Do I have to cull the male Dubia?

[fish4all]

I have a problem of sorts I guess anyway.

My roaches I got from Demon Amphibians are starting to thrive. The adults are increasing in numbers and I have seen at least 3 of the females carrying ooths. The problem is I have a ratio way higher than I have read you should keep of male to female. I would bet it is 2:1 female:male right now. I wish I had someone who would take the extra males to feed to their pet but I have no options locally.

I don't want to arbitrarily get rid of them either. I don't want to remove producing males instead of older ones.

I know the ratio needs to be 5:1 at least and closer to 8:1 for best results. I just don't want to do anything without getting some good advice before hand.

So should I cull them, freeze them or whatever to get the ratio right or leave them alone for now?

I think I will be trying to catch one of the larger frog species locally so I have a critter to eat the excess adult males instead of killing them.

[Heatheranne]

You could sell some, donate some to your local pet stores or local zoo (if they'd like some), separate out the extra males into another bin, just leave them in, or dispose of the extras.

(I leave mine in and feed off the males first to my pacman frogs and bullfrog.)

[MatthewM1]

You could make a little roach viv and keep your extra males as pets

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[JeffreH]

Are you into composting, by chance? Cockroaches are decomposers by nature and can be ideal for composting as they break down larger material to make it accessible for species like springtails, isopods, mites, and worms.

B. dubia probably aren't the best species for the job, but they will still get the job done. Here's a link for more info on Blatticomposting:
Research & Resources | Composting

[fish4all]

The local pet stores were less than interested to say the least. I might have a friend of my son who might be able to use them to feed his Leopard Gecko.

I might try them for composting, being it will only be males in there but I am not sure. I would have to have a much larger bin to make sure they don't escape but it is always worth looking into.

As for selling them, maybe someday as feeders locally. I already vermicompost with red Wigglers so I have a ton of them. Is the best compost I have ever used and it is what I have in my frog terrarium and they seem to be doing great in it as well as the plants.

[ikissedafrog]

I keep lateralis, but have the same issue occasionally...I just try to pick out the males to feed off to my larger tarantulas and the frog whenever I can.

I think I will be trying to catch one of the larger frog species locally so I have a critter to eat the excess adult males instead of killing them.

Lol, I've 'recruited' a backyard toad for this purpose a couple of times as well!

[Sandy Bear]

What other kinds of pets do you have at home? Because you can feed your buggies to all kinds of other animals too
I have rats, ASF rats and Hedgehogs that will all eat bugs
I keep fish, and my fish all eat insects

Feeders can be frozen for later use

Grind them up and turn into a paste, you can add a binding agent (gelatin, or agar) and add other ingredients to it and make pet food

You can post an add on Kijiji or Craig's List, and sell or give away the extra ones. Chances are there are some herpers out there that wouldn't mind free or cheap feeders

Are there any reptile/fish clubs in your area? Maybe someone there might want them?

Do you have any friends that keep any herps?

Or, buy more frogs?

[fish4all]

We have gerbils, a garter snake and small fish. I might try giving them to the gerbils but we will see.

I have considered freezing them and using them for fishing. I bet a trout or steelhead might take one or hopefully more.

Maybe once I have numbers that are worth selling I will try selling the extra males for pet food. I have done a head count and I only need to deal with 6-8 of them to get a better ratio. The need to get more out will grow as the colony grows of course. I saw babies for the first time yesterday although they were not white so a couple days old I suspect.

I have tried to find herp clubs locally and they either don't exist or they hide really well. Might be something I start up someday.

I do have a friend that has a Leopard Gecko and I will be giving him a coupe to see if it will eat them.

A lot more involved than I ever thought and questions I never even thought to ask before but at least they are breeding and growing to adults!

Someday I might get a Packman or other larger frog or maybe a Gecko or other herp.