Questions about Dubia roaches

OreoPapii

OreoPapii

Member
So I’m just wondering how easy these roaches are to take care of because I know they are better than crickets and I want to try than for my cham so I’m just wondering can they fly or jump and do they breed very easily because I don’t want to breed them I just want to buy them and feed them to my cham lol
So if anyone can help me that would be great also I have just a normal little bug cage thingy so I don’t know if they would escape that easily or if they frequently escape.
 
If you are not breeding they are simple, and still easy if you are.

Just to keep them, they can't climb slick walls, or fly or jump. Put in a container/keeper feed good gut loads. That's it.

When I first tried them my chams did not like them, threw the container in the back of my feeders. Forgot for a month, came back still alive.
 
I started buying them but recently decided to start a colony and breed them that way I don't run out. Its really easy and clean for the most part for being bugs. Also a lot of chams don't like them so test them first lol
 
JuniorC said:
I started buying them but recently decided to start a colony and breed them that way I don't run out. Its really easy and clean for the most part for being bugs. Also a lot of chams don't like them so test them first lol
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Okay thank you! So a quick question do they need special conditions to breed or will they just lay eggs anywhere because I don’t want any breeding
 
CasqueAbove said:
If you are not breeding they are simple, and still easy if you are.

Just to keep them, they can't climb slick walls, or fly or jump. Put in a container/keeper feed good gut loads. That's it.

When I first tried them my chams did not like them, threw the container in the back of my feeders. Forgot for a month, came back still alive.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the info! Do they eat regular stuff I use dandelion for gutloading and also do you know if they could escape? Because I don’t want roaches running around my house lol
 
I gutload mine with mustard greens, broccoli and carrots. Honestly, they are by far the easiest feeder insect. Colonies are hard to come by, because they’re as good as gold. However, you can purchase them online.
Breeders feed them cat food, Lemons/limes, and rabbit food to stimulate growth (high protein) You can get the miracle grow water crystals from Amazon for hydration. So long as it’s about 85 degrees in their tub, with several egg crates they’ll grow in no time. Eventually (a looong time, about 6 months) the young will reach maturity and start breeding.
You always wanna have several bins for colonies and one for feeders. The feeders should only be fed veggies, no high protein foods as these can harm your reptiles. Females lay live babies, no eggs. You only need one male for every three females to start a successful colony. Super easy, relatively clean.
 
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OreoPapii said:
So a quick question do they need special conditions to breed or will they just lay eggs anywhere because I don’t want any breeding
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They don't lay eggs—they bear live young. They need to be sexually mature (LARGE) to reproduce, and require quite warm (90-95F) temperatures to breed.

OreoPapii said:
Do they eat regular stuff I use dandelion for gutloading and also do you know if they could escape? Because I don’t want roaches running around my house lol
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They'll eat pretty much whatever you gut load them with.
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Escape is possible, but rare. If one does escape, they won't survive long.
They don't stink, make noise, fly, climb slick sides, jump, and they aren't fast like American cockroaches.

I order them every few months, and keep them in a recycled sherbet tub with small holes in the top.
Inside the tub, I have some TP tubes stacked vertically. When (lizard) feeding time comes, I pull a tube, hold it over the feeder bowl, and rap on the side of the tube with a forceps or pen until enough fall out into the dish, then replace the tube in the tub. To feed the roaches, I take off the lid, drop a baby carrot (or whatever) into each tube, and replace the lid. EZ-PZ. ;)
 
@jamest0o0 sells roaches and colonies. I would recommend doing what I did. Buy several species to see which ones your chameleon will eat. Then buy a starter colony from him and enjoy never ended free food. It has been really nice during this whole covid19 thing that I don't have to stress about getting feeders for my chameleon.
 
Thank you tony. I personally would suggest investing in a more palatable roach species. There are many that are just as easy and manageable as dubia, but are often more popular with our chams. It's not unheard of for dubia to be turned down. If your cham loves them, then thats great, but many don't get so lucky. My Parsons will eat dubia, and really any roach put in front of him, but turns down most grubs/larvae/worms. All of my Panthers disliked dubia and preferred the worms or faster moving roaches/crickets.
 
Tony_S said:
@jamest0o0 sells roaches and colonies. I would recommend doing what I did. Buy several species to see which ones your chameleon will eat. Then buy a starter colony from him and enjoy never ended free food. It has been really nice during this whole covid19 thing that I don't have to stress about getting feeders for my chameleon.
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Very true I was first disgusted by breeding bugs especially roaches but it saves soooo much money and stress and time
 
NashansCamos said:
Very true I was first disgusted by breeding bugs especially roaches but it saves soooo much money and stress and time
Click to expand...

Yup same. And many of us get used to the roaches and realize there is next to no difference In letting them breed VS keeping some in a bin until they're all fed off and then buying more, other than you burn through a lot more $.
 
Yup, I was totally gonna breed them! unfortunately my guy is not a Dubia fan though. Put ONLY Dubias in for a couple days, to see if he would eat em, he ate like zero? So now we’re back to crickets.
 
What’s so sad though is he kept walking up to his feeder run cup and looked like he was going to eat one, and then just walked away! Multiple times!
 
Pearl Fields said:
What’s so sad though is he kept walking up to his feeder run cup and looked like he was going to eat one, and then just walked away! Multiple times!
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yeah I feel you sometimes they pick a favorite and stick to it. My cham once found an addiction to waxworms so we had to offer him everything but waxworms until he ate something else. he didnt eat for a few days before finally accepting a locust
 
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