(05-31-2012, 01:59 AM)amanda509 Wrote: i have b.dubia roaches, they breed like crazy and are very nutritious for reptiles much healthier than others. the babies look like roly-pollies, but the adults are kind of scary :p and ill be getting leopard geckos here soon, so im planning on using mealworms as their main diet with roaches and crickets mixed in.
See, she thinks just like I do I have been debating getting some dubias, they are illegal here in FL, but I really don't think I can propagate a roach species, I just don't like the damn things. When I was a kid, and playing with all the wild anoles that run around here, my mother told me to make sure I was nice to them, they ate bugs, like the damn palmetto bugs. I've loved the little things ever since I have heard very good things using the dubias as feeders for leos.
Just as a thought, I don't feed any of my adults mealies. It started because I keep a male and two females together. They get along well, but the male is a garbage disposal, so I have to feed them individually, and it was easier to use larger feeders. The supers work well as a staple for breeding females, and keeps them at a good weight through the breeding season. 1 of my dams, Medusa, likes supers and the other doesn't. And Medusa has kept much better weight on all season, never dropping much below 45 grams, where my other dam got all the way down to 33 grams at one point, even though they both started between 55 - 60 grams.
I do start all of my babies on mealies, and add and supplement other insects from there. Crickets, butterworms, waxworms, etc... They are cheap, last forever, and I figure it is a good thing to get them started on early as many people who end up with them may use them as a staple feeder.