How long til i can use my dubia colony

[Mightaswell]

Hello all,
Just a few questions on dubia roaches. Not knowing how many I needed for 2 bearded dragon and 5 leopard geckos to be a constant supply of food I decided that 100 pregnant females and 25 or so males would be the starting number. I ordered one 25 pregnant females and 5 males colony starter sets off ebay a week for 4 weeks. They all had 25 pregnant females, 5 males and 30 nymphs of varying sizes. I've not fed any of these nymphs off, they all went into the colony. I noticed at the beginning of June, my males started dying off. I assumed it was due to age as they were sold in pregnant female sets and only males have died. So I bought 25 fresh males to add to the colony on June 19th. I make my own dry food. I have been feeding fruits, specifically blueberries(I give the bin a cup full and its gone by night) bananas(not to big on) strawberries(they like a little more than bananas) and kale(won't touch it).
I just ordered one 500 lesser mealworms starter colony and one 50 dermestid beetles starter colony. To help keep it clean.
I am using a black wheeled yellow locking lid sterilite outdoor 40 gallon bin. The top has an aluminum mesh duct taped over a 6inx12in rectangle hole. I use the cut out piece of plastic on top as a type of adjustable vent. I use a reptile mat and thermostat controller to keep the temp at 90-95.
The colony has been up and running 3 Full months from the last batch of 25 pregnant dubia 5 male sets.
When can I start using them for feeders. Let's just say 100 pregnant feeders have been doing there thing for 3 months undisturbed. Do I wait until the end of January?
Do I even have enough to feed as a staple to 2 bearded dragons and 5 leopard geckos?

 

[Jprice21]

Hello all,
Just a few questions on dubia roaches. Not knowing how many I needed for 2 bearded dragon and 5 leopard geckos to be a constant supply of food I decided that 100 pregnant females and 25 or so males would be the starting number. I ordered one 25 pregnant females and 5 males colony starter sets off ebay a week for 4 weeks. They all had 25 pregnant females, 5 males and 30 nymphs of varying sizes. I've not fed any of these nymphs off, they all went into the colony. I noticed at the beginning of June, my males started dying off. I assumed it was due to age as they were sold in pregnant female sets and only males have died. So I bought 25 fresh males to add to the colony on June 19th. I make my own dry food. I have been feeding fruits, specifically blueberries(I give the bin a cup full and its gone by night) bananas(not to big on) strawberries(they like a little more than bananas) and kale(won't touch it).
I just ordered one 500 lesser mealworms starter colony and one 50 dermestid beetles starter colony. To help keep it clean.
I am using a black wheeled yellow locking lid sterilite outdoor 40 gallon bin. The top has an aluminum mesh duct taped over a 6inx12in rectangle hole. I use the cut out piece of plastic on top as a type of adjustable vent. I use a reptile mat and thermostat controller to keep the temp at 90-95.
The colony has been up and running 3 Full months from the last batch of 25 pregnant dubia 5 male sets.
When can I start using them for feeders. Let's just say 100 pregnant feeders have been doing there thing for 3 months undisturbed. Do I wait until the end of January?
Do I even have enough to feed as a staple to 2 bearded dragons and 5 leopard geckos?

Id say wait unless your out of other food for them then go at it lol but with 7 lizards any staple insect will go quicker id say wait a month maybe 45 days and make sure the bugs have food and mousture

 

[Mightaswell]

Id say wait unless your out of other food for them then go at it lol but with 7 lizards any staple insect will go quicker id say wait a month maybe 45 days and make sure the bugs have food and mousture

Isn't it 8 months from being an egg to laying eggs for dubias? I can wait as long as needed. Especially with the dermestid beetles and lesser mealworm additions today. I also just ordered 25 egg flats. I've been using 8 vertical egg crates. enough to cover about 1/3 of the bin. They are in my opinion having more egg crate than needed at this point as I've read they prefer higher numbers and more crowding. But when the time comes to load it up with egg crates I have them.

 

[Jprice21]

Isn't it 8 months from being an egg to laying eggs for dubias? I can wait as long as needed. Especially with the dermestid beetles and lesser mealworm additions today. I also just ordered 25 egg flats. I've been using 8 vertical egg crates. enough to cover about 1/3 of the bin. They are in my opinion having more egg crate than needed at this point as I've read they prefer higher numbers and more crowding. But when the time comes to load it up with egg crates I have them.

I say if ya got 8 crates for them its ok to feed them some lol even with 7 lizards 8 crates is a good bit of bugs that sounds good did you mean 8 crates of eggs or dubia roaches in general if those are full of roaches thatll last a while

 

[Mightaswell]

This is my setup. I'm changing the food and water dishes to bowls with holes soon. Most are hiding. Some ion bottom of photo are dead, I put them there and dumped dermestid beetles larvae on them this morning. The white to the bottom left is water crystals that I add vitamins to. I use bottles water to make the crystals. The grain food bowl is next to the egg crates. I just put some high color fish flakes and there mix I make in it. I did not give them thier fruit bowl today as I added in the dermestid beetles colony and lesser mealworm colony and wanted to give them a chance to eat the dead, frass up a bit. This colony aside from the lesser mealworm and dermestid colony has been making babies since July 10 2021. I haven't used any. Theres so many but when I open the lid they hide by the time I catch a photo. Hers more after moving some egg crate around.

 

[Jprice21]

View attachment 29643 This is my setup. I'm changing the food and water dishes to bowls with holes soon. Most are hiding. Some ion bottom of photo are dead, I put them there and dumped dermestid beetles larvae on them this morning. The white to the bottom left is water crystals that I add vitamins to. I use bottles water to make the crystals. The grain food bowl is next to the egg crates. I just put some high color fish flakes and there mix I make in it. I did not give them thier fruit bowl today as I added in the dermestid beetles colony and lesser mealworm colony and wanted to give them a chance to eat the dead, frass up a bit. This colony aside from the lesser mealworm and dermestid colony has been making babies since July 10 2021. I haven't used any. Theres so many but when I open the lid they hide by the time I catch a photo. Hers more after moving some egg crate around.View attachment 29645View attachment 29646

Feed them too them then that loos like a nice high amount 10 for smaller lizards 15 for any lizard bigger than 12 inches long id say

 

[Skybug]

Hello, may i ask a couple q’s? First off oranges? (Ive heard these are aphrodisiacs and help them breed) are you misting ur eggcrates? If so stop, how often do you mist? (I mist every other week) mold is gonna be ur killer here, if you get a mold outbreak everything needs to be cleaned especially if its green or dark mold, white mold can be okay (sometimes) (but still remove it) females need protein humidity and heat to produce, I suggest some roach chow, dog food and some veggies.

unfortunately the mealworms need to come out, they’re gonna eat the eggcases laid by the females if ur not feeding them enough, if i could criticize ur substrate too >~< woodchips are gonna mold so quick, get a AGB mix and add it to ur bin, i have my bin set up like this, I have an inch of sand on the right side (i mist this side) the other side has two inches of dirt (no fertilizers) and this is where their food is, if you have any questions please do ask, i am keeping discoid roaches, but they’re practically the same.

 

[Mightaswell]

There is no substrate in my bin. Thats all frass, and I gave them a big pile of homemade roach chow on a lid that they pushed everywhere from bottom right to left. I since have added a full cup with a hole of blueberries and a handful of kale and a tablespoon of high color fish flakes(they love that stuff when I put a spoon in the bin its gone in 20 min) The lesser mealworms are supposed to eat on the remaining frass and organic fruits and veggies of the dubia. The dermestid beetles are for the dead carcasses/molt that have been happening. I haven't had mold on any cartons. Or on anything for that matter. I mist once a week. I have a pretty big screen on top. I'm also prepared to feed the dermestid beetles and lesser mealworms independently.

 

[Skybug]

All that brown is frass…

 

[Mightaswell]

All that brown is frass…

Mostly. And thier dried food i make in. Thats mostly in the bottom right of the photos. There's almost 1/4 inch of frass on the bottom. No substrate. Every week I shake the egg crate empty. Even tho I keep them verticle it still accumulates.

 

[Skybug]

You need clean up some of it, when did u start this colony? Ive had mine for a year and I started with a small colony of 25 females about 15 males , and then I bought 100 extra large ones so they could become adults, i probably have close to 500 now in my bin, if you add pincher bugs , millipedes, those are some bugs i have in my bin that eat my roaches leaveings, ive heard isopods need lots of protein and may eat egg cases, or else I would of added them, i do have a lot of spring tails in my bin, and i can say they keep it pretty clean.

 

[Mightaswell]

3 months. I started with 100 freshly molted pregnant females 25 males and 200 nymphs and like 100 almost adults. I haven't fed off any. And I got the lesser mealworms and dermestid beetles because one of the places I bought from actually asked about my setup. They gave me the roach recipe and veggie list. And he told me in about 3 or 4 months when I have a 1/4in of frass on a no substrate bottom then I should add the lesser mealworms and dermestid beetles when I'm pulling out 4-5 adults every 2 weeks.

 

[Mightaswell]

You need clean up some of it, when did u start this colony? Ive had mine for a year and I started with a small colony of 25 females about 15 males , and then I bought 100 extra large ones so they could become adults, i probably have close to 500 now in my bin, if you add pincher bugs , millipedes, those are some bugs i have in my bin that eat my roaches leaveings, ive heard isopods need lots of protein and may eat egg cases, or else I would of added them, i do have a lot of spring tails in my bin, and i can say they keep it pretty clean.

You keep saying eat the egg cases. Idk about discoids but dubia give live birth. Well kind of. The ootheca hatches in the abdomen.

 

[Mightaswell]

I cannot imagine i have less than 150 active female breeders. Lets say all of them has given birth just once in three months(usually they give birth once every 2) to 25(low end for dubia) a piece. That would be 3750 new nymphs by now. I'm guessing I'm closer to 7500 hatchling3 to 3 month olds at this current time.

 

[Skybug]

Well lemme know how that turns out with the mealworms, ive never heard that before, i have some maybe ill put them in my bin, and I didn’t know the ootheca hatches inside them, you learn something new every day..

 

[Mightaswell]

I got my info on the lesser mealworm(Alphitobius diaperinus) and dermestid beetles as a clean up crew for dubias from dubiaroachdepot.com. they sell them both together as a dubia roach cleanup crew. Tho I must admit I only bought 50 of my pregnant females from them. I bought from 5 different breeders to try and keep my genetics from being messed up sooner. Idk if it works that way but it makes me feel better.

 

[Skybug]

I got my info on the lesser mealworm(Alphitobius diaperinus) and dermestid beetles as a clean up crew for dubias from dubiaroachdepot.com. they sell them both together as a dubia roach cleanup crew. Tho I must admit I only bought 50 of my pregnant females from them. I bought from 5 different breeders to try and keep my genetics from being messed up sooner. Idk if it works that way but it makes me feel better.

No it definitely works that way, its good you got ur genetics going early. Ill have to check out that website, im always trying to make my bin better.

 

[Mightaswell]

No it definitely works that way, its good you got ur genetics going early. Ill have to check out that website, im always trying to make my bin better.

I had a feeling it works like that. I put in a lot of time watching YouTube videos as well as reading info on dubia roaches. I have not had anyone but large breeders say anything about genetic diversity. One dubia breeder has not added any new genetics in 10+ years and has not noticed genetic related problems. I tell my wife all the time that good reptile care starts with what we put in thier bodies. She often says that I put in as much time taking care of the roaches as I do taking care of the pets. To which I reply our lizards are only as healthy as the insects they are fed and this will be thier staple. I also asked many suppliers basic questions that lead to secrets( like the high color fish food they love so much) that I utilize.

 

[Mightaswell]

Ok so I figured out some stuff thanks to some things I read on another website. That website is

Dubia Roach Information

www.southtexasdragons.com

I followed the websites advice to make a five gallon sorting device.
I did not get a weight for the stuff in the top layer which is mostly sub adults and about 80 adult breeder females and 20 males. I think that I will have another 200-300 full adults in a few months as I did not separate any of the sub adults as feeders as per the websites advice to only keep the breeding females and 25% of the subadults to keep the colony going. The website recommends keeping 25% of each layer to put back in the colony to keep it from not producing enough. I opted to keep 1/3 of each layer, except the first which I kept all of those.
I then took the next layer of the sorters roaches and weight that and got a whopping 250 grams of mediums. I weighed out 80 grams and tossed that 80 back into the colony to grow up. I kept the remaining 170 grams as feeders.
The next layer has the smaller but not newborn nymphs and I weighed those. I got 180 grams of those little guys. I kept 60 grams for the colony and 120 grams went to the feeder bin.
The next layer is the newborns. I did not even weigh them i just tossed them back in the colony to grow up since thier really small for my bearded dragons and leopard geckos.
I got just about 2/3 of a pound of small and medium nymphs! I am pretty happy about a first sort.
I'm hoping 2/3 a lb will feed my lizard family for a little bit. I'm soooooo tired of crickets.
My whole colony was put into an 18 gallon sterilite tote to get all off the egg crate to dump into the sorters. I was amazed that in a bin less than half the size of my colonies bin I had 2 inches of roaches at least without frass or anything but roaches!

 

[Mightaswell]

So I wanted to just update anyone curious. My bin has grown. I've harvested one more time on the 11th of October. My frass level is about the same. I have at least 2 weeks worth of food for both bearded dragons and our 7 leopard geckos in 2 separate containers. The dermestid beetles have caused less removal of molts/deaths. I was up to 7 death a week and too many molts to count during weekly maintenace. Now its pieces every sort. The Alphitobius diaperinus have help with the frass. I haven't actually removed any frass yet as I am trying to build up the Alphitobius diaperinus and dermestid beetles. The production is through the roof now tho. After my last sort I put an orange in and it took three days to get eaten hollow. 2 weeks later and its gone in 24 hrs.