Feeder breeding questions

[AbranV]

Good afternoon herps,

I'm tired of spending so much money on crickets that die off to quickly and ready to start breeding roaches. I have a few newbie questions for you experienced folks out there.

1. Should I start with adults or nymphs?

2. Let's say I buy 30 adult roaches(20F, 5M) how long would it take to get babies?

3. What's the growth rate of dubias? For example, how long does it take to go from newly hatched to 1/4"?


Part two...

I've been culturing Drosophila Melanogaster with great success, but I'm looking to switch to d. Hydei. Can I use the same culture media recipe for both species?

Thanks for all of the help

[JeffreH]

In regards to the roaches...

1) This predominantly depends on your budget and how much time you are willing to wait for your colony to reach a sustainable size for feeding. I typically recommend buying mixed nymphs, because its often less expensive, and there is no way of telling how old the adults will be that you receive. They might have just become adults and will be able to produce a few litters for you, or they might have already aged past their prime.

If you buy nymphs, buy as many as you are willing to afford. Patience is key with roaches - think of it like an investment. You invest enough money and time at the start, and you may never have to spend another penny on your major staple feeder again. I started with roaches around 2004-2005 and have produced hundreds of thousands, made all of the money back on them (and then some) and have not paid a cent on feeders for my herps in years (recycling profit from selling roaches back into other feeders for variety). Although I'll admit, I've cut back on my roach collection quite a bit and don't sell much anymore.

Expect to give them several months to grow and start producing before you feed out of the colony. Patience... A single adult female might produce 20-30 nymphs monthly for you, but some of those nymphs will have to reach appropriate size before feeding and a a few need to be held back in the population as future breeders. Figure how many you would plan on feeding monthly, and shoot for 2-3x the number of females for that number (i.e. if you feed 200 a month you want at a bare minimum 20-30 adult females producing along with a decent group of nymphs devoted as future breeders to replace them). You can always sell or cull excess roaches, but its a pain in the butt if you over-feed before the colony is sustainable and have to wait for it to become re-established or have to buy more to add to it.

*A note - it's always difficult to recommend a number for people, because a lot of factors can come into play. The conditions you keep them in can influence their growth rate and reproduction, so these guidelines should be considered under perfect care.

2) It depends on how long the females have been fertilized and if they are carrying ooths. If they arrive to your doorstep and were unstressed enough not to drop their oothecae, you might end up with babies that popped out in the package during shipment or within a few days of arrival. Assuming all of them just reached adulthood and start mating as soon as they are in your home, expect to see babies after about 1-2 months.

3) The newborn nymphs are approximately 1/8-1/4" in size. They take about 4-6 months to reach sexual maturity (molt into adults @ ~1.5"-2")and will produce babies until they die (adult females might live for a year and some change after reaching maturity, or so).

You can review this sheet I wrote up for an excessive amount of roach information, as well
http://www.frogforum.net/food-feeder...r-roaches.html


Not sure what to tell ya on Pt. 2, as I do not culture fruit flies. But I would wager the media types can be the same... Anyone else have input?

[Ash]

1.) You can buy all adult Dubia Roaches and wait for them to produce if you are patient.

I offer Dubia Colony Starter Kits as well as Hisser Roach Kits that include all you need to Breed and Feed. By That I mean, there are a mix of baby producing adults, and variety of small to medium roaches so that You have plenty of each life cycle. The largest size kits may Work to allow you to Feed at the same time you breed.

2.) Some people find that Melanogaster media is not rich or long lasing enough for Hydei. It can work as it does for some, but it is often more advantageous to use a richer Hydei media with a Melanogaster culture