If you have a pet tarantula, you are probably doing the best you can to make sure it lives a healthy and long life. Tarantulae aren’t the most common pets, but they are an absolute treat for exotic animal lovers. Apart from maintaining their enclosure and ensuring they have the right temperature to thrive in, you must feed your tarantula the right kind of food.
According to experts like https://www.topflightdubia.com/, the most common insects for feeding tarantulae in captivity are crickets and grasshoppers. However, these insects tend to spend a lot of time in gardens, subject to insecticides and pesticides, making them a toxic option. Recently, the insect market has a new favorite, and it’s called the Dubia Roach.
Roaches and Tarantulae
You may be surprised to know that roaches are among the most favorite foods for a tarantula. This does not apply only to a tarantula in captivity. Even in the wild, these tiny creatures avoid all other insects if they lay their eyes on a roach. This occurs more with tarantulae who are nearing their time to molt.
When a tarantula is close to molting, they tend to look for nutritious food and full of protein, so if they focus on roaches, it should be clear that they are the best food for tarantulae. But you can’t feed your tarantula, just any old roach. There are precisely three types of roaches favored by Tarantula owners: Turkestan roaches, Madagascar Hissing roaches, and Dubia Roaches.
Benefits of Feeding Dubia Roaches
Dubia roaches have recently taken the breeder insect market by storm. This is in part due to how fast and comfortable they are when it comes to breeding. Let’s take a look at some reasons why Dubia roaches are among the best feeding options for your pet tarantula:
- Most roaches tend to emit some type of odor over time, which becomes a problem for predators. It is not a natural defense mechanism, but it does tend to work in the roach’s favor. Dubia roaches, on the other hand, have virtually no odor of their own.
- One of the biggest fears of insect breeders is how capable the insect is in escaping. Most roaches can fly out of reach of a tarantula with relative ease leading people to use forceps to restrain them. It often discourages the tarantula from coming and eating them. Dubia roaches cannot fly or jump, making them easy to restrain, and you can drop them in the tarantula enclosure without having to control them.
- Dubia roaches are available in a wide variety of sizes. They can range from anywhere between a ¼ inch to a 2-inch roach. Having multiple size options means you can choose a size that will fit best with your tarantula. If your tarantula is young, then an oversized roach can be a problem for them.
- Dubia Roaches have a very high nutritional value. They are high in protein, probably why tarantulae prefer them as a food option when molting. Dubia roaches also have a third of the amount of chitin when compared to crickets. It makes them more easily digestible.
- The best selling point of Dubia roaches is how extremely conducive they are to breeding. You don’t have to do anything apart from leaving a male and a female in one box. They will take care of the rest. This makes it very easy to maintain a roach colony with a steady supply of roaches each week.
Breeding Dubia Roaches
Dubia roaches are relatively easy to breed. All you have to do is provide them with a proper enclosure with the right amount of heat. You will also have to feed your colony periodically. Feeding them is relatively easy as they are fond of leafy green vegetables and big fans of carrots, strawberries, oranges, apples, cherries, mangoes, and papaya. Dubia roaches require minimal amounts of food.
As for enclosures, anything will do as long as they can’t climb out of it. The most common enclosures are egg cartons and shoe boxes. Just make sure that the enclosure is always at a temperature of 85-90 F. This is the right amount of heat for these insects to thrive. Once you’ve completed these requirements, your roaches will take care of the rest, and you’ll have a thriving colony of Dubia Roaches in no time.
To Conclude
Your pet tarantula is a high-maintenance creature that requires careful containment and care. You don’t need to be burdened with the task of providing a similar level of care to the very insects you will feed it. Dubia roaches are a nutritious and cheap food option for tarantulae that require little care to maintain. If you want to know more about Dubia roaches, check out the sites like https://www.topflightdubia.com/.
