Need help/opinions starting Dubia colony

[maryanne27]

I'm going to start a Dubia roach colony to sustain one chameleon - male gracilior, will be at least 3-4 months old when I get him in a month or so. So I don't need a ton to start off with, but I want to be sure I will have enough to feed off and continue to grow.

I found this site that offers colony starter kits, and I was looking at the middle-of-the-road colony. Could someone check this out and let me know if this is a good way to go?

https://www.dubideli.com/products/starter-colony-option-2

If this is good or if there is a better option for a decent price, please let me know. Thanks so much!!

Edit: I'm mainly looking at the amount and sizes of roaches included, not really concerned with the other stuff included because I have the set-up nearly ready.

 

[Virgil1972]

It does seem to come with a lot of roaches for the price.

 

[Andee]

I would see if your could some how add extra females so you would have a 3 to one ration of female to male. Otherwise you will have too much fighting with the males, the females will be more stressed out and likely to drop egg cases, and there could be more wing chewing with the males. If you are going to go with this ratio despite this, I would provide at least a 14 gallon rubbermaid bin for them filled with egg crates for plenty of places for the adult males to establish territory until the ratio evens out a bit.

 

[jdennison001]

I'm going to start a Dubia roach colony to sustain one chameleon - male gracilior, will be at least 3-4 months old when I get him in a month or so. So I don't need a ton to start off with, but I want to be sure I will have enough to feed off and continue to grow.

I found this site that offers colony starter kits, and I was looking at the middle-of-the-road colony. Could someone check this out and let me know if this is a good way to go?

https://www.dubideli.com/products/starter-colony-option-2

If this is good or if there is a better option for a decent price, please let me know. Thanks so much!!

Edit: I'm mainly looking at the amount and sizes of roaches included, not really concerned with the other stuff included because I have the set-up nearly ready.

Hi, I just started my dubia colony. I ordered from amazon. A colony of 10 females and 5 males for $30.00. Very healthy and shipped quickly. They are not old breeders, they recently morphed. I placed them in a plastic tub and bought egg crates( sat 6 of them upright in the plastic tub, so their debris fall to the bottom of container), then placed a heating pad under the bottom of the tub on one side . this will stimulate breeding. Hope this helps!

 

[MSMorgan]

Maryanne,

You might wait and see if your gracilior will eat dubia. Some will and some won't. To save yourself a little time and trouble, I'd get a few once you have your cham and try them out with him/her. If your gracilior eats them, fantastic. If not, then you've saved yourself some time, $ and trouble.

 

[maryanne27]

Thanks for the quick replies, everyone!

I would see if your could some how add extra females so you would have a 3 to one ration of female to male. Otherwise you will have too much fighting with the males, the females will be more stressed out and likely to drop egg cases, and there could be more wing chewing with the males. If you are going to go with this ratio despite this, I would provide at least a 14 gallon rubbermaid bin for them filled with egg crates for plenty of places for the adult males to establish territory until the ratio evens out a bit.

I believe the bins I bought are 18 gallons; got an extra one to transfer to for cleaning. I definitely like your idea of getting a few more females, and I should be able to add them to the order!

Hi, I just started my dubia colony. I ordered from amazon. A colony of 10 females and 5 males for $30.00. Very healthy and shipped quickly. They are not old breeders, they recently morphed. I placed them in a plastic tub and bought egg crates( sat 6 of them upright in the plastic tub, so their debris fall to the bottom of container), then placed a heating pad under the bottom of the tub on one side . this will stimulate breeding. Hope this helps!

I saw amazon had them, but I wasn't sure if they were any good or not! Haha. I love amazon.

Maryanne,

You might wait and see if your gracilior will eat dubia. Some will and some won't. To save yourself a little time and trouble, I'd get a few once you have your cham and try them out with him/her. If your gracilior eats them, fantastic. If not, then you've saved yourself some time, $ and trouble.

That is a good call! I believe the breeder feeds more dubias than crickets and suggested the colony, so I will contact her to be sure. My last cham did go through food phases; do you think my new little guy might change his preference with a new environment?

 

[ChamDE86]

I would check your local craigslist first. I was able to find a breeder 2 minutes from me and got roughly 200 mixed sized dubia's for about 40 bucks.

 

[gotwqqd]

Local show Chicagoland Suburb

$30 for 100g
Lots of pregnant females in it

 

[Jefe The Chameleon]

Dubideli is great! I would order a few males and females. Also, order a bunch of baby roaches if you can as they are cheap and eventually will give your colony a massive reproduction boost. Make sure you keep the roaches away from light!