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Dubai Roach Breeding

Tricocyst

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3 Year Member
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226
Location
Kentucky
Ok does anyone here breed them with success? I want to start a colony but most of the care guides claim its hard to encourage breeding.. is this true? Also what would be the best advice to a new dubai breeder? All the info I could get would be great :)
 

Evanthomas

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3 Year Member
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216
Location
New Jersey
I've had an active breeding colony in the past, currently I only have juveniles but I basically kept food and water crystals available, dark storage container, same temp as my T's and they just did their thing. I don't remember it being difficult but definitely remember waiting a little while before seeing little ones in there for the first time.
 

IamKrush

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They need heat and humidty. To breed properly. If you cant get water crystals feed them fruits oranges,bananas,grapefruit,melon. They will get water from that. I beleive they shed every 3months or so. When they are adults females can live up to 2 years and males one. Also as @Evanthomas said use a dark container. Dubias hate light and will breed better in the dark. I keep temps 80-90 in the tub. So far I only have nyphs but they are growing. Youtube has a few good videos about dubia breeding
 

Tricocyst

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3 Year Member
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226
Location
Kentucky
yeah 80-90 in a dark enclosure is a pain.. I'm very uneasy about under tank heat pads.. most videos suggest avoiding them because they can over heat without warning. the humidity/food/water/enclosure is easy.. I'm just not sure if I'm able to keep the tub at the correct temp.. who knows I guess I just have to take the plunge and hope for the best.. I'll buy a lot of crickets as well cuz I have plenty of experience with them
 

IamKrush

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yeah 80-90 in a dark enclosure is a pain.. I'm very uneasy about under tank heat pads.. most videos suggest avoiding them because they can over heat without warning. the humidity/food/water/enclosure is easy.. I'm just not sure if I'm able to keep the tub at the correct temp.. who knows I guess I just have to take the plunge and hope for the best.. I'll buy a lot of crickets as well cuz I have plenty of experience with them
That's heat pads for Ts. You can use one on dubias. Roaches are much hardier, i mean they can live with out a head ;). As for the over heating. Ive never had that issue with using them on snakes. But you could all ways invest in a cheap little thermostat that will regulate the pad if it would give you a better piece of mind. You could also use a glass tank with a custom acrylic lid with either holes drilled in for air of a hole cut for a vent. And the same heated with a heat pad. The down side to a glass tank is thats its glass and is see through. So it would need to be stored im a dark area. Closet or some where its dark most of the time. Here is a link to the thermostat i was talking about. https://www.chewy.com/zilla-terrari...gclid=CJDL-6qludECFQiBswodiPsCQQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
Also a great investment is temp gun. You can pick one up on ebay for under 20$. thats how i read the temps for all my animals. Also most places that sell dubia have colony starter kicks. They come with egg flats,roach food and water crystals. Also a few male and female adult dubia and a mix lot of the nyphs. I learned alot watching youtube videos of people with big colonys and what they did.
 

Evanthomas

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216
Location
New Jersey
I've never worried so much about the temp. I keep my house "warm" around 72 degrees and the room my T's and roaches are in have a few lamps for the beardie and snake so it's probably like 75 degrees.
 

kormath

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don't beleive the care guides. They're super easy to breed. higher temps and humidity will provide more nymphs but not required.

My colony is kept at room temps - 72-77F in the winter, 75-82 in the summer. I don't mist or provide any moisture. just a 12x24x8" or so tub with locking lid and egg crates for them to hide in. Feed them dry dubia chow i bought online, veggies when i remember it. water gel for hydration. Rotate that with the Flukers orange cubes to get them a variety. I check them once a week, have half a dozen or so new babies each time. My colony is mall too, maybe 6 females and 2 males are left along with the tiny nymphs. Since i've been travelling so much the last 4 months my son has been feeding and he likes to over feed lol my lateralis colony was totally wiped out. Had to order more of both to have feeders for the Ts and get the colonies going strong again. Thank god i only have 2 more trips and then i'm done!
 

Tricocyst

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3 Year Member
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226
Location
Kentucky
so they still breed at 72 degrees during your coldest spot? thats amazing!! the guides almost made me not even try dubais because they all made it seem impossible if the temp drops below 80-85 degrees.. and deaths would begin at or around 75 degrees
 

Evanthomas

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Location
New Jersey
so they still breed at 72 degrees during your coldest spot? thats amazing!! the guides almost made me not even try dubais because they all made it seem impossible if the temp drops below 80-85 degrees.. and deaths would begin at or around 75 degrees

They probably would breed, and no way they would die at 75!
 

kormath

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Idaho
so they still breed at 72 degrees during your coldest spot? thats amazing!! the guides almost made me not even try dubais because they all made it seem impossible if the temp drops below 80-85 degrees.. and deaths would begin at or around 75 degrees
Yes they breed fine at 75, and survive at 72 F ;) They'll breed better at 80+ though. The care sheets are giving you the ideal info, but none of them, except maybe Mike's, take into consideration the natural humidity and temperature ranges of their real world environment.
 

MassExodus

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Outside San Antonio, TX
Ive kept a colony for several years now. An inch of substrate, egg cartons stacked on one side with food dish, plenty of ventilation holes where they cant reach them, one end bare for occasionally making it rain. Dubia can go a long time without water, and can get it from food too. I feed mine carrots, dog food and fish flakes. They never needed encouraging to breed :)
 

Tricocyst

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3 Year Member
Messages
226
Location
Kentucky
Ive kept a colony for several years now. An inch of substrate, egg cartons stacked on one side with food dish, plenty of ventilation holes where they cant reach them, one end bare for occasionally making it rain. Dubia can go a long time without water, and can get it from food too. I feed mine carrots, dog food and fish flakes. They never needed encouraging to breed :)
I'm so glad I talked with you guys because the guides almost forced to go back to crickets out of fear it would fail
 

MassExodus

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Outside San Antonio, TX
I'm so glad I talked with you guys because the guides almost forced to go back to crickets out of fear it would fail
Dubia and lateralis are the best feeders for spiders. Crickets are filthy, short lived and annoying. Stinky too. Roaches are tough, easy to raise and long lived. Dubia and lateralis breed very well, so start small if your collection is small, or you'll be in the classifieds selling excess roaches :)
 

Evanthomas

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3 Year Member
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216
Location
New Jersey
Ive kept a colony for several years now. An inch of substrate, egg cartons stacked on one side with food dish, plenty of ventilation holes where they cant reach them, one end bare for occasionally making it rain. Dubia can go a long time without water, and can get it from food too. I feed mine carrots, dog food and fish flakes. They never needed encouraging to breed :)

Never used substrate and never made it rain. I'd be afraid of mold. can I see your dubia set up?
 

MassExodus

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Outside San Antonio, TX
Surely. I'll take pics today, I have to feed the beasts. I cant upload til monday though, i live in the sticks and my connection leaves everything to be desired out here. I upload at work on our wifi :) Its just a sterlite box with airholes on top and high on the sides, with egg crates and a dish. I keep my room from 70-75 degrees, and the rain only falls on the far side of the enclosure from food and eggcrates. And only very rarely. They get plenty of moisture from baby carrots, and they can go for some time with no water at all.
 

kormath

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Location
Idaho
Dubia and lateralis are the best feeders for spiders. Crickets are filthy, short lived and annoying. Stinky too. Roaches are tough, easy to raise and long lived. Dubia and lateralis breed very well, so start small if your collection is small, or you'll be in the classifieds selling excess roaches :)
only times my colonies have had any odor (other than the water gel, that blue Fluker's water gel can stink sometimes) is if they've gone more than a week or so between cleanings. They'll get a bit rank then with all the poop ;)

Also, on thing i missed in the "how do i raise a colony" posts all over the internet is standing the egg crates up vertically. If you don't the poop gets stuck and the egg crates absorb the moisture from it, and then they start to stink.
 

Evanthomas

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
216
Location
New Jersey
only times my colonies have had any odor (other than the water gel, that blue Fluker's water gel can stink sometimes) is if they've gone more than a week or so between cleanings. They'll get a bit rank then with all the poop ;)

Also, on thing i missed in the "how do i raise a colony" posts all over the internet is standing the egg crates up vertically. If you don't the poop gets stuck and the egg crates absorb the moisture from it, and then they start to stink.

Wow! I clear out left over food and organic debris but leave the poop, now I'm worried because it sounds gross. I always heard that the babies lived in it. Now I feel gross lmao.
 

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