How to start a Dubia Roach Colony

Dubia roaches are pretty cute invertebrates. It is usually easy to keep them in your house or to maintain their colony. They don’t make a noise like crickets; don’t smell like superworms; don’t have huge size like Madagascar hissing cockroaches. Let’s start the answer of the frequently asked question “How to start a dubia Roach Colony?” 

Making a place for Dubia Roaches 

First thing you should arrange to start a dubia roach colony is a glass tank or a plastic container. Mostly a glass tank is recommended, but you can also use a plastic container. A 10-gallon tank or 40 feet plastic container is enough to start a dubia roach colony. 

Setting up the Container 

Ventilation should be the first goal for the new colony of dubia roaches. Make enough hole on the upper side of the container or tank to provide enough oxygen to the dubia roaches. After that, you should make the internal environment of the container suitable for dubia roaches. Keep some card boards or egg crates, so roaches can climb up and don’t crush each other. Don’t forget to attach a heating pad with the container. The optimum temperature for the colony of dubia roaches is about 40 °C. You can add a thermostat with your heating pad to keep the temperature optimum.  

Food for the Dubia Roaches 

There are different types of roach chows available in the market. You can also add a different type of supplements along with these chows. Beside these chows, you can nourish your dubia roaches with natural food ingredients. Natural food includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, dry fruits, grasses etc. You can feed moisturized food to your dubia roaches but it is not recommended, as it can cause fungal growth in the container. Although some people use dry meat as a portion of food for their dubia roaches, however, it is not recommended. 

Dubia roaches can sink into the water pot, so, a shallow plate is recommended. You can also use a sponge soaked with water or polymer water crystals. 

Getting the Roaches 

You can buy dubia roaches from any reputable breeder of your area or you can buy them online. Check the size of roaches before buying as older dubia roaches are not so productive and nymphs can’t reproduce. Pick some medium-sized roaches from the store and don’t forget to buy some nymphs from the store as they’ll reproduce when they grow older. You can start your dubia roach colony with minimum 20 dubia roaches with a 1:5 male to female ratio. 

Growth and reproduction of Dubia Roaches 

Dubia roaches’ maturity age is about 5 months. Male are fertile immediately after the stage of nymph but females mature after a week. The gestation period is about 65 days. As male can pregnant a large number of females so you should keep their number in check. Don’t forget to clean the container weekly or in alternative weeks. Also, don’t overcrowd the container and remove older ones in time.