Dubia Roach setup before/after

[Sublime]

There should be a B. Dubia section with other feeder roaches on this forum run by Jeff. That would be pretty sick, we could put together a care sheet.

[Kreamcheese]

Agreed that would be cool.

[JeffreH]

Thanks for the kind words guys, everyone on this forum is so darn polite! I've actually started a draft care article via the following thread post:
How to Keep and Breed Roaches (Extensive) | Reptile Boards

I became obsessed with herp nutrtion many years ago after a study on Silkworms was released regarding an enzyme within them called "Serrapeptase." The benefits in combating Fatty Liver Disease and overall improving health of adult Bearded Dragons due to these guys was phenominal; and I soon found that most of our feeders have great things to offer (especially when gutloaded!) to our pets as well. Roaches reign supreme when it comes to ease of care and appealing to a wider variety of people and herps.

Andrew - I've actually linked a couple of people to this thread who were interested in housing their roaches in the garage but were concerned about the winter chills. Thanks again for the great pictorial and those who contributed to it as well = )

[Sublime]

Ah, yes I think I came across your article written on them when steest put it up. Really well constructed and concise with more than just B. Dubias.

Yes, roaches do reign supreme over all feeders. They are my favorite, however it's also tough to beat earthworms (Night crawlers). Care for those are undoubtedly easy and the nutritional value of one of those is very tough to beat. I've never done a comparison of the European Nightcrawler to B. Dubia on a nutritional chart. I'll have to see which one wins overall; I'm sure B. Dubia do.

I just wish I would of started my B. Dubia long before I got my pixie, but it happens. I'm just concerned about his growth factor fed primarily on just crickets and night crawlers at the moment. He eats a ridiculous amount though so he gets his fill. Plus I fed him his first f/t hopper tonight, he wen't crazy.

I'm having trouble with my B. Dubia colony as of now as well, I'll probably have to replenish the colony when you get your colony sustained Jeff. My problem seems to be more induced by stress than not enough heat. I constantly check up upon them: refilling food supplies, water gel crystals, and dead ones. "Monster" gave me some good pointers so I'll just try to follow some of that. It's just frustrating when I've done so much research on these guys; I know pretty much everything from top to bottom about these guys... I just don't practice it or I need to re-do my setup or not bug them so much. Just not enough experience with them is all I guess you could say.

[Kreamcheese]

Awesome Jeff! Glad my thread is useful to others. All the help I've gotten from people on this forum is insane so it's nice to know my pictures can help others.

[JeffreH]

Yes, roaches do reign supreme over all feeders. They are my favorite, however it's also tough to beat earthworms (Night crawlers). Care for those are undoubtedly easy and the nutritional value of one of those is very tough to beat. I've never done a comparison of the European Nightcrawler to B. Dubia on a nutritional chart. I'll have to see which one wins overall; I'm sure B. Dubia do.

Nightcrawlers are absolutely fantastic feeders; so long as they are obtained from a reliable source and haven't gotten into anything nasty. My only issue with them is something inside of them has been found to cause funky things to happen to bearded dragons. Cheri Smith noted some dragons fed a diet of earthworms began to lose function of their back legs; essentially resulting in paraplegia. Very strange...and it seems to be isololated to this single species as far as I know. They make excellent feeders for amphibians on other reptiles though - super lean.

I'm a huge advocate for variety; its really hard to tell what is "best" just looking at some nutritional compositions that compare protein, ash, moisture, and fat. These are great guidelines - but they leave out soo much useful information when it comes to the little things. All of the micronutrients and macrominerals that are necessary to sustain normal function are completely ignored in these things. The more variety we feed and the better the gutload we feed, the more nutritional benefits we can guarantee for our pets. Plus; sometimes the nutrional charts neglect things that actually happen in the digestive system - the large amount of insoluble fiber in mealworms and zophobas for example (the complex carbohydrate 'chitin' in their shells) actually limits some of the fat absorbtion that can occur. Not sure a precise value, but these "fatty" food may not be quite as fatty after actually being processed than what a lab test reads. So in the epic battle of who reigns supreme between the feeders, I'd say all of them have their own benefits to bring to the table and variety is best.

Also... while I'm on this topic: we have no idea what the individual needs of each and every herp is. Some reptiles and amphibians process fat a whole heck of a lot better than others and having less lean food doesn't bother them as much. Some animals immediately start storing it in bad places, like around the liver and other vital organs; others will store it safely in areas of the body (tails, subcutaneous, etc.). BUT. I've not seen a single case where an animal fed leaner bugs their entire life wasn't exceptionally healthy. So its safe to assume that the leaner you feed, the better! = )

And Mark, its going to be awhile before the colony is beefed back up again depending on the quantity your interested in LOL! But if you need some, feel free to PM me and we can chat about it. I know quite a few reliable sources that sell them at very reasonable prices (these are what I based my prices on), so if your hurtin' for them, I can find you the cheapest source = )

Andrew - Soo helpful! I've been asked to send my thanks from Kyle S. from PA and Robert T. from IL . Both are in a situation where garage is the only acceptable place for their buggies due to their parents so this thread is a life saver for em... better to have a nice pictorial to follow than to try to rig something up and just hope that it works!