When to start feeding off Dubia

[rcmike]

Hey guys, I have had some dubias for almost a month and they are having lots of babies. My chams are still small so they eat smaller nymphs. When should I start feeding them to the chams? I have been feeding some but still mostly crickets. I have read it takes several months but I assume that is if you are feeding adult dubias.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Chase]

I'm guessing you could feed the babies. But leave some in there so they can grow up. They should have more babies later so it should be fine.

 

[rcmike]

That is sort of what I was thinking. Thanks.

 

[BIGGUN]

Michael,

How many cams do you have?
How many adult Dubia males and females do you have?
how many nymphs are you feeding each?

Kevin

 

[rcmike]

I have two that are about 3-4 months old. I have roughly 20 males and 20 females. I have a lot of babies, not really sure how many but probably at least 150 with more every day. I haven't been feeding more than one here and there to the chams since I didn't want to reduce the numbers too much.

 

[BIGGUN]

Maybe you can pull 100 or so of them aside and start them as a second colony. Then just don't touch them except for maintenance. That way you know that you'll have a source....especially if something happens to crash the first colony.

I would also try cutting down the number of males to 6-8 if you have 20 females. This will promote breeding and stop the males from being too aggressive towards eachother. When the number of males gets too high in my colony they start nipping at eachother's wings.

Even at 2-3 a day each that would be 35 a week. I think you may find your numbers not climbing especially as your chams grow larger.
Kevin

 

[rcmike]

I was thinking about that. I'll set some aside and raise them to adults. How long does it take a baby roach to reach adulthood?

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

I was thinking about that. I'll set some aside and raise them to adults. How long does it take a baby roach to reach adulthood?

For Dubia, they can reach adulthood in 3 or 4 months if kept above 90 degrees and well fed and hydrated. They grow rapidly when the temps are between 90 and 100.

 

[tru510]

Im waiting on my roach colony to come. This will be my first colony. How old do they have to be to sex? How can I tell m/f?