Questions on breeding dubia roaches

[Pharaoh2015]

I am considering making a dubia roach colony for my chams. My Jackson doesn't appear to like crickets too much but will eat them when he is super hungry (guessing)(he also just got treated for pesticites). I was curious what all I would need to get one started? What temperature can they be in? (I live in Texas so debated on keeping them outside on my porch). How much investment would it be to start one?

Thanks

 

[Lathis]

This is a huge, high risk investment of time and money, so you should think carefully before committing.

You're going to need a big plastic bin... And roaches. That's it! Well, and roach food. Plus some egg cartons or paper towel rolls for them to climb on.

They can be kept at room temperature and will still breed but slowly. I only have one cham, so that's perfect for me. At warmer temps, they will breed much faster. They are very easy to care for and much cleaner than crickets. My issue is that my jax LOVES crickets, and the dubia don't move around as much, so he's not as eager with the roaches.

You'll want to cup feed and keep track of what you take out of your bin. They can survive forever on almost nothing... In a warm climate that would be bad. If you are in north Texas, you'll need to protect them from cold temps in the winter.

 

[CamoHerp]

As stated above all you need is a bin. They can not climb. You want egg cartons, the ones that are flat. Use polymer crystals for water and buy roach feed. They like high humidity like 70s 80s good. The water crystals with a little heat source will work great for this and breed fast and grow quick in warm temps. 90 is really good. You want lots of female breeders. So one male to say 3-5 females. You want a bunch so you can keep a steady stock. Pretty much it. Thy are real basic and easy to breed. No smell Great source of protein, one roach is about 6 crickets. It's a great investment in my opinion. I use them for my beardies to

 

[Pharaoh2015]

Awesome. How much do you think it will be to get a set up and roaches to start my colony?

 

[Lathis]

$10 for a bin, $10 bucks for veggies. The trick will be seeing if you can get a starter colony locally - check smaller pet stores and craigslist. Ordering them online gets expensive because of shipping. I think I spent $40 for my starter colony from Greatlakes Hornworms (maybe). Egg crates you might be able to get for free or you can order from Josh's Frogs.

 

[CamoHerp]

I dropped 50 on a starter colony. Which gave me all ages and a bunch of breeders. 10 for a bin. 5 for food. I spend 2.00 on crystals for water and I spent a few dollars on heat tape to keep bin always warm so they breed and grow faster. Female breeders are usually 1 to 1.50. Males are from .50 to 1.00. And dont think just because you bought 100 adults means they are breeders. A lot of times you will get mostly males or full grown females past their prime. So when you buy your females Make sure your getting them at their early adult life when they breed.

 

[Pharaoh2015]

The roaches themselves are what I need to research where to buy. I know petco sells dubia but most likely all males.
Thanks sounds like a fun project.

 

[CamoHerp]

Don't buy from petco they are real young I've seen them are super pricey. Just do a quick google search for colony or eBay has them. Abdragons is a sponsor here but I don't think sells breeders. Check other sponsors check local ads. Your best bet is the web. And with roaches shipping is cheap they can survive through flat rate so it's normally around 7.00 or so. Not as bad as overnighting crickets.

 

[Hibiscusmile]

I started with just a few and before I knew it I had so many I felt like old woman with a shoe! Here is a link to a roach forum, you can trust all the old members there. Search it and see how to take care of them, not sure if this is a no no, but it is the http://www.roachforum.com . If it is I am sorry, but it answers a lot of newbie questions and you wont get someone who will cheat you there. Just stay with old members.

 

[Brassaxe]

They need decently high temperatures. 90-95F is best. If it's in the 80's they will always be trying to find the hottest spot in the cage. Don't go over 100.. The humidity should be moderate but don't worry about it much. If you use water crystals place them in a clay dish (what I do) because the clay dish is easy for the beetles to climb and it holds and releases moisture. Just buy the clay bases for clay pots and you're good to go. These clay bases can be used for food as well. Their food should be a good rotation of decently natural foods. The main part of the diet for mine is dehydrated fruit mixes. I also rotate in instant potato mix, oats, flax seed, some healthy cereals, etc etc. But there are two staple additives I use. One is spirulina algae powder which you can buy on ebay, and astaxanthin powder which is also available on ebay. I always put my food in a blender, then add a few tablespoons of spirulina and a half teaspoon of astaxanthin. My beetles go through about 2 pounds of food a month. You can also give them mangos, banana's, fruits, dandelions, etc etc.. They can eat a whole mango in an hour... Just check the enclosure the next day to remove any leftover fresh foods.

I've had a colony now for many years with no losses to disease or otherwise.

Here is a picture of their box. There are probably 5,000 beetles in there.

Like CamoHerp said, use egg crates for living space. The lower ones should be vertical but the upper ones can lay flat. Go to your local mom and pop breakfast place and get a stack of them. They don't eat them or even make them dirty so they last a loooong time.


If you buy them, get as many adults as you can comfortably afford. If you get babies (under a centimeter) it'll be about 4-6 months before you can even start to see breeding progress.

 

[nightanole]

One, Brassaxe that is the nicest bug box ive ever seen.
Two, keeping a tote outside, full of food... Ive got woodlen creatures around here that would get into that tote in a heart beat. It took all of 12 hours for one to release all my soldier flies into the wild...

 

[Brassaxe]

One, Brassaxe that is the nicest bug box ive ever seen.

I need it to house the horde of rambunctious beetles.

 

[happy]

its funny you call them beetles, My Partner hates the fact that they are roaches... so i have to call them Giant flat rollie polies(isopods)...... but since she is keeping a bearded dragon that wont eat crickets, gotta keep them in stock.
I have been buying them from ab dragons... compared to the others, prices seem to be very reasonable, shipping is included... and they sponsor the forums.

 

[Pharaoh2015]

Actually decided to breed green banana roaches. Nick Barta is selling me some.

Have a plastic container I'm putting screen on and for the colony

 

[nightanole]

its funny you call them beetles, My Partner hates the fact that they are roaches... so i have to call them Giant flat rollie polies(isopods)...... but since she is keeping a bearded dragon that wont eat crickets, gotta keep them in stock.
I have been buying them from ab dragons... compared to the others, prices seem to be very reasonable, shipping is included... and they sponsor the forums.

Its all fun and games till your parents vacation somewhere tropical and start "saving" the "beetles" by throwing them outside to run free.