This explains so much, I've been trying to breed my dubias for about 3 months with no success I was changing there food out once a week. Going to try putting fairly nice bit more in and change it more regular see how that goes. Once again Richard saved my day
I've been breeding roaches for a couple months now and I've been feeding them a high calcium diet, I haven't noticed any of my roaches struggling to molt. every other point you made was spot on. Keep it up!! I would love to see an update on the Dubia farm!!!!
Thanks! I've been keeping my dubias for like more than 7 months now and not a single one has molted or grown in that time. They also barely eat, yet none of them has died so far.
Wow!!! I’m so glad I watched this! I was giving my roaches left over crested gecko food that has calcium in it! No wonder I’m having problems with them! Thank you
In this playlist there are loads of videos about dubia roaches. Sure there will be a load of info you'll find helpful ru-vid.com/group/PLfpfcLf--hexjgtO682HLs3l9ithfUkyI
Having to keep a large colony outside now. In the garage. I have bought a ceramic nonlight heating bulb to keep their heat right.🙄 still seem to be doing great. So far. Turning it off and on to keep them right.
Protein in chow should be around 3% to 5%. Dubia's are naturally high in protein already, and you don't want to risk bringing Gout into the equation. In the wild Dubia's are not meat eating scavengers. :) They thrive on fruits, vegetables and also like grains/oats. To make it easy...throw in multi whole grain cereal, along with oatmeal. They both have the correct protein level and are a great alternative to dog food. Sometimes I even mix a few fruit loops in to flavor it up, especially if I'm blending it into a powder. Add some organic carrots, apples, oranges and Kale and they will love you. I would also recommend a buffalo beetle cleaning crew to help keep the enclosure in top form. They only eat the bad stuff that's harmful to roaches and their colonies only grow to the need, so they will never over populate. One last tip, always wear a dust mask when cleaning the enclosure and while sorting or you will eventually get some very nasty allergy's. By the way...I have been doing very high volume breeding for several years. Good luck!
YES! People really need to let others know that if they plan on breeding they MUST wear a mask. Having an allergy to them is just the worst once you get it. A snotty, itchy mess.
This is a very informative, intelligent, and caring channel when it comes to your pets and or life. New subscriber here. I am getting my first Tarantula and starting with some Dubia breeding. 🕷🕸
Thank you for your videos. I watch your videos every day to learn something new or refresh my memory. I recently got back into reptiles after a 15 year hiatus. Now I’m getting into breeding feeders that’s to your help.
Wish I had known about the protein dangers yrs ago. Lost my bearded dragon and it completely discouraged me from breeding them. I got out of reptiles because of that as well as had constant problems with my dubia colony. Had bad mold all the time. Females kept dying ect. About to start up ant keeping and really want to educate myself this time around to get a colony thriving.
I had a lot of trouble with mold as well. Figured cutting a square and putting mesh on it helps keep humidity down when I turn on their heater. Also I replaced their water crystals with cricket gut load jellies and their regular dry food. New colony is doing well.
I just got my first shipment of dubias today. Oh my gosh, I hate the things! But we gotta do what’s we’ve got to do for our animals, right? Thanks so much for this one. It will be a big help. :)
Wait, so your tip for faster reproduction is to “keep them fed, hydrated, warm, slightly humid, and secure”? So pretty much basic husbandry, the same recommendation as all your other bids I’ve seen. “Make sure you stay till the end so I can tell you to make sure you feed them.” lol
I was under the impression you gut load them with the calcium powder before you feed the reptile and even cover the roaches with the calcium. Im glad you mentioned not to feed it to them regularly though. I wasnt aware it would mess with molt.
Great video mate, I'm breeding myself for the last 3 months and I have hundreds of babies all about 1 month old, difference is mine are not growing like yours are, they are still very small. I will definitely try separating the babies as you say to see if this helps. What would you say is a good growing food for them? At the moment I am just feeding them dry cereals and peppers for moisture as well as bug jel, they are eating well but just growing very slowly
Are you growing to seek them or feed them ? If your feeding them then slow growers are good because it's the muscles that's growing more then fat and muscle is healthier then fat. Muscle takes longer to grow so they won't need to moult as much. But try varying the food . Add in some dog food. Some carrot maybe just a variaty is good
Thanks for replying and for the extra info I didn't know about, I am breeding to feed to my chameleons so it's useful to know that a slow growing roach is potentially a healthier meal for my little guys. I will definitely try mixing up the diet a bit more. When you say dog food do you mean like pedigree mixer biscuits or something a little softer for them?
The mixers. They last a while and don't mould if you don't get them wet. Have a look through my videos . You'll see one like how to make roach chow. It's basically blended up dog mixers with extra bits and bobs and it really works great. If you watch it the secret in it is bee pollen
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS bee pollen aye? That's interesting I can see how that would help I'll grab some tomorrow, I've watched your chow video and got all the other bits ready so thanks for all the tips I'm sure this will make a huge difference.
Nice info, i am gonna try these again at some point, but right now even my meal worms wont breed 🤣. Guess im no good with feeders im just happy my pets are good and doing well instead 👍
Something I've started doing with mealworms is just leave them to it. Tub of oats. Left over banana peel and let the meal worms pupate into beetles and lay eggs then grow all together. It's not the best production rate but still very substainable .
Do u keep the 5 females to 1 male in a separate enclosure than another set of 5 females to 1 male? Or can I have 50 females and 10 Males in the same enclosure?
Broooo!! I bought 50 medium Dubai's 5 6 months ago, fed them got them all healthy and fed a bunch of the males off. 2 months ago about, they were finally adults. I've had about 5 6 maybe 7 of the females finally gave birth, they started about 2 3weeks ago. I've probably got around 150 to 200 baby's already!! And have a bunch of females still about to give birth!! Clyde and I thank you lol. I watched your videos plus did a shit tun of side research before buying and breeding them. Have you ever thought about breeding hissing cockroaches?? They say they breed a little faster.
Ima use this cause I need a lot for my ant colonies which I feature on my channel called ants kingdom and they eat a lot especially my Myrmica Rubra who are growing fast!
I just went down to like 60-100 females to like 5 males. I don't really care how it does because I have too many already. Lol 😂 Look I know that's quite a range but I don't feel like counting roaches right now.
I have a question for anyone willing to answer it though, I read that it's important for the nymphs to eat the frass because it's how they get their immune system. Is that correct or wrong? And if correct, does it do any harm to move the nymphs and juvis to a different container for better breeding amongst the adults? Are they missing out on something important?
I don't need to breed them faster. I need to find out what I'm doing right so I can stop doing it. Lol 😂 Actually I'm sure I'm not but I've had them so long they have really grown as a colony. Edit: I never knew that about the oranges. I haven't given mine oranges for a long time. They love banana and bell peppers though. I just give them vegetable scraps and old bananas. Rabbit pellets and cricket food. Occasionally a bit of dog or cat food. When I used to have crickets more they would fight over cat food. So I figure the roaches enjoy it too. It's like a treat for them. Lol 😂
I got a question when you commented about calcium and exoskeletons what about millipedes and crabs will they need calcium or is that bad for them as well
Just came across this vid so a late reply but yes, millipedes need calcium. You can leave chunks of cuttlefish bone in there but personally I crush up eggs with a pestle and mortar then sprinkle it across their enclosure as it cheaper, I'm eating the eggs anyway, and does the same job
Can you please tell me how fast these roaches will grow and how long they live. I'm trying to make a colony so I can feed them to my juvenile bearded dragon
Some people have it 12 on and 12 hours off to replecate day and night. I personally have it on 24 hours. A 14watt heat mat costs £0.57 a week for me to run
Its late here and I'm a little sleepy, but I'm not convinced the calcium comments are correct. My biology is a little out of date and ... I should Google to confirm, but as I recall the exoskeleton of an insect is made of keratin which (again, I haven't checked) does not contain calcium. It may have other deliterious effects, but I believe that little nugget is false. Otherwise, smart video.
I’m having issues with mine. I have a TON of adults. Preg females, males, and non preg females. Then a TON of babies. But that’s it. I have nothing in between. They have heat, food, water. I don’t get it
So I have a beardie and I cant stand crickets! So I figured I would start a colony of roaches... so question...how the heck you handle them? I am soooo squeamish with them! Also how do you separate them arent the babies super tiny?
If it's to much trouble you don't have to seperate them. To get used to it you can just tip the tub up so they land on your hand . Or just tip the tub up into another tub but stop the adults going into the tub . You will get used to handling them eventually
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS they are very cute. I love little bugs but something about the stigma haha. I'm sure you are right. I just have to go for it and touch one lol
GeorgieGG I am quite squeamish with insecticide crawling on me so I started by handling the baby ones, then small, medium, large, still not able to handle the adults though I use gloves for those lol.
NORTHERN EXOTICS I actually have red runners mostly (I’ve just started with dubia), so idk how this would work long term for dubia, but I feed mine Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food, which I already have for my rats, and various fruits, root veggies, and leafy greens. Here’s an article on the protein-gout connection, if you’re interested: www.store.repashy.com/can-feeder-insect-diets-contribute-to-gout-in-reptiles.html
I just started with Dubia roaches. I have a large black container with lockable lid, drilled with lots of air holes. I placed on the floor over a heat mat. Within days I have lots of moisture and condensation inside on walls and lid. ??? What do I need to do please.
I understood why having less females for a male is not convenient, but how about having like 15 females for 1 male, is that ok? I'm asking because the seller didn't put much males in my purchase
You are correct. The babies are in an egg sack called ova inside the female and she thermoregulates the ova and they hatch inside her then birth out of the female then she passes the ova
I dont know what im doing wrong.. 2 months no babies.. 1 males 10 females, Starting off small.... no babies. Big container, lots of food, lots of egg crates, plenty of heat.. No babies.
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS Its same size maybe a little bigger than one you show here in video. I check on them every couple days and he is grouped up with 2 or 3 most of time.. Other times hes pouting in the corner alone..
This container on the video houses over 100 roaches. Maybe try a smaller container for a few weeks then move them back in the big one when there pregnant. Are they finding the food okay? If there finding the food okay then they will be finding each other okay.
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS Thanks good idea. yeah they are eating food, and I find most of females all grouped together most days. I hardly ever find one alone other than the male on occasion.
@@figuresix hi maybe you could try adding 1 or 2 more males to the group could help encourage mating. Having just 1 male could be a risk that something is wrong with him he could be old or injured and unable to mate, just guessing as I'm no expert but it can't hurt to add another 1 or 2.
