Won't eat Dubia anymore

[Pdelago]

The first time I introduced dubia roaches to my guy he got all excited and didn't waste any time and licked his fingers after he was done eating. Now he won't touch them.

I still give him a variety of horn worms, meal worms, super worms, and wax worms. He still loves those.

I started a super worm and meal worm colony too which is doing well.

Any suggestions? Or know why he might not care for dubia anymore? I hear the roaches are a great protein source for them... He's about 5 months old and very healthy from what I see.

 

[jamest0o0]

A lot of chams from what i've read tend to dislike dubia. Mine included... he seems to like orange heads more.

 

[walzy444]

Mine use to completely refuse them until i didn't feed him for a day or 2 then he'd eat maybe 2.. then when i started feeding the dubias strawberries, he eats them no problem... not sure if the strawberries changed their flavorr... buttt??? worth a try i guess? lol he also tends to pick out the bigger sized ones VS the tiny ones.. i guess they hold more strawberry smoothieee lol

 

[nightanole]

Half the time mine will only eat the males with wings. He wont touch any of the sub adult grey ones.

Mine will also only eat them if i tong feed him with foot long tongs.

 

[JacksJill]

Mine only likes them when they are on their backs. I'm guessing it's the waving legs he likes.

 

[jamest0o0]

Half the time mine will only eat the males with wings. He wont touch any of the sub adult grey ones.

Mine will also only eat them if i tong feed him with foot long tongs.

How do you feel about the safety of feeding adult males? I hear their wings are no bueno(but i have no idea)

 

[MSMorgan]

How do you feel about the safety of feeding adult males? I hear their wings are no bueno(but i have no idea)

Interested to know why dubia wings are "no bueno."

 

[nightanole]

How do you feel about the safety of feeding adult males? I hear their wings are no bueno(but i have no idea)

what is not safe? Its a wing, its high in chiten, thats about it. Its no worse than a cricket leg.

Is this from the same section of the internet that tell people to smash the head of each super/meal worm or it will bore a hole through the lizard...

 

[jamest0o0]

Hey don't attack me, i'm just asking a question based off what pretty much every search on this site has told me lol. I personally don't see why it'd be a big deal to feed roaches with wings other than their size, but i'm not very knowledgeable on impaction other than the obvious. A lot of experienced keepers i've seen here say to only feed the length between eyes and no winged roaches. i'm not agreeing or disagreeing, i'm just bringing it up asking what you thought about it since you seem to know a good deal. As for superworms/mealworms, i'd never say that lol, not that bad.

 

[JacksJill]

I've heard it was the spikes on the legs that could be a problem. Don't know if that is really an issue or not.

 

[nightanole]

Hey don't attack me, i'm just asking a question based off what pretty much every search on this site has told me lol. I personally don't see why it'd be a big deal to feed roaches with wings other than their size, but i'm not very knowledgeable on impaction other than the obvious. A lot of experienced keepers i've seen here say to only feed the length between eyes and no winged roaches. i'm not agreeing or disagreeing, i'm just bringing it up asking what you thought about it since you seem to know a good deal. As for superworms/mealworms, i'd never say that lol, not that bad.

Nah you are are good. If you want just wings, feed them some green banana roaches, everyone has pretty green wings. But supers and dubia have a lot higher meat to chiten ratios than crickets, so you get much more meat vs shell.


And no spiky legs are not a problem on any bug, crickets have spikes, infact i cant think of any bug that doesnt have spikes that isnt a worm. How would the poor things walk around? Little fly feet maybe

 

[poison]

My Chams eat roaches with no problems (so have my past Chams) they see me eating like a champ so they follow in my footsteps.

 

[jamest0o0]

Appreciate the input @nightanole it throws me off sometimes thinking about the length between the eyes, even a full grown panther in that case would be eating pretty damn small roaches.

 

[Pdelago]

A lot of chams from what i've read tend to dislike dubia. Mine included... he seems to like orange heads more.

Orange heads?

 

[jamest0o0]

Orange headed roaches, kept exactly the same as dubia. They get slightly larger, but are meatier than dubia with a smooth soft shell. Can't climb or fly, but are quick. They gutload really well. I noticed they're much bolder than dubia and need a little more space. Mine will come out even with an open lid and lights on to practically eat from my hand when i put something in there lol.

 

[Bush baby]

Mine was the same way. He did the same thing with flies too. Loved dubia/flies for a while and now he won't touch them. As was mentioned above with the strawberries, the gut content changes the flavor, so you may have to play aorund with them. And i truly believe chams can sense what a feeder will taste like via smell(?). I free range my crickets, and when i add a few new ones to the cage that have been feeding on something different than the ones that are presently in the cage have been eating, he ingnores the ones that have been there and immediately starts eating the newly introduced ones. Think of a feeder like a jelly donut. The inside changes the entire flavor.

 

[Pdelago]

Mine was the same way. He did the same thing with flies too. Loved dubia/flies for a while and now he won't touch them. As was mentioned above with the strawberries, the gut content changes the flavor, so you may have to play aorund with them. And i truly believe chams can sense what a feeder will taste like via smell(?). I free range my crickets, and when i add a few new ones to the cage that have been feeding on something different than the ones that are presently in the cage have been eating, he ingnores the ones that have been there and immediately starts eating the newly introduced ones. Think of a feeder like a jelly donut. The inside changes the entire flavor.

That's very interesting! I will have to do some experimenting. Thanks for the tips!

I love the almost instant feedback from this forum.

 

[CJ1488]

Mine use to completely refuse them until i didn't feed him for a day or 2 then he'd eat maybe 2.. then when i started feeding the dubias strawberries, he eats them no problem... not sure if the strawberries changed their flavorr... buttt??? worth a try i guess? lol he also tends to pick out the bigger sized ones VS the tiny ones.. i guess they hold more strawberry smoothieee lol

Same thing here... They cant resist sweet fruit gutloads. My female panther will literally eat 8 dubia in 2 minutes if they had pineapple

 

[Tattersb]

Appreciate the input @nightanole it throws me off sometimes thinking about the length between the eyes, even a full grown panther in that case would be eating pretty damn small roaches.

For what it's worth, I fed mine by that measure and was told the insects were to small and it would take a lot more to fill him up. It was suggested that I use feeders the length of his jaw. I started doing that and he handled the increase in size just fine, and I didn't have to feed as many or as often. Just a thought.