Frognut to answer your question about Substrate, if you are not keeping roaches as feeder but more for show than setting up a small cage is very pleasing to the eye. However if you ARE keeping roaches for feeders don't go w/ any substrate. Believe me... The roach frass builds up REALLY quickly and they bury in that. I clean my bins weekly as I can't afford a build up of waste.

As for sexing Dubia, They come in so many shapes it's rather difficult to sex them w/ 100% certainty before their final molt. However some people get pretty good at it. I for one have realized that once a colony starts to pop I get A LOT of males at first. Than I seem to get A LOT of females. And then it just averages out. It's very strange but happens in EVERY one of my Dubis colonies.

-Ian

Ian --

Is it true that the last segment of their body is a tell-tale sign of the sex? Do females have a larger 'last' segment then the rest and the boys a smaller one? Have you ever noticed.

I will say that all the smaller ones are currently showing to be males if that's true -- which holds to your statement about males starting out heavy when the colony is beginning.

Ok - so no substrate, and more frequent changes. I can do that. I was thinking the substrate would help keep the frass out of hand range and once I picked out the small ones when I clean, the whole mess gets thrown away. Thats why I was asking about the vermiculite. It's cheap here. I know they also use the substrate to bury in, but they are walking all over the frass now.

Oh, Liz -- you've got a lifetime supply of roaches. Once this colony gets really going, which shouldn't take too long, You'll be getting all you want.

At this point I think its safe to weed out some of the big ones, because they are sooooo many that have passed the size I can use.

I'm definitely getting the better side of the deal!:o

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Frognut
AKA Stephanie

Where is the joy in life, without the little creatures that warm our hearts!

In my opinion I would use no substrate at all. The little ones like to burrow and it will make it VERY difficult to get them all out when cleaning the enclosure(some of the babies are only 1/8th of an inch or so and very hard to see even with no substrate)

As to the sexing. I have heard about the females having a larger last segment but on the littler ones you really can't tell because they are so small and it's hard to even see the last segment. What I have found is that the smaller females are wider(kind of like a tear drop shape) than the males(kind of a grain of rice shape) and there is a definite color difference, males are lighter than females.

I'm not 100% sure of my sexing but it is what I've noticed with my colony.(maybe I'll do a controlled test and make a very small enclosure and put what I think are males in there and watch them grow to see if they are males lol)

Would these roaches be better than crickets for other herps, like Bearded Dragons, as well? Would a baby Bearded Dragon be able to eat them?

I can't speak for specific type of critters - but if they eat crickets than I would say yes to the roaches. Roaches have more protein than crickets and I can tell you from my short time in the breeding of them, I like them SOOOOOOO much more than crickets.

My frogs like them, even if I hand feed them - they are willing to eat more with the roaches then they did with the meal worms.

The Gecko's are eating them, but not much. They are also not eating the super or meal worms either (actually Gretchen will bite the super and spit it back out, and she gobbled them by 3's a few months ago) -- they are having PMS or something!

They are fast, but they don't hop around. And I think Steve suggested sticking them in the fridge for a few minutes before feeding to slow them down a touch.

So yes, I think you could feed them roaches. Someone will chime in if the baby bearded dragon shouldn't have them.

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Frognut
AKA Stephanie

Where is the joy in life, without the little creatures that warm our hearts!

It should be okay as long as the roach is smaller than the space between the dragon's eyes. How old/small is it? You should probably start your own thread.

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The question was in regard to roaches. It is applicable.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Roaches are good for ANY insect eating herp, they have a better nutritional value and a better meat to shell ratio than crickets. They are also easier to breed and don't smell as bad as crickets. If you breed them you will have roaches 1/8th of an inch up to 2-2 1/2 inches so you just dig out the size you need.
And if they are to fast for the herp to catch you can stick them in the fridge(NOT the freezer) for a few minutes(5 minutes usually slows my Turkish roaches down to almost not moving at all and they are faster than dubias)

Here is a link to a nutritional value sheet for various feeder bugs

Nutritional Facts

Thanks for the replies everyone. I don't have a Bearded Dragon yet but I know I want to breed my own feeders for when I do get it and these sounded like a good idea.

Let me know when you have this done -- I would like a copy of the written thesis, thanks!!

OK -- I found ONE problem with the roaches. My girls like to climb through their food dish, and on a few occasions I thought they ate the roach, when really the little roach buggers hitched a ride on the Gecko and found a way in the tank. (and away from the Gecko).

But that is all I have found -- these things are great! (sorry Dragoness!)

I am, however, running out of larger-small size. I have a BUNCH of tiny ones, and a billion LARGE ones, but the Gecko sized ones are almost gone. Although my frogs will eat larger ones then I thought I offered a larger one to my big Gray Tree Frog, but he didn't want it, then my tiny frog jumped across the branch and gobbled it up. She had a time swallowing it - but she did! It was WAY bigger than the space between her eyes! Silly frogs...

__________________
Frognut
AKA Stephanie

Where is the joy in life, without the little creatures that warm our hearts!