Breeding Dubia Roaches: A Comprehensive Guide

Breeding Dubia roaches can yield big rewards for the do-it-yourselfer. When done right, a homegrown Dubia roach breeding colony provides self-sufficiency, with control over your animal’s diet and direct access to a renewable supply of healthy feeders.

To get these benefits, you need an appropriate space, resources for up-front costs, and the will to make it happen. Learning, planning, and building a suitable setup takes patience and effort. But with the right advice and a little time, you can grow a Dubia roach breeding colony large enough to end the need to buy Dubia roaches regularly.

Our goal for this guide is to show you how to breed Dubia roaches effectively. When done right, breeding tropical roaches is fun and satisfying, but this is no small task. There is a lot of information to read and learn. You may have some success throwing a few Dubia in a bin along with some food and water, but this approach leaves a lot on the table. There is much more you could do to improve your results. We want to show you how to breed Dubia roaches the right way.

To that end, we provide this complete guide. It covers every aspect of Dubia roach breeding—from planning and building your setup to maintaining your stock. Our comprehensive approach allows you to choose what level of engagement you prefer for your project. We show you what works best and what to expect from your efforts. But you certainly don’t have to do everything we suggest. Our job is to teach you how to breed Dubia roaches based on our extensive experience, and you can decide from there how far you want to take it.

Breeding Dubia roaches at peak productivity

Meeting a Dubia breeding colony’s basic needs is necessary for success, but this is just the beginning. Most people can achieve average Dubia growth and reproduction, but we want more for you than that. To this end, we give you the information necessary to take your breeding project beyond average growth to spectacular growth.

Our goal here is maximum Dubia roach productivity. We have conducted extensive testing over many years to discover what Dubia roaches need for the fastest possible reproduction and growth, given their natural constraints, as well as how best to provide it. While we don’t give away all our secrets, we’re happy to share some lessons we’ve learned about cultivating and maintaining a Dubia breeding colony at peak productivity. Spoiler alert: it involves connections between Dubia’s health & productivity, which means focusing on nutrition & environment.

Our approach is simple, but that does not necessarily mean it is easy. We want to do everything possible to support the roach’s natural reproductive processes, which generally means providing them with the environment and nutrition they need. Simple…but not always easy.

There is a lot of information below. Feel free to browse the Table of Contents and skip to any topic that interests you.

Table of Contents

• Before you begin
  • Getting started
  • The importance of gathering information
• Planning ahead
  • What to expect: The Dubia roach reproductive cycle
    • Ootheca fertilization to hatching
    • After hatching
  • What do you want from breeding?
  • Prepare yourself to get prepared
• Materials: breeder colony equipment
  • Bins/enclosures
    • Escape-proof containers
    • Lids
    • Screen
  • Heat
  • Harborage
  • Food & water supplies
  • Thermometer
  • Hygrometer
  • Electric thermostat
• Selecting a location
• Setting up the breeding bin
  • Internal setup
  • Ventilation
• The right tools: Choosing Dubia roaches
  • Mating: The female to male ratio
  • Stock: healthy breeding females
• Feeding roaches: Nutrition for breeding
  • Food selection
  • Protein, carbohydrates, and fat
  • Fruits and vegetables
    • A note about oranges
  • Commercial gut-loads and “insect diets”
• Birth: New Dubia roaches!
  • What to do next
    • Temperatures for nymphs
    • Food for nymphs
    • Nymph general care
  • Feeding off new nymphs
• Cleaning a breeding colony
  • Frass
  • Using cleaner crews
  • Egg carton replacement
• Sharing the bounty
  • A better experience
  • The future of Dubia roaches

NOTE: Our Dubia Roach Care Sheet describes the basic food, shelter, and environmental needs of Dubia roach feeders. Generally, breeders require more elaborate care. Please refer to our Care Sheet for basic information about feeding and watering the Dubia roaches you plan to use as feeders.

Before you begin…

Assuming you already know that Dubia roaches are among the most nutritious, if not the most nutritious, feeder insect on the market, and you have already decided to learn how to breed them, there are a few things to know before continuing.

Getting started

If all of this sounds good, read on. This Guide will help you get your project started. It explains how to set up a Dubia roach breeding colony and maintain it to maximize their health and productivity. You will also find tips and tricks for avoiding common pitfalls that can waste time and money in the long run. We want to help you turn twenty roaches into a hundred roaches, or a hundred into a thousand or more, and to do it quickly.

The importance of gathering information

Dubia roach growth is limited by natural physical constraints. You can take steps to increase or decrease their productivity within those limits. We will help you boost their potency and maximize yield. This is particularly important for Dubia roaches. That’s because the impact of diet and health on cockroach lifespan and productivity is cumulative. What you feed adults today impacts not just their productivity, but also their brood’s productivity. This intergenerational impact is significant and may go as many as three or four generations deep.

This is why focusing on health is critical for Dubia roach breeding success—and so is knowledge. Now that you understand the generational impacts of the health of your roaches on productivity, you can take action. Knowledge is important. Gathering information before you begin helps you avoid problems and increase your efficiency. In this case, it will increase the efficiency of your roaches.

Planning ahead

Generally, Dubia roach reproduction slows as conditions move away from optimum. “Conditions” broadly include nutrition and environment. This includes food, water, heat, humidity, and other essential elements. It follows that an improvement in one of these will likely lead to a rise in the reproduction rate. Under ideal conditions, a single newly-emerged adult female can produce as many as 175 offspring in one year. In one year, around 120 of her direct descendants will be fertile, productive breeding adults. And, between 40 and 50 of their young will also have offspring.

This represents exponential growth, and roughly what you can expect from your breeding project. It suggests a little planning is in order. We recommend deciding on your project’s direction early. Like, now—or at least soon. Hopefully, before you buy any equipment. It’s a lot easier to plan ahead than it is to make adjustments after the fact with a situation you didn’t anticipate.

What to expect: The Dubia roach reproductive cycle

A newly emerged adult female will begin mating 5 days after emergence. B. dubia are ovoviviparous, which means that instead of laying eggs, females develop their young internally inside long, tube-like, multicelled egg sacks called ootheca. Some roaches do lay eggs, but the Dubia roach does not. Birth occurs when a female expels her ootheca in response to nymph activity as it prepares to hatch.

Nymphs begin emerging from their oothecae shortly after the female discharges them, and they hatch over the course of several hours. They are white and very small — only about 1/8″ (3mm) long, and turn a greyish color within a few hours as their exoskeletons dry and harden in response to air exposure. Before hardening, they are very fragile and easily damaged, so if possible, do not handle them.

NOTE: This fragility applies to white roaches at all stages. All roaches are white when they shed their exoskeleton in their transition from one instar (growth phase) to the next. They get their coloration from their hardened exoskeleton. Roaches tend to leave their group in search of isolation when the molting process begins. This behavior protects them from accidental or intentional damage while their shell hardens. It is best to leave molting roaches alone when you see them.

Ootheca fertilization to hatching

On average, females exhibit a fertilized, immature ootheca 19 days after adult emergence, and they give birth to their first batch of nymphs 70 days later. If you stock a new Dubia roach breeding colony with mature, breeding females, you may end up with newborn nymphs immediately. Those newborn nymphs will mature into adults in about 120 days. Females complete the procreation cycle by giving birth to their first clutch in around 70 days.

After hatching

After giving birth to nymphs, females stay close to their offspring and show no interest in mating. This typically lasts about a week. Rather than pairing right away, they will look after their vulnerable, newly hatched young. In addition to helping their progeny survive, this time away from breeding gives the females time to replenish their energy stores. They actually eat more often now than when they were carrying fertilized eggs.

After several days pass, the offspring begin venturing beyond their mother’s protection. At this point, the female is near the end of her recovery process. She starts to show interest in males again as she prepares for another round of mating. As a general rule, newly hatched nymphs will be self-sufficient by the time their mother has recovered from their birth and is ready to mate again.

What do you want from breeding?

With this in mind, now is a good time to decide what you want from your Dubia breeding project, or to at least become aware of the issues you may face down the road. It’s okay not to have answers to these questions now. Consider this a thought experiment to raise your awareness with information that will help you think and plan far enough ahead.

Ask yourself: Are you raising feeders? If so, do you have one animal, several animals, or many? How many breeding colonies will you need to sustain an adequate supply of feeders? Do you have a plan in case you end up with too many (or too few) roaches? Are you raising breeders? If so, how much space will you need? How much time do you want to devote to this project?

With these answers (or at least questions) in mind, there are a few more questions to ask yourself. How do you want to proceed with the project? Do you want to set up multiple breeder bins now or wait until later? How will you heat those extra bins? Do you need to humidify the environment? If so, how will you do it? What foods will you feed the roaches, and how will you meet all their nutritional needs?

Prepare yourself to get prepared

Feeding, cleaning, and heating are relatively easy tasks in a small Dubia breeding colony. However, the dynamics change when their population increases from tens to hundreds, and they change again when it grows from hundreds to thousands. Think about the space, supplies, time, and other resources you will need to devote to your colony when it reaches full capacity. It may start slowly, but one day, population growth may go exponential. This usually happens after the first batch of offspring matures.

As you move forward with your project and gain experience breeding Dubia roaches, try anticipating where bottlenecks may occur. For example, if you live in Alaska and start your project in the summer, will you be able to maintain the high temperatures required for breeding throughout the winter? If you live in Las Vegas, will you have a cool spot for your colony in the summer? How will you deal with excess Dubia feeders if your breeding project is successful? Keeping one eye on the present and the other on the future can go a long way to save you from problems that tend to arise when plans fail.

Materials: breeder colony equipment

You will need the following basic equipment. Some of it is optional, as noted in the details below.

• – Roach bins
• – Lids
• – Screen, glue or tape
• – Heat
• – Harborage
• – Water bowl, substrate
• – Food bowl, food
• – Thermometer
• – Hygrometer
• – Electronic thermostat

Bins/enclosures

Ideally, buy three identical bins for your project. This assumes that you are planning a single Dubia roach breeding colony. You will need more bins for each additional colony.

Of the three bins, one will house your breeding colony, another will become a rearing tub for the nymphs your roaches produce, and the third will be a spare for cleaning, sorting, and temporary storage. Note that it is not necessary to buy them all at once. In fact, depending on how you design your setup, you might not need them at all. You can start with many different sizes, but we’ve found that as breeding colonies grow and expand, the natural gravitation is toward large bins of equal size. Interchangeability is a big plus when it comes to bin use and storage. When you start, you need at least one bin that comfortably houses all your breeding adults.

If you’re planning ahead, use bins that can accommodate not just the number of roaches you have now or will buy in the near future, but the number you expect after breeding begins and the colony has become established. Assuming you use vertically stacked egg flats or similar harborage, a good population density for breeding is around 200 to 250 adults per square foot. Fewer is OK, but more may lead to overcrowding and related problems. Dubia are social roaches, and they need physical contact, but there is a limit to their sociability. Overcrowding causes stress, which in turn slows down reproduction. Keep in mind that if you misjudge a bin’s capacity now, you can always make changes later. Dividing a Dubia colony between two bins is one solution to overcrowding. Another solution is to swap the entire colony into a larger container.

NOTE: To calculate the square footage of a breeding bin, multiply the length by the width by height, then reduce the total by the amount of open space that is not filled with hide material. If you use egg crates, for example, and they cover the entire floor space but end six inches below the rim, calculate that open space and subtract it from the total. In small bins, the extra may not matter, and you can always go by feel until the colony begins getting crowded.

Escape-proof containers

Select a container with smooth sides. The most common choice is plastic, but glass is also an option. Note that Dubia roaches can climb fine-textured plastic, so be sure the sides are smooth. Always test new enclosures before throwing away the receipt. Storage bins, such as those made by Sterilite and Rubbermaid, usually work well. However, they don’t all have smooth sides. Some are lightly textured, so be sure to check them out thoroughly. A general rule is that glossy plastic is smooth enough to prevent Dubia from escaping, while plastic with a matte finish is not.

We suggest housing Dubia breeding colonies in plastic bins. They are the best choice in most situations. They are much lighter than glass, virtually unbreakable, and opaque. Plastic also conducts heat more slowly than glass, which means plastic bins are more energy-efficient.

Breeding Dubia roaches in glass enclosures such as aquariums presents a few challenges. People do it, but glass housing is more labor-intensive than plastic. Glass enclosures are also heavier than plastic ones and harder to move. They’re also see-through, which makes providing the darkness your roaches need more difficult. This may lead to higher stress levels among the roaches, and stress lowers Dubia’s productivity.

And, of course, you can probably imagine what a disaster breaking a glass aquarium full of roaches would be. When we think of a roach bin, we think of plastic. Glass does have one advantage over plastic, though—it won’t melt. Heating a glass aquarium requires more energy than a plastic one due to the relative thermal properties of glass, but it’s safer with respect to heat and electricity. We have never seen a heating pad melt a plastic bin, but we have read accounts of heating strips catching fire.

Choose a bin at least 18″ x 18″ x 18″, even if you expect to house a relatively small breeding colony. This is big enough for a few egg flats and a food and water bowl, and there is no need to worry about too much space with just a few roaches.

All things being equal, there is no upper size limit for containers with larger breeding colonies. The roaches will appreciate any space you give them, and they will find a way to utilize it. However, you may want a size you can handle comfortably. Consider that you may need to move the bin often, and a 30-inch container full of roaches is a lot more manageable than one that’s five feet long and weighs 70 lbs. If a bin is wider than your arms can comfortably stretch, you may need help each time you move it.

Lids

Be sure to get the lids along with the bins, even if you don’t think you’ll use them. You may change your mind later. While lids are not necessary for keeping roaches in a proper enclosure, they can offer convenience in unexpected ways. For example, say you want to separate nymphs from adults. This means maintaining two colonies, and depending on your space availability, it might be nice to stack the bins vertically. Lids make this possible.

Lids also help keep things like pets and other insects out. We have heard reports that rats love Dubia roaches. This is not a problem we’ve experienced, but we have no reason to doubt it. If lids can prevent a rat problem, we’re all for using lids.

Screen

Unlike keeping a few roaches in a container as feeders, breeding Dubia roaches is a long-term project. As such, breeding colonies need proper ventilation. Simply keeping the lid askew or propping it up with some random object won’t do. Too many things can go wrong with this approach. We suggest creating ventilation holes and covering them with fiberglass or metal window screen secured with hot glue or tape. As noted below, Dubia roaches can chew through fiberglass screen, so use a metal screen if you expect the roaches to be able to access it. Fiberglass or plastic is fine if you’re sure they will never reach it, and if, for some reason, they did, it wouldn’t matter terribly if they chewed holes in it. However, if you rely on the screen to keep roaches in, use something they can’t destroy. In this case, that is metal.

Heat

While Dubia roaches can survive a wide range of temperatures, their fertility rapidly decreases to zero as temperatures move away from 85º or 90ºF. Ideally, a Dubia breeding colony would be housed in a temperature-controlled room maintained within this range. However, if this is not possible or practical, an external heat source will likely be required to raise the internal bin temperature to the proper levels.

There are a few options for heating a Dubia roach breeding colony. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages. Heat emitters, light bulbs, heat mats, and space heaters are commonly used by roachkeepers. In considering heating methods for your situation, keep the following in mind:

• Keep all heat sources outside the enclosure. This means no light bulbs, heat mats, or ceramic heat emitters inside any breeding bin. Nothing your roaches come in direct contact with should ever exceed 90ºF.
• For peace of mind and to avoid damage or injury, always follow manufacturer instructions for your chosen heating method. Don’t take chances or cut corners with heat or electricity.
• Consider controlling heat with a thermostat if it can be done safely.
• Create a backup heat source in case the first one fails, or place your breeding bin where a heating failure won’t wipe out the colony.

There are many ways to heat a Dubia roach breeding colony. They are all effective to various degrees, and we don’t endorse any one particular method. Instead, we discuss the options and leave it to users to decide which is best for their situation.

Two of the most popular heating methods are heat mats and heat emitters. These are usually combined with placing the bin in a warm location. In our view, the preferred way to provide external heat is any method that can be done safely and effectively while maintaining air temperature between 85ºF and 90ºF. The temperature can occasionally dip lower, but should not go much higher. Avoid low heat, as it slows the growth of Blaptica dubia. Alternatively, high heat stresses them out, which should be avoided. Always keep in mind the negative effects of stress on Dubia roach productivity when planning or managing a breeding colony.

Harborage

Dubia roaches need harborage. It provides a place for them to live, breed, and shelter their young. They need dark, tight spaces. Without harborage, they may be anxious and may not breed at all. If they do, their offspring may not survive.

Paper egg flats are the classic housing for Dubia roaches. Egg flats work great for roaches because they provide crawl spaces and texture. This increases the surface area in a colony, which allows you to keep more roaches in a given space. You can find egg flats in bulk online.

While egg flats are the norm, they are not required. Other types of paper can be used. As a general rule, you want to avoid paper with a lot of chemicals. Some types of paper have more chemicals than others. High-chemical paper examples include glossy magazine paper and bleached white paper — especially when it comes from a freshly opened ream. These heavily processed papers will off-gas chemicals, and the high heat, moisture, and low airflow found specifically in Dubia breeding colonies may speed the process, potentially increasing the toxic load. What ultimately happens to colony productivity due to chemical exposure depends on the type of chemicals present in the paper. Some possibilities include lower fertility and higher mortality among newborns and adults.

There isn’t much information to help tie specific chemicals to the paper we use, so we try to keep it as clean and basic as possible. Cardboard and paper products designed for storing food appear generally safe. We always let paper products breathe for a while before putting them inside any roach colony.

Food & water supplies

The food and water equipment used for Dubia breeding are the same as those used for general care. Feeding supplies are typically generic and applicable to any situation. However, there are several ways to provide water to roaches. The various methods require different supplies, so you will need to choose one that suits your project.

In making your choice, remember that while there may only be adults in the colony now, there will also be tiny baby nymphs in the future if all goes well. Newborn nymphs need immediate access to water. Without it, they can become dehydrated and die. This often happens very quickly. Tiny nymphs have fewer reserves; their exoskeletons take a while to harden, which leaves them open to dehydration, and they dry out without proper humidity and drinking water. Make sure they have regular and reliable access to moisture. It is important for their survival that there is no interruption to their access to water.

To that end, all food and water dishes, bowls, lids, or other containers should have roughly textured sides that roaches of all sizes can easily climb. In most cases, you can sufficiently rough up a smooth-sided container with coarse sandpaper. 80-grit usually works fine. A scouring pad may also work. Give the container some texture, and the roaches will find water and food on their own. Never assume that because adults can reach food or water, their nymphs can reach it too. Make sure they can by creating a rough surface.

Thermometer

To maintain the temperature within the breeding range, you need a way to measure it. Any thermometer will do. Small, inexpensive, battery-powered electronic thermometers with a probe work well for this purpose. More expensive ones that check spot temperatures with a laser offer ease, convenience, and accuracy, but they are not necessary. Whatever type you choose, be sure it is reliable and reasonably accurate.

Hygrometer

Unless you know that the humidity in your colony will remain above 40%, we recommend a hygrometer. For breeding, keep humidity between 40% and 60%. Higher is OK, but you should avoid anything lower. Productivity will slow if the humidity is too low. The main problem with lower humidity is the female’s ootheca. They tend to dry out and become infertile with humidity below 40%. If this happens, the female will drop the eggs and begin producing new ones. This takes time and resources and is obviously something to avoid if your goal is peak productivity. Additionally, nymphs don’t thrive in low humidity for the reasons mentioned.

There are several ways to increase humidity in a Dubia roach colony. You can mist with water, use a large water bowl, or use a humidifier. Whatever you choose, be careful with water in or near the colony. High temperatures, combined with water, darkness, and roach frass, equal mold and bacteria. Mold and bacterial overgrowth are bad news for Dubia roaches generally, but they are particularly bad news for roach breeding projects. Pathogenic mold and bacteria, or simply too much of either, may impact egg production and nymph growth. And some of it may even be unhealthy for you! Always take your unique situation into account, and be safe.

Related reading: Dubia roach die off: causes and cures »

Electric thermostat

Unless you maintain the room where you keep your colony at proper breeding temperatures, you will need to connect your heat source through an electric thermostat. Some people forego thermostats in favor of unrestricted heat mats or light bulbs, but we do not recommend this. It is too easy for something to go wrong, and when things go wrong with heat and small spaces, they tend to go wrong quickly and with bad results.

Because thermostats are relatively inexpensive and widely available, and the consequences of not having one can be catastrophic, consider not skimping in this area. The $20 to $40 you may spend on a basic model is inexpensive in light of your overall investment in time, effort, and equipment for your breeding product. You don’t need anything fancy — just a basic device that turns the heat on when the temperature dips below your threshold and off when it rises above it.

Selecting a location for your breeding colony

The right environmental conditions are essential for breeding Dubia roaches successfully, and a good location makes creating these conditions easier. Keep the following in mind when selecting a site for your bin:

• Evidence suggests mating peaks when Dubia roaches are exposed to a 12/12 (hour) light/dark cycle.
• Light strongly influences Dubia roach behavior.
• If you err, try to err on the side of too much dark rather than light.
• Light stresses Dubia roaches and stress affects procreation.
• There is no such thing as too much darkness when it comes to breeding.
• It’s easier to adjust humidity in small spaces than large ones.
• The higher the humidity, the more important air circulation becomes.

The ideal place for your breeding bin is one with adequate darkness and air circulation, free from loud noises and frequent disturbances, and with temperature, humidity, light, and dark maintained in the range that maximizes productivity. A good spot might be a dark closet with light from a timer-controlled light bulb. Or it could be a basement, a corner in a quiet room, or a garage with similar conditions.

NOTE: Investing effort in selecting a suitable spot up front may lead to less ongoing effort and expense. On one hand, a place with ideal breeding conditions will require the least ongoing effort and cost. The further away the location is from the ideal, the more energy, effort, and cost will be required to bring it up to standard.

Setting up the breeding bin

After you choose a location, buy and organize your equipment, and choose a heating method, it’s time to set up the breeding bin.

Internal setup

The basic Dubia roach breeding bin setup consists of food and water on one side, and hide material filling much or most of the remaining space. As mentioned, paper egg flats are our preferred harborage. They are convenient, inexpensive if you find the right source, and safe for roaches, in our experience. Adults like them because they provide the internal spaces they need for living and socializing. Nymphs like them because they’re good for hiding. You may use other paper or cardboard if you like, or any other material that suits your needs, but be mindful of the chemical issue and choose the material accordingly.

If you use egg flats in your breeding bin, pack them vertically, face to face. Put in enough to hold all the roaches in the colony. For a crowded colony of breeders, use as many flats as it takes to fill the empty floor space, minus what you need for food and water.

Note that egg flats will collapse in on each other when stacked unless you reverse the direction of each consecutive flat. This means front to front, then alternating the next flat so they are back to back. Or, because egg flats have spaces for five eggs in one direction and six in another, you can rotate consecutive flats 90 degrees right or left and stack them in whichever direction you like (front to back, front to front, etc).

No matter how you stack them, they will always collapse a little. You can address this further by placing cardboard squares between each flat. Our squares are about 8 inches square, but size is not critical. They only need to be large enough to prevent collapse.

In most cases, egg flats do not need to be packed tightly — especially if there are only a few roaches. In this case, they only require a small amount of shelter. You can start with a few flats and add more as the colony grows. At this point, it’s better to err on the side of too few than too many.

This is because air circulation is a concern in Dubia roach colonies. There should be sufficient airflow to prevent moisture from accumulating. Cleaner crews go a long way to address this issue, but they only reduce the amount of airflow necessary to maintain a healthy environment. They don’t eliminate the need for airflow entirely. You can’t pack an entire roach bin with egg crates, throw in some cleaner crews, and expect everything to be OK. It may be, but it may not be. It depends.

Temperature, humidity, air circulation, the amount and type of harborage and other materials in a roach bin, and the amount of frass all affect the evaporation rate. If you’re starting out and don’t have a sense of the right balance for your environment, start by leaving plenty of space. Don’t pack the bin with egg crates end to end. You’ll get a sense of what your setup demands over time. Be extra generous with the empty space if you live in an area with high humidity. You’ll know you’ve gone too far when you start smelling unappealing odors, like rotting roaches or ammonia from bacteria growing in moist frass.

Stacking egg flats vertically (versus horizontally) helps with air circulation and evaporation. The idea is to create as much accessible surface area as possible while avoiding pockets where frass and other debris can accumulate. Nymphs like to bury themselves in frass, and a pile of frass on top of paper or cardboard holds moisture. This is a breeding ground for mold and fungus. Whatever hide material you use, stack it vertically as much as possible. This way, frass falls to the bottom of the bin instead of accumulating on paper surfaces. Frass on the bottom of the bin is OK. Frass on paper often leads to moisture build-up, which you should avoid.

NOTE: Keep harborage away from food, and especially water. One reason we favor egg cartons is that roaches cannot easily move them. Crumpled paper, for example, can be pushed around by its weight. When this happens, the paper may come into contact with water, wet food, or moist water crystals. It will wick moisture from whatever it touches and dry out.

While this is bad news for the roaches, it gets worse. The moisture may transfer to the frass, and you don’t want wet frass in a hot, dark, humid enclosure with low air circulation. It turns thick like clay and will not dry on its own. It can remain wet for weeks, which is ample time for bacteria to colonize and jeopardize the health of your roaches. If you ever smell ammonia, clean the bin, locate the source, and resolve the issue.

One last note about harborage material: Whichever you choose, and however you pack it, always be mindful of chemicals. Corrugated cardboard may contain chemicals, so use it with caution. Keep an eye out for any fall in productivity or other negative effects after adding a new batch of cardboard or other paper products from an untested source. If in doubt, let the cardboard air out for a while before adding it to the colony.

Ventilation

Create ventilation by cutting a hole (or holes) in the breeding bin lid and securing it (or them) with a screen. Use a metal screen if there is any possibility the roaches might reach it. Remember that Dubia roaches can chew through the fiberglass window screen commonly sold in hardware stores. This is a good time to mention that you may want to consider buying a few roach traps and placing them in or around your storage area. Not in the bin itself, of course, but nearby. Roaches that escape the colony will be less likely to end up wandering around your house, your bedroom, or your apartment building. Dubia roaches are generally recognized as harmless, but you may want to avoid explaining that to your neighbor, your boyfriend/girlfriend, or your landlord.

NOTE: Dispose of any dead roaches killed by roach bait immediately and wash your hands thoroughly after handling dead roaches, roach bait, or traps. Roach poison is highly effective and persistent. It lingers on skin, clothes, carpet, and anything else it may touch. It can persist as long as six months! During this time, it remains toxic to roaches. You never know how roach poison in your home might find its way back to your roach colony, so eliminate the potential for harm and wash your hands immediately after handling anything associated with roach traps or bait.

In deciding how many ventilation holes to cut and what size, keep the following in mind:

• Holes must be large enough for adequate circulation but small enough to prevent too much humidity and heat from escaping.
• The ideal size and number of holes depend on the conditions in and around the storage area and in the breeder bin itself.
• When the storage area is maintained at the ideal breeding temperature and humidity, ventilation holes become less important.
• Create smaller holes if the temperature outside the bin is cooler than required for breeding.
• Create smaller holes if the humidity outside the bin is lower than that required for breeding.
• Err on the side of smaller/fewer holes. You can always make them bigger. It’s more challenging to reduce the size of existing holes.

After creating the holes, cut the screen to size and attach it to the lid with tape or hot glue.

NOTE: Use high-quality tape that won’t lose adhesion when exposed to heat and moisture. HVAC foil tape is best. Duct tape will work in some cases, but tends to degrade over time, especially in high humidity. Avoid craft tape, masking tape, and scotch tape. Hot glue works nicely.

NOTE: Start with small ventilation holes and cut larger ones as needed. It’s easy to overestimate the size of the holes required for adequate ventilation. Cut them small, then monitor and measure the conditions in the enclosure. Don’t guess. Measure and make adjustments as you go.

The right tools for breeding: Dubia roaches

With any project, the right tools for the job are critical. In this case, the right tools are healthy Dubia roach stock with adequate nutritional reserves. At its most basic, breeding Dubia roaches requires adult males and females. However, attaining maximum productivity requires the right mix of healthy, nutritionally prepared adults, both males and females. Getting either the mix or the nutrition wrong will slow the process and lead to sub-optimum results.

Mating: The female to male ratio

In our experience, the ideal F:M ratio for breeding Dubia roaches is somewhere between 3:1 and 7:1. Below 3:1, males become overly aggressive in their bid to impregnate females. When this happens, the higher stress depresses mating activity within the colony. This leads to lower productivity. Productivity also slows above 7:1, but we don’t really know why. We suspect that some measure of “good stress” motivates mating, but this is just a guess.

When fine-tuning the female-to-male ratio, it is helpful to understand the Dubia roach sex differences and mating behavior. Females only mate when they’re ready, while males are ready most of the time. This results in competition among males. During courtship, males harass rivals by disrupting their courtship displays. They keep this up until a male establishes dominance over others or until they lose interest. This usually lasts only as long as it takes for mating to begin, so the dominance they establish is temporary. There is a constant stream of males in breeding colonies trying to assert and maintain their dominance.

NOTE: Start on the higher end of the female-to-male range and adjust down from there. Keep an eye on mating behavior and productivity when making adjustments. Reductions in productivity from too few males are smaller than those of too many, so it’s better to start with too few males than too many.

It’s also important to note that males reportedly eat nymphs when competition for females is high. This may be good for them because it increases their mating opportunities, but it’s bad for you because it reduces productivity. It may also increase internal colony stress. You can reduce competition between males by increasing the F:M ratio.

Stock: healthy breeding females

Healthy, fertile adult females are key to productive Dubia roach breeding. All things equal, healthy females:

1. produce larger broods
2. live longer
3. produce offspring with lower mortality rates
4. produce offspring that grow faster
5. recover from giving birth faster and more completely
6. produce offspring that are themselves more fertile as adults

The health of your roaches can determine the success or failure of your Dubia breeding project. Good health isn’t everything, but poor health limits reproduction. It affects how fast roaches multiply, and this determines how fast a breeding colony grows. Reduced productivity means fewer feeders once the colony is mature and established. Poor health in adults may also affect the nutritional quality of the offspring they produce. This may limit those offspring’s ability to reproduce at optimal rates as adults. They may also be less nutritious feeders as nymphs.

On the flip side, good health supports reproduction. Breeding is an energy-intensive process, and roaches that do well tend to have adequate nutritional reserves to draw on. They eat a fair amount while carrying their young, but they consume even more between the time they give birth and become pregnant again. As nymphs, roaches tend to store away nutrients they will need later as adults. This suggests that quality breeding stock is critically important. By the time nymphs reach adulthood, the time for storing reserves has passed. They can’t make up for lost time, and much of their reserve status is baked in.

We believe raising healthy roaches from the start is critical. We also believe it is essential to pay particular attention to supporting the physical health of your breeding females. It’s not only good for them but also for you, your animals, and the success of your breeding project.

There are several steps to attain, support, and even improve the health of female Dubia roaches. You can:

1. Buy healthy roaches at the outset
2. Provide the recommended conditions for breeding
3. Follow the general guidelines in our Dubia Roach Care Sheet
4. Improve and maintain food quality
5. Reduce pesticides by feeding organic foods
6. Remove any number of toxins by providing distilled, well, or bottled water

NOTE: Many people find it surprising that these things impact Dubia roach reproduction. The fact is that the cockroach’s reputation as tough and even indestructible is incorrect. In reality, they are delicate and responsive to their environment. Their health is closely tied to what they eat and where they live. And like other insects, Dubia roaches have the capacity for health and disease. Tropical cockroaches breed well in some environments and poorly in others.

Dubia roaches need conditions that support their health to reach their reproductive potential. Consider that Dubia roaches have developed palates that enable them to distinguish protein from carbohydrates. This is not a random trait. It exists because some nutrients are critical for their survival. They need these and other nutrients in different amounts at various life stages precisely because their environment is important.

Feeding roaches: nutrition for breeding

Breeding Dubia roaches efficiently requires adequate dietary support. The health and nutritional status of females influence how often they mate and the survivability of their young. This means they need not only an adequate amount of food but food that contains the nutrients they need for maximum production.

Adding to the difficulty of providing Dubia roaches with the foods they need for optimum health is that they require different nutrients at different life stages. All things equal, a newborn nymph eats differently from a mid-stage nymph. Adult males eat differently from females, and adult females eat differently from other adult females, depending on where they are in their reproductive cycle.

Food selection

Fortunately, for a healthy breeding colony, you don’t have to know what nutrients your roaches need or when they need them. As it turns out, Dubia roaches self-select for dietary nutrients based on their needs. Simply supplying them with a range of healthy foods can meet and exceed their nutritional needs because they know what they need and when.

As mentioned earlier, Dubia roaches are able to distinguish between proteins and carbohydrates, just as we can. They crave the foods their bodies need. For example, young nymphs show a strong preference for protein. When given a choice, they tend to opt for higher-protein foods because protein fuels their rapidly growing bodies. On the other hand, adult males sometimes prefer carbohydrates. They will choose fruits, vegetables, and grains over other foods with higher protein and fat when given the choice. Adult females are another matter. They prefer protein sometimes and carbohydrates other times.

We have addressed dietary protein in the Dubia roach diet along with the dietary self-selection issue. Take a look if you’re interested. We strongly recommend checking it out if you want to blend your own roach chow. There are some good tips as well as words of caution.

Protein, carbohydrates, and fat

Provide a range of foods containing various amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat to all the roaches in your breeding colony. This means a mix of high-protein and low-protein foods. The same goes for carbohydrates. You want to give the roaches control over how much of each nutrient they eat. You can find an in-depth explanation of how to do this and the reasoning behind it in the linked article above. The main takeaway is that Dubia roaches have different nutritional needs at different times, and you can meet these needs by providing a varied diet of whole foods.

We recommend our Dubia roach chow because it eliminates the guesswork. It has the right balance of nutrients, determined by lots of testing and significant experience over time. However, you’re welcome to feed your roaches your own blend of dry ingredients in whole form if you prefer.

Fruits and vegetables

For a breeding colony, we suggest a diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables. They have many important nutrients that dry ingredients don’t, and they provide them in forms that dry ingredients can’t. While your breeding project can succeed without them, we believe they are important. Our breeders are always more productive when they have access to fruits and vegetables. In all likelihood, yours will be too. So if your goal is high productivity, don’t skimp on fruits and vegetables.

A note about oranges

Common wisdom suggests that oranges enhance Dubia roach fertility and increase mating rates. We haven’t noticed this in our own colonies. We do give oranges to our breeders, but only because they like them a lot. Especially adult males. However, they also eat a variety of other fruits. Their favorites include bananas and apples, and production doesn’t slow down when oranges are out of season. While oranges are a healthy choice for breeding Dubia roaches, we don’t think they’re required.

Commercial gut-loads and “insect diets”

For breeding Dubia roaches at peak productivity, we recommend avoiding these products. “Insect diets” and gut loads typically contain high amounts of vitamins or minerals and other ingredients for the health of insectivores and not insects. These products are essentially gut-loads. Some ingredients in a gut load may hurt Dubia roach growth and productivity if they are too high and/or fed too often. A gut-load’s purpose is to benefit pets, not insects, so by definition, it sacrifices the health of the insect to improve the health of the insectivore.

The bottom line is that these products are probably OK as occasional dietary supplements in many Dubia roach breeding situations, but they introduce too many unknowns for peak breeding. We recommend avoiding them when maximum productivity is the goal.

Birth: New Dubia roaches!

If conditions are right, you should have new Dubia roach nymphs in a few months. Healthy females bear around 25 or 30 live nymphs per cycle. Dubia roaches are not particularly well-studied, so our best guess is that cycle length is between six and eight weeks.

We know that the average newly emerged adult female mates five days after she becomes an adult. We also know she bears young 70 days after becoming an adult. That means new adult females have a 70-day reproductive cycle. We suspect the cycle for mature adult females is shorter, but we aren’t sure exactly how much. Our best guess is between 35 and 45 days.

Whatever the case, you will have a steady stream of new Dubia roach nymphs within 70 days if you stock your breeding colony with newly emerged adult females. Pro tip: You can cut that time to zero by starting with currently breeding females.

What to do next

There is no need to make any changes when you see the first baby nymphs. In fact, we suggest that you don’t. New Dubia roach colonies are easily stressed, and removing newborns probably adds to their stress. Nymphs in a colony of breeders will neither increase nor decrease breeding. The only reason to remove them is to make room for new babies in an already overcrowded colony or to provide newborns with conditions that differ from the breeding colony.

You should allow Dubia roaches in new, immature breeding colonies to carry out their business undisturbed. Consider preparing a second bin for rearing the young offspring from your breeders, but don’t use it until required by the need for space or other circumstances. Allow the colony to become established before making changes. Dubia nymphs and adult females are easily stressed and are particularly sensitive to change. Adult females become noticeably stressed by significant changes to their environment, including the removal of nymphs.

Temperatures for nymphs

Nymphs do best when temperatures are between 80ºF and 90ºF. Try to maintain this range in your breeding bin. If necessary, you can house nymphs in their own enclosure away from adults. They don’t need adults for anything but protection, and this is not an issue in captivity, where there is nothing to prey on them. If the colony has a problem with overly aggressive males attacking small nymphs, the solution is to reduce the number of males to ease breeding stress, not to remove nymphs. Male aggression issues will persist after you remove nymphs because you didn’t address the root problem.

We base our nymph temperature recommendation solely on experience. Unfortunately, there isn’t much study data on temperature and Dubia roach breeding (external link). We know that nymphs are more sensitive to temperature than adults and tend to handle temperature extremes and other stresses poorly.

NOTE: Keep in mind that removing all the nymphs from a breeding colony is a massive disruption and should only be done when necessary. Over time, you will develop a feel for what your roaches need and what disturbances they can tolerate without affecting growth and productivity. Start paying attention to these things now. Develop a sense of what’s normal and use your judgment. Removing nymphs often will have a negative impact. This is especially true the first time you do it. Females may even drop their immature ootheca in response to the stress. When this happens, females must start producing a new ootheca from scratch. Always strive to minimize stress by limiting disruptions.

Food for nymphs

Nymphs require a variety of micro- and macronutrients to facilitate growth and support health. At this early stage, they show a strong preference for protein. For rapid growth, ensure they have access to plenty of high-quality protein from birth. Remember that too much protein may harm their health in the long run, so make sure they have other foods too. As mentioned, Dubia roaches self-select nutrients based on their needs. Use this to your advantage. Provide a variety of nutrients and let them make their own choices.

NOTE: You can house breeding adults and nymphs of all sizes together. A separate bin is not necessary, although it can be helpful for sorting, cleaning, and maintaining an awareness of what is happening inside a colony. Changes and problems that affect reproduction are much easier to spot and diagnose if nymphs are routinely removed from the breeding colony. Every four to six weeks is probably enough. Not too often, though, as mentioned above.

As an aside, nymphs and growing juveniles eat much more as a percentage of body weight than adults. Sometimes they prefer protein, while other times they prefer carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables. This is something you can only really get a sense of when you house-breed adults separately, but it’s not an issue if you give all your roaches food in forms they can self-select. For example, whole fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. However, it becomes an issue with foods so finely blended that choosing one nutrient over another is impossible.

Nymph general care

Dubia roach nymphs are far more fragile than adults and older, larger nymphs. They can benefit from a little extra care, and there are things you can do to increase their chances of survival.

You will notice that nymphs tend to congregate around food and water sources. This is likely because, like most newborn animals, they need to eat and drink often. If they can find a safe spot near or even inside their food or water bowl, they often set up camp there. It’s common to find nymphs buried in their food. Adults don’t do this nearly as often.

To support their needs, be sure they have constant access to food and water. If you have to feed or water them sporadically, make the time between feedings and watering as short as possible. You don’t want your baby Dubia dying from dehydration. They can probably handle more time without food than water, but it is best to cut food disruption as much as possible. You want to support their fast growth because it sets them up as productive breeders or nutritious feeders later in life, and you don’t want to waste that opportunity. Once it’s gone, it’s lost forever.

Feeding off new nymphs

We recommend resisting the urge to feed off newborn nymphs as long as possible. In most cases, a new breeding colony will not provide a sustainable supply of feeders until it becomes established. This can take a while. With respect to breeding, an “established colony” is one that contains roaches at each stage of development, where constant replenishment occurs within each instar as new roaches are born and existing roaches grow and mature. This will not happen until the first batch of nymphs born in the new colony becomes productive adults with offspring. You can get there with a batch of adult males and females. Alternatively, you can do it instantly with a starter colony containing roaches of all sizes and stages of development.

Understanding the Dubia roach growth rate can help you plan your project and your colony. Developing a sense of the Dubia roach reproductive timeline will help you decide how many nymphs you can feed off and still meet your population goals. It can also help you decide how many roaches to start with if you want to feed some nymphs off before they mature.

If you decide to start feeding off newborns right away, or before they mature, be very careful to allow some of each size to reach maturity. Soon after nymphs start arriving, you will get a sense of how many the colony can afford to lose to feeding without appreciably affecting its expansion. However, keep in mind that it’s very easy to feed off too many. If this happens, there will be a gap in the colony’s “production” that will persist until it works itself out over time. This can take a while. Of course, you could buy some Dubia roaches of the right size to fill the gap, but it’s easier to avoid the problem altogether by not feeding off more than the colony can afford to lose.

NOTE: It’s natural to lose roaches between birth and adulthood. Not all nymphs survive, even in ideal conditions. Keep this in mind when deciding how many to feed off. As a general rule, you will end up with fewer roaches than you expect. You can maximize the number of nymphs that reach adulthood by paying attention to their needs and making adjustments as you go. Pay particular attention to minimizing stress and providing adequate nutrition.

Cleaning a breeding colony

Healthy Dubia roach breeding colonies need only occasional cleaning. Perhaps once every few months. The cleaning interval may end up being shorter in reality if problems develop. Generally, waste will accumulate at the bottom of your bin. Though unsightly, it is important to allow it to stay unless it becomes wet, moldy, or foul, or if it gets too deep. This in itself can lead to moisture retention, which contributes to the first set of problems.

The material is “frass”. By definition, frass is the mix of roach feces, discarded exoskeletons, remains of dead roaches, and discarded food particles that develop—in this case—inside a roach bin. Frass is a normal and healthy byproduct of roaches. It does not smell bad, and Dubia roaches like the cover it provides. However, moisture will accumulate in the frass when it becomes deep enough, and if that happens, it may develop a bad smell. At this point, the bin requires cleaning. Remove some frass before moisture accumulates to avoid the build-up of mold and bacteria.

Seek to balance frass accumulation and “cleanliness”. The right mix is the amount of frass that poses the least amount of risk of problems for you or your roaches, considering the benefits it provides.

Frass in a breeding colony

As mentioned, and within reason, frass is good for roaches. However, it also has benefits particular to breeding Dubia roaches. Understanding these issues can help you foster roach health, raise productivity, and lower your chances of encountering problems.

Among the first things newborn Dubia roaches do is eat their egg case, known as an ootheca. Roach egg cases are rich in fat and protein, making them highly nutritious. The next thing they do is eat frass. While gross by human standards, this serves several crucial functions. First, it kick-starts bacterial colonization of the young roach’s guts. Food shortages are common in the wild, and these bacteria help Dubia roaches survive by enhancing their digestion of plant matter.

Second, frass provides nitrogen, which the roaches convert to protein. Frass-eating is the Dubia roach’s insurance policy against extinction. Simply put, it helped the species survive and evolve. Newborns grow extremely rapidly, and they can survive at least initially even without food because they consume frass.

A spare bin comes in handy when cleaning a Dubia roach breeding colony. You can either set up the spare bin and transfer your roaches to it, or use it to store roaches while you clean out the original bin. If you didn’t buy identical bins from the start, you may want to consider doing it now, when it’s time to clean.

NOTE: A properly cared-for Dubia roach colony does not have an unpleasant odor. Foul odors are usually caused by problems like rotting food, mold, or a build-up of dead roaches. Investigate any unusual smells immediately. Always try to quickly identify the cause, fix it, and take steps to prevent its recurrence.

Using cleaner crews

Consider using “cleaner crews” in your colony. Cleaner crews are insects – commonly Dermestid beetles and lesser mealworms – that work to reduce bacterial and fungal growth in a roach bin by processing (eating) dead roach carcasses (in the case of Dermestid beetles) and undigested or spilled vegetable-based food particles (in the case of lesser mealworms). Either of these two insects can be used alone, but they can also be used in combination. In fact, the two insect species together tend to be more effective than either one alone.

Cleaner crews are common in captive Dubia roach colonies. They don’t pose much of a bother to the roaches, and their cleaning services are highly beneficial. Their benefits far outweigh any annoyance their presence may present to the roaches. They don’t have a direct effect on breeding, but the indirect effects are tremendously valuable.

Choose whether to use cleaner crews based on your circumstances. Generally, cleaner crews are probably not necessary in small colonies where very few roaches die and little frass accumulates. However, they are a necessity in large colonies like ours. If you’re starting a brand-new Dubia breeding colony from scratch, you may begin straight off with cleaner crews or wait to see when or if they’ll be needed.

Egg carton replacement

Stacking style and enclosure humidity are the two main determinants of the longevity of egg cartons. The proper way to stack them is vertically, face-to-face, and in this configuration, they can last for months before degrading to the point of needing replacement. When stacked horizontally, frass and moisture accumulate, and roaches chew through them much more rapidly.

Egg crates also absorb moisture, and the heat and humidity Dubia need for breeding weakens their structure. The more moisture in the air, the faster they degrade. Stacking them vertically with enough space between them for some air to circulate will maximize their longevity. You only need to change egg cartons when they don’t function because they have become damp or soiled, or when your roaches have chewed away too much of their structure.

Sharing the bounty

In time, if you stick with it, your Dubia roach breeding project will yield a renewable supply of feeders. Follow our advice, and you may even end up with more than you need! When this happens, consider sharing the bounty with friends or acquaintances who keep reptiles, amphibians, arachnids, or other insectivorous animals.

A better experience

One of the big, intractable problems in the herpetological trade is malnutrition. Bone, kidney, and other nutrition-related diseases are unfortunately very common among exotic animals. Dubia roaches may help solve some of these problems. In addition, we recommend always dusting feeders because captive insectivores may need more nutrients than their wild counterparts to help deal with the stresses of captivity. It’s a good way to cover all your bases, just in case.

Related reading: How and why to gut load Dubia roaches »

Dubia roaches go a long way to reducing the problems insectivorous animals experience in captivity. We began breeding them because we discovered their numerous benefits, including superior nutrition. While no bug is perfect, Dubia roaches come closest in our view. Broadly speaking, Dubia roaches make it easier to keep exotic animals as pets. And we believe that the more people are aware of the benefits of Dubia roaches, the better experience they will have with their pets.

The future of Dubia roaches

If you’re here to learn about breeding Dubia roaches, you probably already know how nutritious they are as feeders. Not everyone does, so please spread the word! Hardcore herp owners, breeders, dealers, and keepers have adopted Dubia roaches as primary feeders. The broader public is coming along, and Dubia roaches are gaining popularity with each passing year.

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