetles"...

Howdy,

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

 

[Vegas Chad]

Oh man... My tub of them fell off the shelf and now I have thousands of dubia run'n all over my home! Oh no... Sleeping with the bugs tonight it looks like.














At least this is what I might say if I did not keep them on a solid shelf with a lid. Dont let it happen to you! **But just think about that!** 1,000 BIG, Med, and Small roaches running in your room, bathroom, kitchen? roaming around your bed while you sleep! Have a great day!

 

[JimNPHX]

Holy s*** Chad, I didn't know they needed to be kept in containers!

CRAP!

Jim