Are dubia roaches good to feed?

[jackdhammer]

I have some bud wing, blue flash and Chinese mantids. They are all on crickets but I hate crickets. The smell, the noise, the jumping. My brother recommended Dubia roaches. He used to feed them to his lizards. I was wondering if they made good mantis food?

If you have used them a source would be helpful also. thanks!!

 

[PhilinYuma]

I have some bud wing, blue flash and Chinese mantids. They are all on crickets but I hate crickets. The smell, the noise, the jumping. My brother recommended Dubia roaches. He used to feed them to his lizards. I was wondering if they made good mantis food?

If you have used them a source would be helpful also. thanks!!

Dubias are great and get large enough for a full grown mantis. You can find lots of listings on Google, but we have a member here name Zephyr who has been keeping roaches for years and now has his own website: www.roachcrossing.com

 

[patrickfraser]

I think they are great. My mantids LOVE them. They are not the fastest and sometimes just don't want to move. This is not good for getting the mantids attention. None-the-less, once you have a colony going you have all different sizes that would suit just about any size mantid. Very little to no odor, only noise is the scurrying around (I think it sounds like rain, kinda soothing, actually), and they are easy to keep (food and heating pad). It was a no brainer for me. I highly recommend them. I HATE crickets.

 

[Peter Clausen]

Sometimes I have two many buttons to choose and hit the edit button instead of reply (oops).

I breed both crickets and a "few" species of roaches. Mantises greatly prefer crickets. My crickets don't stink because I keep them very warm, well fed and watered and so they don't die...and stink.

B. dubia work for aggressive mantis species, but adults are impractically too large for even adult mantises. This roach species also plays dead and burrows, so it isn't the best one. It is, however, one of the best of the commonly considered/used "feeder" roach species. I personally prefer bullet roaches since they breed very well for me and never burrow, but I wouldn't recommend these unless you are on a longterm plan for keeping mantises at pets. It can take a couple years to get a blooming colony of them.

 

[psyconiko]

I do not breed or feed my mantises with adult crickets.They pollute terras,they may hurt your mantis or eat it while molting,they stink,they jump everywhere,well I just hate them.I used to give my mantises a lot,yes they love it.

I think roaches work better,they are easier to handle and to care for.So as Patrickfraser said I higly recommend them!!

 

[Ruaumoko]

I picked up around 2000 Dubia roaches that were less than a month old a while back from a seller over on UKMF(who also sells through ebay). All of my 1st-3rd instars are currently living on them along with adult multicolors and I guess ive got few a fair few hundred. They dont climb,they dont smell and best of all... if my flies dont hatch and im short for a few days I know I have food to keep my Mantis happy.