How to start a Roach colony

[zebraflavencs]

Most of you know, I am affectionately called The Roach Queen... I'll admit.. I coined that myself.

Now, I have offered information on raising these insects as a staple for any species of insect eating reptile.

I thought I would post this, with updated photos, to give everyone a better idea of what is involved.

So Here is my experience and information. I have compiled this with information drawn from THEROACHGUY.com nutritional information, my own experiences, as well as others experiences.

First, I tell others to use a lid with screens.. I don't. I rarely have had issues with the roaches escaping, due to the distances involved from crate to top of bin. You folks, however, do what you are comfortable with.

Second, I don't use under tank heaters, or heating pads to generate the required temps for breeding, ect. These bins are on top of my enclosures, right above where the lights (3 use MVBs, one uses a Reptisun 10.0 tube).

So, first.. you ask, well how hard are they to breed to build up what I need to feed my reptile. The answer lies in a few answers.
First, the age of your reptile and appetite rate will effect how many you will want initially.
I started basically with 3. Two infants (7-8 weeks old) and one juvenile (approx 7-9 months old).
Now I started with one bin and 500 mixed dubias I got from AaronPauling.com.
This colony I started when Gemini (12-26-09) and Orion (12-25-09) hatched.
I received both end of February, beginning of March 09.
I also received Yardley in the same 24 hours.
I realized I would need more, just to keep up with such appetites, so ordered in that week, 350 more, mostly very young.

Months go by, and now I have 4 bins.
Here they are today:

One by one:
This is the first bin, not the oldest however:

Second Bin and the oldest colony:

Third Bin, and this houses both Dubia and my two Hisser Queens:

Fourth and last the Red Bin:

Don't see much ? Well, you can see the egg crates, and the size of each beside each other, as well as the depth and no lids.

On to the Close ups.. For those really uncomfortable with roaches, you may wish to scroll down. I don't wish to upset anyone.

This is inside the Red Bin...

You'll notice all the differing sizes... Adults dashed when I turned this crate over.

Third Bin, and Hissers:
Warning, close up of one of my Hisser Queens.. this one is used to my handling her, and no longer hisses at me.

Inside the Second and oldest colony:

You'll see all the young.. this was the first crate in line... Just imagine how populated the rest are!

First Bin, Here I am showing you the chow and oranges:

Okay..Done with photos .
Feeding:
I've gone through some changes from my original recipe. I used originally,a cheap cat food, all ground up, with fish flakes added..I did see marginal growth, and the colony expanding.. but it never was fast enough... Hmmm why you wonder ? The answer is in the form of the protein. I ran an experiment twice to discover if Dubias would feed on a sleeping reptile, specifically one of my dragons..
Here is the link to that thread:
http://mybeardie.com/bearded-dragon-forum/general-discussion/dubia-test/

This led me to rethink, over some time, my own chow formula. Now I use Chicken Chow with fish flakes added...
I'm still experimenting, and watching.. I'll post when I have come to some sort of conclusion.

Oranges:
Adding a half orange weekly has shown me that it improves breeding.. So I call oranges.. Roach *spam* or Viag.
I tend to offer more than 1 weekly, as this is the way I also offer fluids to their diet.
Greens ends:
I tend to toss in uneaten by the dragons, greens as well as the fresh ends of the veggies when feeding salads. This is my secondary form of Gut Loading.
If you look close in the bottoms of most of those bins, you'll see the dried remains of those greens/veggies. This "cover" also provides litter that the roaches will move under from the crates to the chow container and oranges, and allows the little babies to hide.
I don't bother cleaning this litter out, but maybe 2-3 times a year..

Onto the breeding...
Lance (twobeardieguy) Posted a thread on a female moving her sack out for Laying.. Here:
http://mybeardie.com/bearded-dragon...ale-dubia-laying-an-egg-sack/msg9135/#msg9135

Females will produce up to 30 infants a month, barring any issues in husbandry.
These infants grow and in around 4-6 months, they become sexually able to reproduce.
I try to keep the Male:female ratio to 1:3 at most. The best is 1:1.
At one point I had around 3-4 K born monthly.

Now the lifetime of a Dubia has been stated to be 2-3 years.. I'll let you know..

So. Onto the Nutritional information, based again on www.theroachguy.com's sheet:
http://www.theroachguy.com/new_page_1.htm

You can see with all the protein, fat ratio as well as the Ca why these make such a great feeder. And why I use these as my prime main staple.

So, There it is...
I feed greens daily, oranges twice to 3 times a week as needed, clean the bins out every 4-6 months or so..
Hope this helps out !
Janie
I want to thank all my sources for their information and posts I have used!
Jason: The Roach Guy
Lance: Here is a picture of a female dubia...
I also wish to thank everyone involved in getting me started on keeping roaches.
Aaron Pauling, Jason, John (lqdragons).

 

[Ric]

Hey

Thanks for the post.

I have a question or two.

I'm starting a colony and only have a hundred and about 4 males and 5 grown females. The rest are various sized from tiny to almost grown.

Should I move some of the pairs into a separate bin from the others? If I do should I transfer some of the others with them?

Will Dubia's pick a "queen" like you mentioned with your hissers? Or will all adults breed with each other?

I feed my foster dogs and sometimes my dogs Taste of the Wild kibble, bison mix. It's an all meat mix that is pretty close to raw. That's what I've been tossing in the crate with them along with the same vegs that I give my beardie. I'll pick up some oranges this weekend.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Hi there.. sorry for the delay in answering your questions.

Now, yes, indeed, you can separate out adults, but wait for the second generation to mature. This way your younger adults will increase your population, and allow your current adults to maintain the current population.

Now onto the food.. Dubias don't care for flesh as part of their diets.. I think that if you were to switch to say some chicken starter food, and mix in some bran you would be well rewarded for that effort.

You can also toss in sliced carrots for a water source.. Those won't rot or mold.. Mold can be deadly for any feeder colony.
Hope this helps out.

 

[Boogiesmom]

Some how I ended up with a Female Hisser in my bunch. She looks like yours and I think she is absolutly beautiful.... When did I become so wierd!!!! lol

 

[zebraflavencs]

Not weird in my eyes, Sue... Wonderful !

 

[Justus85]

I read one guys setup and he claims that roach bins need to block out almost all light...is this true?

 

[Boogiesmom]

My do but it is also for safetly. My cats would dump them so fast I would roaches running around forever. lol

 

[zebraflavencs]

They actually do in deed do best with little light, justus. That is the main reason for lids to be honest... But my house is like a cave, really dark, so I did away with the lids...
Hope this helps.

 

[crypticdragons]

Lids also help keep the cross contamination down if you keep multiple species (such as lobster roaches and turks that are more upwardly mobile than dubia)

 

[zebraflavencs]

Absolutely !

 

[Craiger]

Somebody has a colony of 30 to 40 hissers available for $30. Good deal or not?

 

[crypticdragons]

Somebody has a colony of 30 to 40 hissers available for $30. Good deal or not?

if its adults/sub adults its a good deal. Adults can go for as much as 3 dollars a pop though typically they are $1 to 1.50

 

[Craiger]

Somebody has a colony of 30 to 40 hissers available for $30. Good deal or not?

if its adults/sub adults its a good deal. Adults can go for as much as 3 dollars a pop though typically they are $1 to 1.50

Thanks Brian. I have no idea of their stages....but will ask if they're something I decide to get. Was just curious if it could be a good deal or not.

 

[crypticdragons]

Somebody has a colony of 30 to 40 hissers available for $30. Good deal or not?

if its adults/sub adults its a good deal. Adults can go for as much as 3 dollars a pop though typically they are $1 to 1.50

Thanks Brian. I have no idea of their stages....but will ask if they're something I decide to get. Was just curious if it could be a good deal or not.

make sure you ask him about the m-f ratio as well. Too many males = unhealthy colony as male hissers are territorial and literally fight to the death.

I have my colony setup in a 40 gallon tub with lots and lots of egg crates so that the males can etch out their own territories within them. and those 40 adults will have you with tons of babies in about 3 months. The females produce nymphs every 2 months and the clutch is anywere from 40-80 babies per clutch. They give birth in the same way that dubia do (by holding the egg sac in a special "compartment" for gestation). The egg sacs are very long by the way. And they are easy to sex as the males and females are sexually dimorphic. Males have well pronounced "horns" on their crown and females are very smooth/blunt by comparrison.

 

[Justus85]

I like the deal at mulberry farms on dubia. If you buy 3 or more mixed cups it is less than 10 dollars for 25+ with overcount. Last time I bought three cups and most of them were adults. Already had about 20 some odd babies born from them and increasing. Btw I have a roach bin temp question. Should I lower the temp setting about 10 degrees or so at night? Ive just left it at 95 thus far to no ill effect.

 

[Craiger]

make sure you ask him about the m-f ratio as well. Too many males = unhealthy colony as male hissers are territorial and literally fight to the death.

I have my colony setup in a 40 gallon tub with lots and lots of egg crates so that the males can etch out their own territories within them. and those 40 adults will have you with tons of babies in about 3 months. The females produce nymphs every 2 months and the clutch is anywere from 40-80 babies per clutch. They give birth in the same way that dubia do (by holding the egg sac in a special "compartment" for gestation). The egg sacs are very long by the way. And they are easy to sex as the males and females are sexually dimorphic. Males have well pronounced "horns" on their crown and females are very smooth/blunt by comparrison.

Cool....thanks again, Brian! 8)

I sent him an e-mail. Just waiting to hear back.

 

[crypticdragons]

make sure you ask him about the m-f ratio as well. Too many males = unhealthy colony as male hissers are territorial and literally fight to the death.

I have my colony setup in a 40 gallon tub with lots and lots of egg crates so that the males can etch out their own territories within them. and those 40 adults will have you with tons of babies in about 3 months. The females produce nymphs every 2 months and the clutch is anywere from 40-80 babies per clutch. They give birth in the same way that dubia do (by holding the egg sac in a special "compartment" for gestation). The egg sacs are very long by the way. And they are easy to sex as the males and females are sexually dimorphic. Males have well pronounced "horns" on their crown and females are very smooth/blunt by comparrison.

Cool....thanks again, Brian! 8)

I sent him an e-mail. Just waiting to hear back.

not a problem. They are a very interesting species to have. Maybe you will be able to talk Gina into some lmao.

PS
You will probably be a tad taken aback when you first open your box and one hisses at you. I know I was haha.

 

[Craiger]

not a problem. They are a very interesting species to have. Maybe you will be able to talk Gina into some lmao.

PS
You will probably be a tad taken aback when you first open your box and one hisses at you. I know I was haha.

Eh....when I first started getting into breeding supers, I got some from a local breeder. She had hissers. So I got to watch and listen to them a bit.

 

[crypticdragons]

not a problem. They are a very interesting species to have. Maybe you will be able to talk Gina into some lmao.

PS
You will probably be a tad taken aback when you first open your box and one hisses at you. I know I was haha.

Eh....when I first started getting into breeding supers, I got some from a local breeder. She had hissers. So I got to watch and listen to them a bit.

Louder than you thought they would be? I know they were louder than I had expected. Damn near louder than my wifes cats.

 

[Craiger]

Louder than you thought they would be? I know they were louder than I had expected. Damn near louder than my wifes cats.

Definitely. LOL!