Switch to Dubia Roaches?

[PaysonHobbyist]

Hello,

I am looking into the possibility of switching to Dubia roaches. I have been keeping mealworms and primarily feeding them to my leopard geckos. I also have been keeping crickets for some variety and tried breeding them but somehow have not had any success with that. This has worked well and my leopard geckos are very healthy.

The problem is that I am hearing that mealworms are not the best nutritionally and I really hate keeping crickets. I hear that Dubia roaches are way better for nutritional purposes, a lot easier to keep, and don't smell or escape. I would also rather keep one staple insect rather than a couple if it is possible, and then supplement some mealworms or crickets every once in a while.

Roaches gross me out also because of the cockroaches that were all over where I grew up but I hear that Dubia roaches are very different from those.

So I have a couple different questions and am hoping someone here can help me out with this.

First, I have read ways of caring for and breeding the roaches. Would this be feasible to do and support a colony of 13 (and growing) leopard geckos? If so, how many would I need to order to begin the colony and how long would I need to expect it to take before that colony is self-supporting?

Second, what sizes, how many, and how often would I need to feed them to the leopard geckos? Is there an easy way to sort them and to do this?

Third, could these be fed to newly hatched leopard geckos in place of mealworms or pinhead crickets?

Any advice or thoughts are appreciated.

Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[acpart]

Check out the information at this site: https://dubiaroaches.com.
I wrote most of the copy for the website. I don't use roaches myself (promised the family no roaches) but I did a fair amount of research at the time. In general I know that it's hard to tell exactly how many of any feeder to feed a gecko; you just have to experiment with them to find out about how many they'll like. Consider buying some dubias to try out before committing. The site owner of the above site at some point was less enthusiastic about recommending that individuals breed them because, like any feeder that you breed or handle for some reason, it's very easy to develop a sensitivity. I have bred mealworms and super worms and keep a lot of crickets (but don't breed them) and if I touch my eye before washing my hands, it gets really itchy and swollen. Occasionally the crickets walking on me gives me a rash and when I was breeding mealworms, I could have some mild respiratory problems if I breathed in their shed skins. Just letting you know to be careful if you breed them.

Aliza

 

[happygeckos3]

I tried feeding Dubia roaches to my 3 geckos and none of them would eat them. My geckos mainly eat superworms. My bf was breeding Dubias for his bearded dragon. And when the Dubias would have babies, I would try to feed them to my geckos. Unfortunately, I gave up trying since worms would get eaten, but Dubias would still be in the bowl. I would feed them horn worms and silk worms when I'm able to buy them, but for the most part, they get superworms and have been fine. They're about 6-7 yrs old.