Hello! I'll be getting a Beardie sometime in summer, and apart of my research was about maintaining a feeder colony. I am most likely going to get a baby or juvenile bearded dragon and from what I've read Dubia Roaches are the best for feeding because of their meat and shell. However, I only want a small colony for just one Beardie, and I'm concerned that the small colony would become overpopulated. How could I maintain a small colony without it becoming too big?
Welcome to the boards! This link will provide some roach keeping information: http://reptileboards.com/threads/how-to-keep-and-breed-roaches-extensive.64560/ I think you will find that it is better to have a larger colony than a smaller one. If your colony gets too small, you risk feeding at a rate that the roaches cannot compensate for with breeding effort. You will find it is better to have too many roaches over not enough. If the population density becomes too great, you can sell off the excess and make some of your investment back. Alternatively, you can give them away or cull them. Some keepers will cull males from the bin to prevent as many breeding opportunities for females (or vice versa). As your beardie reaches adulthood and can handle adult roaches, you can feed adult females off to the dragon to help with population control as well. Blaptica dubia aren't as prolific as your run-of-the-mill infesting species like German Roaches or American Roaches that often make a bad name for cockroaches in general. I think you will find that you can keep a small colony under control rather easily... and if it gets too large, you can always cull or sell.
