Dubai surprise

[Sublimeballs]

I picked up a breeder package of 4.12 dubias at a show not quite 2 weeks ago. Ive not had much luck breeding feeders in the past with chrickets and mice. the mice went well with the original 1.2 but I added 0.1 and she ate 2 of them and damaged the other in under 6 hours unsupervised.

Well I just checked on the roaches and there are around 50 or so tiny little roaches running around. I was expecting that to take longer, very happy.

Anyone have much experience with keeping/breeding dubias?

[Sublimeballs]

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[eminart]

Give them a few weeks and you'll have plenty of roaches. I set up a colony for a beardie and a couple of leopard geckos once. They multiply fast once they get going.

[smy_749]

Keep them 85-90 for them to really breed out of control. Keepign them warmer does result in smaller adults though, but not by much. Feed them healthy foods, as they will be going into whatever you plan to feed the dubia to. No dog foods or what not. They really like banana, oranges, lettuce, carrots. I usually just buy big bags of baby carrots and romaine. Dont put them in screen top enclosures, use a solid top with a section of screen for ventilation. Too dry = bad, too wet and they will begin to smell. Take out old rotting veggies as well, and they will be fairly odorless.

Use a two bucket system with 1/8 or 1/4 inch holes in the top bucket and babies will fall through to the second bucket (if you need to sort feeders for smaller animals). Otherwise a rubbermaid tote with steep walls is fine. The babies can climb if its not perfectly smooth / very close to 90 degree angles, and they can climb the silicone on the aquariums as well. I've had one escapee in over a year which was probably one that fell when i was sorting. They are very easy to keep. Don't bother with any substrate, they will 'make' their own over time.

[Sublimeballs]

Right now I've got them in a black tub to reduce light they get, they're ontop of my kalatoa females cage over the heat panel so they're staying inbetween 83-87 degrees. How often do you clean the cage? I've read a lot that they make their own bedding(poo) but not how often I should clean it. I got a complete Dubia diet for them so I'm good on food for now but I've still been giving them freash veggies. Does anyone seperate adults and nymphs? I don't mind sorting through come feed time so that's not an issue.

[smy_749]

I never clean mine. I have some weird caterpillar things and beetles that do the that for me. I did switch the tubs out and I do replace the egg crates but thats about it. The key is to not let the fruits and veggies rot and turn into mush, then it gets messy. You can seperate nymphs out if you need them as feeders, but I was told to leave them in as they feed on the feces of the adults etc. 83-87 should be fine for good breeding activity.