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HELP! I think I was mailed a mix of Dubia and Discoids?


Xandri

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I'm new to the roaches, obviously. I had bought a few adult Dubias to start a colony ( 1 adult male and five females and later from the same pet store another adult male and 6 more females), from a pet store, to feed a bearded dragon. I let them sit a while so that my beardie could finish off his rather annoying/smelly crickets. During this time I only witnessed one birth. So I decided to buy a colony of 250 mixed size Dubias off Ebay. As soon as I got them I noticed a marked difference in shape from the babies my Dubias had given birth to. Their bodies were more oval than round like the dubias I had previously purchased. The juveniles seemed a little lighter, almost yellow and had more "spots." I looked to see if there have been lighter colored dubias, and I had seen another guy on here who boasted of a yellow morph he was breeding in Dubias, so I figured maybe it was just a lighter strain. Some time has passed and today I went to pick some roaches for feeding and there was a male roach in there who looked markedly different in both size and color to my dubia males. I decided to look online at pictures and I am sure he is a Discoid! I do see a few new babies, but not enough for what I need to keep up with my dragon. So what in the heck do I do now??? Can discoid and dubia crossbreed?? If not and they should be housed separately, how in the world do I differentiate between the two when they look so similar to get them separated? Do they breed as fast and as many as the dubia? Their needs look the same. The only thing I could think to do are separate the adults but I can not really tell with all the juveniles. Is it possible the Ebay seller could have mixed colonies or did he give me all discoid? Please help.

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I do not know how to tell the juveniles apart. This adult just shed today from the new group I got in. It is obvious to me the guy did not give me Dubia but I have previous Dubia housed with these new ones. The only thing I can think is to take out what adults I know for sure are dubia and put them in something separate. Or would they be housed together just fine? This other roach is much bigger. It is either the giant one or the discoid, I do not know the two well enough to tell.

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They cannot hybridize, but they can be housed together.

Discoids however prefer to hide in logs and under bark, where dubia climb and rest or branches or hide in logs, discoids prefer privacy. Dubia are more active where discoids are calmer. Both enjoy oak leaves and bark to much on and branches to climb and hide in.

I got my dubia and discoids together someone had a mixed colony. The dubia will grow faster than the discoids.

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So would it be opinion these are discoids? If so, how often do they have babies and how many? If it is a giant then I would ask the same questions. Which would be better to breed for my dragon? I'm positive the guy have me all blaberus. Only the ones I got from the pet store would be dubia then. Is there a difference in cost between dubia and discoid?

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Discoid are more expensive and breed slower.

Dubia are cheaper and breed faster.

I'm not sure why one is cheaper than the other?

You said it yourself; they breed slower and so there's a smaller number of them to sell. Dubia are sold cheap because you can produce them so quickly and have excess, while discoids take time and so are worth more.
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I need fast breeding, I have a hungry dragon :/. Does anyone on here sell colonies of dubia since I can't trust the people on eBay to know what they are selling me? If so, I'd like to talk numbers, sizes, and cost.

How much slower are the discoid? What is their breeding rate?

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Back when I used to browse reptilerooms, discoids where the "in" feeder roach. They get bigger than dubia, but breed a little slower. They'll make a fine feeder for your dragon and they won't hybridize with the dubia. Blaberus tend to be good neighbors with other roaches IME. They should still keep up with your dragon if you separate and keep all the roaches heated.

Looking at the scale comparisons in your pic, I'm reasonably certain you have a B.discoidalis, or some hybrid thereof, and not a B.giganteus. The spotted nymphs are typical of Blaberus species.

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Thanks Jebbewocky, you've been helpful. Will they still both breed as fast if I leave them together? Oh, and I see everyone on here has a pic that is not of themselves. Should I remove my profile pic and put up something that isn't me?

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Thanks Jebbewocky, you've been helpful. Will they still both breed as fast if I leave them together? Oh, and I see everyone on here has a pic that is not of themselves. Should I remove my profile pic and put up something that isn't me?

Glad to help. Profile pic preference varies, there's not like a rule or anything.

They might not breed quite as fast. Some species allegedly breed slower in multi-species setups, or could get out-competed by the other.

If it were me, I wouldn't bother separating them, but I don't know how fast your beardie mows through them, or how interested you are in keeping both species. I wouldn't keep Eublaberus species with anything else, but Blaberus or dubia I don't think would be a problem.

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Do discoids breed fast? I have read that they are good feeder roaches also.

They can, but the general consensus is that they don't reproduce as quickly as dubia. To my knowledge they were sort of "replaced" by B. dubia when they were imported and discovered as a feeder by the reptile hobby.

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