starter dubia questions for a nub

[warpdrive]

Hi everyone,

well, I can't stand it anymore.funny how when I goto Jamaica I can't wait to hear the tree frogs.
but having about 300 crickets in a 1 bedroom apartment keeping me up at night is driving me crazy.

so I'm thinking of getting dubias. *whole body shakes/twitches just thinking of them*
yuck, I hate them. yet I can't sleep at night anymore. I hear them making noise in my brain even if I'm not at home...so besides a change in my meds, I might have to get roaches.

I prefer to use a 10 gal fish tank for the container.
would prefer to use a redlight or ceramic heat light for warmth.

can they do well on more or less the same diet as crickets?
do they realy need water cristals? or can I just use a wet gutload like with crickets?

any thoughts, ideas, links, comments, is greatfuly welcome.

I have to do this on an ultra budget, so I might have to only start with 100 dubias at first.
no, they will not be feed out for months.

misting? alot? a little?
I know that they need humidity to help molt and live. but how much?

BIG QUESTION COMMING UP.....
if I feed a 1" roach, is that the same as 1 or 2, 1" crickets?

thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Harry

 

[THECHAMMAN]

www.aaronpauling.com

call him, read over the site, he's the best guy to get stuff from

 

[hailo]

www.aaronpauling.com

call him, read over the site, he's the best guy to get stuff from

couldnt agree with you more..

 

[warpdrive]

thanks for the link.
I'll be ordering from him soon.

so any advice or added info on how you do things would be great.

Harry

 

[hailo]

consider discoids, i was going to do dubias and recomeneded these instead

 

[warpdrive]

consider discoids, i was going to do dubias and recomeneded these instead

any reason why?

Harry

 

[hailo]

he said they get a bit bigger and also plumper

 

[xanthoman]

dubia, prefer dark, so a modified rubbermaid container is better, also it is better (less smell and molding problems) if you have flow through ventilation , so once again a modified rubbermaid is better ,plus glass is cold . dubias are the only roach i keep, because they are slower & easier to handle than the rest, but i would assume those rules apply to other roaches as well

 

[lampshade]

Hey Harry,

I have a pretty good colony going and would love to give you my two cents on my experience.

First off instead of a glass aquarium, go to Kmart and just buy one of those cheap $10 rubbermaid/sterlite containers. Two things that top that over your aquarium idea. Roaches prefer dark over light the rubbermaid containers seal out all light. Also plastic insulates heat better than glass. I chose to get white containers because it's easier to spot small roaches and it's also easier to clean up as the mess stands out easier than the darker containers. Once it's sealed it's pitch black so the white has no effect on incoming light. I seal mine all the way and clamp it over a $10 reptile heating pad. I leave the cord plugged in at all times even during summer. Through that gap there's just enough air coming in and out where they can still breathe but not escape or let out the heat. I realized that cutting and venting the side with chicken wire expels too much heat so I just clamp the cover over the cord and it's good to go. I also bought a cheap coffee grinder and grind catfood and place it on a trey. You can just sprinkle it in the cage as well, as they do find it and consume it regardless of how it's presented, but I do it for orderly sake. But it's crucial to contain the water crystals that you'll use. Soak the water crystals over night. I found out that even after 2 hours of soaking they do not fully form and can double in size if you let them soak an additional few hours. It's important to contain the water crystals and try to use a plastic, or rubber container. Try to avoid using glass as your roaches will not be able to climb that surface, it's too smooth. You need to contain the crystals because if it gets mixed in with the droppings it will mold and and cause bad odor and quick die off of your colony. Use egg crates and stack them vertically so their droppings fall to the bottom. You can supplement with hardboiled eggs for faster growth spurts but be sure to gutload before feeding to your animals. Also don't worry about spraying water in there. If anything that will mold the dry food and will be worse than adding humidity. If you clamp the cover over the heatpad cord it will trap the humidity coming off the moisture released by the water crystals. The water crystals provides all the humidity they need. Do not open, they breed and build up in numbers faster if you keep them undisturbed alone in the dark. I started out with just 120 and now have maybe 500 in just 5 months. So I'm doing something right. Thanks again for taking care of my nosy be he looks great.

 

[xanthoman]

as a general rule of thumb, your feeders should be no larger than the width of your chams mouth, especially if you are talking about the more sensivtive chams like montanes ,or , jackson's