ToastyCham
Avid Member
Once you had put them in their bin or whatever you keep them in, how long did it take for them to start breeding?
Starting a roach colony
- Thread starter ToastyCham
- Start date
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Oh geez…it’s been almost 5 years since I started my colony. I do remember that I initially put them in a very large bin with just some egg crate and it seemed like they never ate much and never made many babies for the longest time. I did have a heat mat on them since it was cooler weather. Once I gave them a bioactive set up in a slightly smaller bin, that was when they finally got busy. I can’t be certain, but I think the first bin was way too big and they were probably too separated from each other. Their food was in the open area between egg crates, which is probably why they didn’t eat well. I do know that they seem to enjoy burying themselves in soil and when given just one hide, (I like to make them a cork bark house if I can) they stick together and are better able to find each other for breeding. I’m going to say to give them at least a couple of months to get established. About every 2-3 months I remove the nymphs from my breeding adult bin. I do leave a few to continue to grow and keep the colony going. I also every now and then (maybe once a year) will order some more to add fresh genetic material to the colony.
ToastyCham
Avid Member
Thank you so much! This really helped a lot.
ToastyCham
Avid Member
Do they need a certain humidity level? Btw would anyone mind sharing a picture of their set up?
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I give mine a few sprays of water on the side of their tub and soil, mainly for the isopods but it also helps the roaches shed. I’ve never checked their humidity.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Being too lazy to go take new pics, here’s some old ones I was able to find…thought I had more. Strange how I’ve got so many pics of silkworms. 
Anyhow, here’s a couple of ways I’ve kept my roaches.
This was when I also had Surinam roaches and an overabundance of spare isopods. My discoid colony is the larger bin in the middle.
These were all the dratted Surinam roaches. They were fast climbers, so I had to smear Vaseline along the inner top. These are my favorite type bins that I currently use but a tad bigger (minus the Vaseline and stupid Surinams).
This was in the bigger bin and I’m not sure why, but I gave them a couple of old hides from my leopard geckos. That’s chopped palm fronds and not straw btw. You can see they prefer summer squash over mustard greens and sweet potato.
The only time I caught a birth. You can see how they immediately burrow down into the substrate.
Anyhow, here’s a couple of ways I’ve kept my roaches.This was when I also had Surinam roaches and an overabundance of spare isopods. My discoid colony is the larger bin in the middle.
These were all the dratted Surinam roaches. They were fast climbers, so I had to smear Vaseline along the inner top. These are my favorite type bins that I currently use but a tad bigger (minus the Vaseline and stupid Surinams).
This was in the bigger bin and I’m not sure why, but I gave them a couple of old hides from my leopard geckos. That’s chopped palm fronds and not straw btw. You can see they prefer summer squash over mustard greens and sweet potato.
The only time I caught a birth. You can see how they immediately burrow down into the substrate.
ToastyCham
Avid Member
Thank you so much!
Clementine
Member
I use a large, dark bin that I have vent holes in the top of. I keep a seedling mat under one side of it so that the roaches have a hot and a cold side to choose from. I keep the hot side in the high 80s, the cool side is mid to high 70s. I do rows of egg crate on each side (try to keep them vertical so most of the poop falls down)!
I keep a wet and a dry food tray in for them. The dry dish has Repashy bug burger. The other tray I put fresh fruits and veggies on daily. I don’t use those gel moisture cubes, because they can cause problems with reptiles eating them if they’re stuck to the roaches or ingested by them. They get their moisture from the fresh produce.
When I clean the bin, I always wear gloves and an N95. People do develop allergies to the frass, so limiting exposure is a good idea (that’s also me being a paranoid nurse
).
You’ll want start with 1 adult male to every 4-5 females. The males will fight and injure each other if there are too many. It typically takes 30-60 days for the females to give birth. Warmer = faster reproduction.
I use a stack of 5 gallon buckets, each with different sized holes drilled in the bottom to sort the roaches. If you search dubia roach sorting online, there are videos. I dump the roaches in the top bucket and then the roaches crawl down through the levels, leaving the biggest at the top and smaller roaches in each lower bucket.
I keep a wet and a dry food tray in for them. The dry dish has Repashy bug burger. The other tray I put fresh fruits and veggies on daily. I don’t use those gel moisture cubes, because they can cause problems with reptiles eating them if they’re stuck to the roaches or ingested by them. They get their moisture from the fresh produce.
When I clean the bin, I always wear gloves and an N95. People do develop allergies to the frass, so limiting exposure is a good idea (that’s also me being a paranoid nurse
). You’ll want start with 1 adult male to every 4-5 females. The males will fight and injure each other if there are too many. It typically takes 30-60 days for the females to give birth. Warmer = faster reproduction.
I use a stack of 5 gallon buckets, each with different sized holes drilled in the bottom to sort the roaches. If you search dubia roach sorting online, there are videos. I dump the roaches in the top bucket and then the roaches crawl down through the levels, leaving the biggest at the top and smaller roaches in each lower bucket.
ToastyCham
Avid Member
Well, my roaches arrived today so hopefully soon I’ll have more than Edvin can eat!
ToastyCham
Avid Member
Thank you for the advice.I use a large, dark bin that I have vent holes in the top of. I keep a seedling mat under one side of it so that the roaches have a hot and a cold side to choose from. I keep the hot side in the high 80s, the cool side is mid to high 70s. I do rows of egg crate on each side (try to keep them vertical so most of the poop falls down)!
I keep a wet and a dry food tray in for them. The dry dish has Repashy bug burger. The other tray I put fresh fruits and veggies on daily. I don’t use those gel moisture cubes, because they can cause problems with reptiles eating them if they’re stuck to the roaches or ingested by them. They get their moisture from the fresh produce.
When I clean the bin, I always wear gloves and an N95. People do develop allergies to the frass, so limiting exposure is a good idea (that’s also me being a paranoid nurse
You’ll want start with 1 adult male to every 4-5 females. The males will fight and injure each other if there are too many. It typically takes 30-60 days for the females to give birth. Warmer = faster reproduction.
I use a stack of 5 gallon buckets, each with different sized holes drilled in the bottom to sort the roaches. If you search dubia roach sorting online, there are videos. I dump the roaches in the top bucket and then the roaches crawl down through the levels, leaving the biggest at the top and smaller roaches in each lower bucket.
ToastyCham
Avid Member
After a few months of waiting my dubia roaches have started breeding! I went to feed them last night and I saw some itty bitty babies. Thank you to everyone who shared advice!
