• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Dubia Roach Depot logo

  • HomeStart here
  • ShopLive Dubia roaches and supplies
    • Dubia Roaches
    • Live Cleaner Crews
    • Supplies
    • Food & Water
    • Other Roach Species
  • Guidance & Information Expert Dubia roach information and advice
  • Our GuaranteesLive Arrival, same-day shipping, complete satisfaction, and more
  • Sign InLog in for order status, tracking, easy reorder, and more
  • CART
    0 items - $0.00

Home > Guidance & Information > How to Care for Dermestid Beetle Cleaner Crews

How to Care for Dermestid Beetle Cleaner Crews

20 comments, Last Updated May 6, 2019 Tags: cleaner crews, colony, how-to

Cleaner crews in a cup

Dermestid beetles are a low-cost, low-maintenance solution to frequent Dubia roach enclosure cleanings. But while they can save time and effort, they aren’t themselves maintenance free. They do need at least some attention. While it’s possible to add Dermestid cleaner crews to a Dubia colony and forget about them, we recommend making sure you meet their basic needs.

This article describes how to do that. It provides instructions for adding Dermestid beetles and other cleaner insects to Dubia roach colonies. It’s focus is maintaining the cleaners (beetles & larvae) so they function as intended. The first section has basic step-by-step instructions. The second section provides in-depth information to help maintain a healthy relationship between Dubia roaches and Dermestid beetles.

NOTE: This information is based entirely on our experience and research. Because every situation is unique, your experience may vary. These instructions are intentionally broad, but they aren’t universal. Climate, food availability, light & dark cycles, and other factors can affect insect behavior, and you may need to make adjustments to get the results you want.

Basic instructions for Dermestid cleaner crews

1. Check the water supply

Dermestid beetles (and their larvae) don’t need much food, but they do require frequent water. Absent food, we suggest watering them daily. You can extend this time to weekly by providing access to food.

In a Dubia colony, the regular and reliable moisture you give your roaches should also meet the needs of the beetles. Water crystals, sponges, and paper towels are all great ways to water you Dermestids and Dubia because Dermestids do not eat vegetation. They can probably extract water from high water content vegetables, but you probably shouldn’t count on that.

Dermestid beetles and larvae also get moisture from the dead roaches they eat. This alone may satisfy their water needs. However, we recommend providing supplemental water at least until they become established in the colony. Relying on food for their moisture needs is risky. This is especially true in the beginning, before they are established.

After they become established, if they have regular food (which they will), and access to the water you provide for your roaches (which they will), you probably don’t need to worry about water. To test this, offer them occasional water to see how they respond. You can spray a clean paper towel or sponge with water and set it on a flat, leak-proof lid of some sort. If they’re not interested, you’re all set.

2. Add them to your colony

When your beetles and larvae arrive, simply add them to your roach colony. You can empty the entire contents of the container into your roach bin, or you can separate the insects from the frass and just add the insects. It’s up to you.

They will seek food and shelter as they acclimate to their new living space. There is no need to give them supplemental food now. They will arrive fully fed. “Primed”, as they say. Unless there are extraordinary circumstances (like high temperatures or a shipping delay), they don’t require any immediate action or care on your part. They should be OK for at least a week.

They may appreciate some water though. Presumably there is already water in the roach bin. If not, add a damp paper towel to the enclosure, a damp sponge, hydrated water crystals, or some other watering method for the Dermestids. Dermestid beetles and larvae are better climbers than Dubia roaches, so if the roaches can reach water, the Dermestids can too.

3. Check food and shelter

Food: If you have a small Dubia colony where roaches die so infrequently that the Dermestids may go more than a week without food, consider adding something to tide them over until the colony grows and more roach carcasses become available. You can feed them dry cat or dog food, a hide chew toy, or a chicken (or other) bone with a little meat or cartilage on it.

Shelter: Dermestid larvae like to burrow before they pupate. This protect them from predation. While Dubia roaches don’t generally harass Dermestid pupae, you may want to give them some burrowing material anyway. This behavior is innate, and supporting it may increase their health. A small block of Styrofoam or a piece of corrugated cardboard will work. Just drop it in and they’ll find it. The burrowing behavior will use up the material over time, so replace it with new material when the old one is no longer useful.

4. Control the population

Keep an eye on your Dermestid population and take action when their number falls outside what you need to keep up with cleaning. Generally, this means doing nothing when the population level is OK, providing food when it drops too low, and restricting food when it’s too high.

All things equal, your rate of roach die-off will remain constant and the Dermestid population will self-regulate in response. This means you will want the Dermestid population to grow (and not decline) after buying a cleaner crew Kit. To learn how to do this, see below.

More details on maintaining dermestid beetles (and others) as cleaners

This section has in-depth details about managing a colony of Dermestid beetle and larvae cleaner crews inside a Dubia roach colony. It also explains how to care for Dermestid beetles and how to manage Dermestid cleaners in combination with other cleaner species.

Notes on feeding

When providing supplemental food to Dermestids, make sure it’s dry enough that it doesn’t overtly rot or become rancid. Dermestid beetles and larvae will eat rotting meat, but they prefer flesh with a moisture content between 15% and 40%. They may find foul, fluid-oozing meat less palatable than meat that is drier. And in the context of Dubia roaches and cleaner crews, wet meat runs counter to their intended purpose. Dermestid beetles exist in the colony to reduce moisture and bacteria, not increase it. They shouldn’t create the problems they’re meant to solve.

To this end, allow meat time to dry before placing it in the enclosure. You can wrap it with a paper towel and squeeze to remove excess moisture. You can also place it in a warm spot under a fan to keep flies away and speed drying. However, if you do this, take care to avoid flies. Flies aren’t just a nuisance. You will end up with maggots if flies find the meat, and in addition to raising Dermestid beetles and Dubia roaches, you will also be raising flies.

Meat also dries out in a freezer or refrigerator. This eliminates the fly problem but it takes a lot longer.

Make sure the muscle of any meat you dry is not so thick that it rots instead of drying over the course of a few days. Freezer burned meat often works well as Dermestidae food. NOTE: Freezing meat slows the development of fly eggs (external link) that may have been laid on it, but it may not kill them.

However you prepare the meat, the bottom line is that if it’s muscle, Dermestid beetles and larvae will eat it. However, in this context we’re just concerned with keeping them alive until they have enough dead roaches to eat. We’re not aiming for an optimum diet. Generally, you should feed them supplementally until there is at least one dead roach per week to sustain them. This is a very rough estimate. Consider providing food for the Dermestids if your Dubia colony produces less than this. One dead roach per week is probably enough to support at least some Dermestid life in the colony. All things equal, more dead roaches will stimulate Dermestid population growth. Again, these are rough estimates. Your mileage may vary.

Be aware that commercially dried or processed meats are not ideal for Dermestid breeding. This matters if you’re supplementing their diet with meat to promote population growth. Try providing fresh meat if you’re trying to build the Dermestid population and you find it’s not happening. Dangers to Dubia roach health aside, wet meat should be just moist enough for the beetles to lay their eggs and for the eggs to incubate and hatch. This happens in three to four days on average, so the meat needs to remain moist at least that long.

However, “moist” does not mean “wet”. Translating the moisture level necessary for egg laying from “between 15% and 40%” to something the average person can gauge is difficult. It seems to come out somewhere between “wetter than beef jerky” and “drier than a piece of fresh, raw chicken”. You can experiment to see what works best in your location, as the moisture level necessary for reproduction is probably related to humidity as well as temperature within the colony.

What we’ve found is that the right moisture level is what you might get from taking a raw chicken wing, wrapping it in a paper towel, squeezing out the moisture, then setting it aside in the refrigerator for a day or two. The visual we’re going for is dry and firm on the outside but perhaps still a little moist and flexible on the inside.

For reference, the way it works in the wild (external link) is that dead animal carcasses that have reached a certain dryness and state of decomposition attract Dermestid beetles. This is usually about 9 days after death, although this may vary depending on environmental conditions. Following the scent of a body that has reached a certain decomposition stage, males fly in and settle down. They will proceed to eat for a few days. When conditions are right, they survive and thrive, and their pheromones accumulate to a point that female beetles take notice and begin arriving. Mating starts at that point, and females begin laying eggs soon after. Three to four days later, newborn Dermestid larvae emerge and begin feeding. They grow rapidly, and when they become adults, they will repeat this cycle.

One lesson in this is that Dermestid beetles aren’t strongly attracted to fresh, wet meat. It needs to be dry, but not too dry for egg incubation. Larvae, on the other hand, are fine consuming drier meat as that is usually what’s left by the time they hatch and begin feeding on a carcass in the wild. If you’re providing your Dermestids with supplemental food for population growth, cover the meat with a moist paper towel if you find that it tends to dry out and the population is not increasing as fast as you’d like. A little moisture increases humidity and slows evaporation, and this is often enough to increase Dermestid beetle reproduction.

Be very careful if you’re doing all this inside a Dubia roach colony. Place the meat on some sort of lid or dish so moisture doesn’t transfer to frass, harborage, or elsewhere in the enclosure. Try finding the minimum moisture necessary for Dermestid reproduction to help preserve the health of your Dubia. Minimizing moisture lessens the chance harm will come to your roaches from moisture accumulation or bacterial overgrowth.

Dermestids in combination with lesser mealworms

Lesser mealworms can also serve as cleaners, either alone or in combination with Dermestid beetles. Like Dermestidae, they also seek food in the Dubia colony. However, unlike Dermestidae, they prefer vegetation to meat. They also eat roach feces, or frass. This means you don’t need to feed them, but it also means they may find your roach chow. While the worms themselves prefer to live and eat in frass, they will eat roach chow when they find it. They may also breed in it. While this is great for the mealworms, it’s not ideal for the roaches.

You can help manage this issue by keeping food and water in a dish and not strewn on the floor. Scattered food encourages rapid mealworm population growth while localized food does not. Or if it does, it’s to a lesser degree. Using a food dish also makes it easy to see if the beetles have gotten into the roach chow. Cleanup is much easier too. If you want your lesser mealworm population to grow fast, put food on the floor or clean out the colony’s food dish less often. If you want it to grow slowly or maintain the current population, put food in a dish and clean it often. Again, these are general rules and rough estimates.

Placing the Dubia’s food in a bowl won’t prevent the beetles from reaching it, and it’s not intended to. The goal is to slow them down, not stop them entirely. Limiting their access to food is a strategy to keep their population in check, not eliminate them entirely.

An issue that occasionally comes up with lesser mealworms is their fast growth. Females can lay 2,000 eggs in their lifetime and eggs can hatch in just a few days. This means their population can grow faster than Dermestid beetles. When food is strewn about on the floor, it is difficult to know if the beetles are eating your roach chow until they’ve grown quite numerous. This is especially true if there’s a lot of frass in the bin. While prevention is usually just a matter of using a bowl and clearing out old food as mentioned above, there are a few things you can do if you discover an unwanted population increase and/or beetles and larvae in your roach food.

First, know that they lay their eggs in moist locations. They prefer the carcasses of dead roaches because they are a nurturing environment for beetle eggs. The carcass also becomes food for the larvae after hatching. If there aren’t enough dead roach carcasses, beetles may lay eggs in moist food like fruits and vegetables. They may also lay eggs in moist foods that contain animal products, like kibble.

This may not be a big deal at first. In fact, it may even be good for the roaches because insect eggs provide extra nutrition. This is how they get much of their protein in the wild (pdf) (external link). However, it may become problematic if the eggs overwhelm the colony’s ability to clear them.

This is one reason why we think lesser mealworms work well in combination with Dermestid beetles and larvae. Dermestids eat dead roaches. This slows lesser mealworm reproduction. Lesser mealworms grow rapidly, so the reduction promotes balance and is therefore beneficial.

Dealing with overgrowth

To avoid overgrowth, or deal with it once it occurs, consider the following: either (a) feed your roaches less food and/or less often so all the food is eaten rather than sitting idle where it will become a breeding ground for mealworms, or (b) clean the bin to reduce the mealworm population. One or the other – either alone or in combination – are effective control methods. And, each becomes easier when roach chow is kept in a bowl rather than scattered about the bin.

You can tell when an insect has gotten into your roach chow. It will turn into a fine powder as they consume it. Larvae burrow because they hate light. As a result, they consume roach chow from the bottom up. Stick a finger in a dish of roach chow and swirl it around. If the bottom is white and chalky, it means something other than the roaches are eating it. At this point it should be discarded. When beetles get into fruits or vegetables, you will see the larvae on or under the vegetation. At this point it will likely have become rotten and smelly as it was liquefied by hungry larvae. You may also notice that your roaches begin to avoid infested food. Again, this means it’s time for a change. Throw that food away if you do not want the cleaner crew population to increase.

Seeking population balance

In managing a roach colony with Dermestid beetle cleaners – either alone or with other cleaner species – the goal is balance. You might want to shoot for as many Dermestids as it takes to clear the colony of decaying animal matter, and all the lesser mealworms it takes to clean up the frass. However, you don’t want enough of either to overwhelm the roaches. You don’t want them competing with the roaches for food.

Fortunately, each of these species tend to live more or less symbiotically as their needs balance. However, the two beetle species tend to balance a little differently. There are different issues to watch out for with each of them. With Dermestids, the tendency is on the side of too few. They can be a little tricky to get established, and they may tend to die out if conditions aren’t adequate.

Lesser mealworms, on the other hand, are prolific and tend toward large numbers. They will eat whatever you feed your roaches, so unlike Dermestidae, their food supply is more plentiful and reliable. Fortunately, the difference between proper population balance and “overgrowth” is significant time and a very large number of larvae and beetles. This means preventing overgrowth is relatively easy. Dealing with overgrowth once it occurs is relatively easy too. Clean out the bin to reduce the mealworm population and use a food dish to slow population growth. Easy.

NOTE: To get a general sense of what’s going on with the balance of cleaner crews to roaches, keep an eye out for an accumulation of moist, dead roaches and the smell of ammonia. This may happen if you have too few Dermestids. If there are too few lesser mealworms, the frass may become moist and smell moldy from decaying plant matter. If there are too many, they will be eating the food intended for your roaches.

Clean the bin or adjust the appropriate insect population if you see any of these signs. Remember that the “sweet spot” where there are neither too few nor too many cleaner crews is a range, and it’s large. It may take weeks or months before the balance is significantly disrupted. Also remember that regardless of their numbers, neither Dermestid beetles nor lesser mealworms will harm your roaches directly. Simply reduce the numbers and/or try our food recommendations if there are too many.

Related reading: Identify and resolve problems in Dubia roach colonies »

Useful Dermestidae information

You may find the following information useful as you manage your roach colony with cleaners. It can be used to prevent or resolve issues.

  • The ideal Dermestid beetle breeding temperature is about 80ºF. They will, however, breed at room temperature. Other cleaner species breed fast at this temperature too. Because Dubia roaches are usually kept at slightly higher temperatures, Dermestidae reproduction will slow slightly from its full potential. Store them at 80ºF or slightly lower to restore their full breeding capacity.
  • Females reportedly lay between 100 and 200 eggs. They prefer to do so in the folds of slightly moist flesh. Eggs hatch in just a few days, the breeding cycle is around six weeks, and the life cycle is between five and six months. Once pregnant, females remain gravid throughout their entire adult lives.
  • Dermestid larvae seek shelter before they pupate. They burrow into soft material as mature larvae and emerge from the holes as beetles. While Dubia roaches will not harass pupating insects, it’s possible that other Dermestid beetles and larvae, or other cleaner insects might. Adding a piece of Styrofoam or corrugated cardboard to the colony for them to burrow into may increase Dermestidae pupation success. The result is more beetles, more eggs, and a larger Dermestid population generally.
  • Dermestid reproduction is slower than lesser mealworms, but they eat different foods so managing them separately is doable. As with any insect, population depends on environment and food supply. As a general rule, the supply of dead roaches determines the Dermestid population. The amount of frass and vegetation determines the lesser mealworm population. Adjust either of these to suit your needs.
  • Dermestid beetles can fly at temperatures above about 85-90ºF, but not below. A lid on a typical plastic bin is usually enough to keep most of them contained, but escape may be inevitable when they’re kept with Dubia roaches. You should assume that and anticipate it. Neither the beetles or their larvae can climb smooth surfaces like glass or slick plastic. Lesser mealworm beetles, we’re pleased to say, cannot fly and are poor climbers.
  • Dermestidae are attracted to rotting meat. The beetles will eat what they can and also lay eggs if the meat is moist enough, but not too moist. It takes three to four days for the eggs to hatch, so make sure the food supply is greater than what they eat in three days if you want to breed Dermestids.
  • Dermestid beetles will not lay eggs if their food is too dry. Look here first if you want their population to increase but it’s not happening. This means you may have to balance the potential for rotting meat nastiness with your desire for a safe and healthy B. dubia colony. Because breeding a population of Dermestids of any decent size requires feeding them actual meat and not just dog or cat food, we recommend breeding them in a separate enclosure. Maintaining a small cleaner population inside a Dubia roach colony is easy, but if you really want to grow their numbers beyond what’s required to clean up after your roaches, you will need to deal with moisture at best, and the smell of rotten meat at worst.
  • The smell of ammonia is always a danger sign in a Dubia colony. It means moisture and/or unprocessed roach carcasses have accumulated and the environment has become unhealthy. We suggest cleaning the bin without delay at this point. Dermestid beetles live inside dead animals and can probably handle foul conditions, but tropical roaches like B. dubia cannot. Don’t forget that it is a Dubia colony and the cleaner crews exist to make the environment more healthy for the roaches, not less.
  • Dermestes maculatus does not prefer skin. They aren’t generalist feeders like other Dermestidae. This means they work well with other cleaner species as resource competition is reduced. It also means they require a steady supply of dead roaches (or supplemental food) to survive.
  • The lifespan of Dermestes maculatus (aka: the hide beetle) is 21-31 weeks (5-7 weeks to reach adulthood + 16-24 week adult beetle longevity.
  • All cleaner crew insects can cause problems in your home if they escape. We’ve never had an issue, but that doesn’t mean there’s no risk. If there is any question about their suitability for your location or situation, or your ability to keep the insects safely confined to their enclosure, you should research the matter further before making a final decision.
  • Dermestid beetles and larvae can cause damage to timber, cork, plaster, linen, and cotton, when they bore into these materials to pupate. They are also a pest in the poultry industry (source (external link)).
  • Dermestid beetles can eat cheese, feathers, fur, and leather. They may like cheese, but the latter are when other options are slim.

Here is a resource where you can learn more about Dermestid beetles and their care (external link), if you’re interested.

Questions?

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have questions after reading this article! You can also ask us directly via our contact page.

Share | Email | Print

Likefacebook (like)TweetTwitterSharefacebook (share)PinPinterestStumbleUponMixEmailemailPrintprint

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jen says

    January 18, 2023 at 9:24 am

    I was wondering if I could use dermestids in my darkling beetle colony. I constantly have to clean out carcasses and it would be great to have them help with that. But I’ve read that they need a water source and I can’t put that on my wheat bran substrate. Will they get enough water by eating carcasses and any veggies I put in there for the darklings? Also, can they live in the substrate or on the egg carton I have in there? I appreciate any information you can give me.

    Reply
    • DRD says

      January 19, 2023 at 2:08 pm

      It may be possible. Dermestids don’t typically need additional water. This is probably something you could try with a small batch of darkling beetles and dermestids to see how it goes. The issues are going to be whether or not the Dermestids eat the darkling carcasses, whether or not there will be enough food to sustain them, and how well the two insects get along in that environment.

      Reply
  2. Laine says

    February 8, 2021 at 2:05 pm

    I’m considering converting a small grain bin into a dermestid beetle enclosure for cleaning skulls.

    The plan would be to insulate the walls and seal them with a smooth surface like sheet metal to keep them from burrowing into the insulation, with a skirting at the door to help prevent their escape when entering the enclosure. I’ve been considering a heated concrete slab that a low temperature could be maintained on in the winter months and then an air conditioner above for the hot summer months. Is this a good or bad idea and what could I do to improve or create a room type structure like this that would accommodate skulls with large antlers attached to them?

    Would sand on the floor, on top of the concrete, be a good substrate for them to burrow in or would it be better to use cardboard on top of the concrete?

    Also is the sheet metal going to be slick enough to prevent climbing or will they still be climbing all over the walls to try and find places to fly out?

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • DRD says

      February 8, 2021 at 4:51 pm

      That’s quite a plan! It’s beyond the scope of the topic of caring for cleaner crews, but there are a few things that stand out that a bit of general breeding advice could address.

      Regarding temperature control: Keeping the conditions of a room at certain set points is typically easier and more sustainable than trying to do the same for a location within a room. While that usually takes more time and other resources up front, it tends to be a better bargain in the long-run considering the effort it takes to monitor and maintain an in-room setup.

      Regarding materials: You’ll have to test everything out. Sheetmetal will likely be too slick for them to climb, but test it first. Also research burrowing materials. The most commonly used for burrowing insects like Dermestid beetles is cotton matting and Styrofoam. In basic terms, you need an enclosure in which you can maintain the conditions Dermestid beetles need to survive and thrive, and that they cannot escape.

      Reply
  3. katie higgins says

    October 4, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    I was reading on a blog that the Dermestid larvae were eating recently shed Dubia roaches. Will this happen or had that colony not had much die off and the Dermestid were “hunting”?

    Side but related question, how do you know if the Dermestid are getting enough food?

    Reply
    • DRD says

      October 7, 2020 at 10:03 pm

      Dead flesh emits a chemical that triggers the Dermestid beetle and larvae feeding response. Live flesh does not have this chemical, so it seems unlikely that the Dermestids were eating shedding Dubia roaches. Dead ones maybe, but not live ones. It’s just not how they’re wired.

      Reply
  4. Jess says

    August 8, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    I bought 5 grams of buffalo beetles, mostly to clean skulls. Right now I have them in a glass container with a lid (with holes). I’m thinking now I need a larger container, perhaps an aquarium with screen. How often should I be feeding them? This is day 2 of having them and within 24 hrs. they ate 3 baby carrots and a quarter bell pepper. I plan on adding meat like you mentioned a dry chicken wing… and a wet sponge. Any advice would be awesome.

    Reply
    • DRD says

      August 10, 2020 at 1:04 pm

      A few things:

      First, buffalo beetles are different from Dermestid beetles. They may eat some meat, but they mostly eat vegetation like grains and vegetables like you mention, as well as roach frass.

      For stripping meat from bones like your skull cleaning, you want Dermestid beetles.

      Regarding feeding schedule: You should feed Dermestids at least every few days to keep them alive between cleaning projects. Common food items include beef jerky, dried chicken, and even a meat-based dog food. You can judge their food needs by how fast they consume what you give them. If they swarm and devour what you give them quickly, consider feeding them more, or more often. If the insects take their time, that amount of food is probably adequate.

      Reply
  5. Steven H. says

    December 1, 2019 at 9:36 am

    I have a few skulls that someone tried to cook but gave up. Will my beetles finish the cooked meat?

    Reply
    • DRD says

      January 28, 2020 at 8:10 pm

      They may, and it’s certainly worth a try, but Dermestid beetles and larvae prefer raw meat that is on the dry side. I suggest peeling off what you can remove easily, then letting it dry out a bit if it isn’t dry already. It should be about the consistency of a moist beef jerky (as opposed to brands that are super tough and dry).

      Reply
  6. Jerry P. says

    October 2, 2019 at 3:22 am

    When using the cleaner crew is there a need for a substrate for the crew to hide and reproduce in?

    Reply
    • DRD says

      October 2, 2019 at 7:20 pm

      There is no absolute need for the substrate that comes with the cleaner crews. We recommend people simply dump the entire contents of the cleaner crew container into the roach bin because it may contain microscopic eggs or very small worms, but beyond missing out on those, there is no consequence to the colony of excluding it.

      Reply
  7. Jessica F. says

    May 12, 2019 at 3:34 pm

    Can I put these in reptile enclosures to help?

    Reply
    • DRD says

      May 13, 2019 at 6:18 am

      Possibly. Here are some potential issues:

      1. Escape: Can the dermestid beetles (or whatever insects you use) escape the reptile enclosure, or will they be contained?
      2. Annoyance: Reptiles generally don’t like insects crawling on them. This is inevitable with cleaner crews in a reptile cage, with some species are more likely to crawl on reptiles than others (dermestid beetles less likely, buffalo beetles more likely).
      3. Need: What are the cleaner crews there to do? Clean up dead insects, uneaten food particles, or reptile waste? They might work for these things, but it might be easier to clean out your reptile’s cage periodically. Cleaner insects require some maintenance. Cleaning out a reptile cage once a week and managing cleaner insect population in an enclosure seem roughly equivalent, in theory.

      In practice though, I think the answer depends on your situation. Whatever you decide, these are some of the issues to consider.

      Reply
  8. Valeria says

    September 24, 2018 at 8:31 am

    Im doing a project for school and would like to know if i can feed my dermestid dry cat or dog food

    Reply
    • DRD says

      September 26, 2018 at 1:02 pm

      Yes you can, but I don’t know how healthy those things are for the Dermestids. Dog or cat food may have an affect on their growth and/or breeding. I don’t know for sure, but it probably depends on exactly what type of food you give them (wet or dry) and maybe even what brand. Pet foods don’t just contain meat products. They contain other ingredients that may or may not agree with the Dermestids, and they likely vary by brand and product.

      Reply
  9. Tanner M. says

    March 31, 2018 at 9:44 pm

    I have recently put a large number of sick dubia aside. I did this to keep my smaller colony healthy. My larger colony is fine but my question is, these sick dubias I put aside have started dying off slowly, there is a smell of ammonia, and there are a lot of small dermestid larvae. Can I add these larvae to the smaller colony to help if any more sick dubias die or what I should I do with these quarantined nymphs and derm larvae?

    Reply
    • DRD says

      April 8, 2018 at 10:19 am

      All things equal, I might hold off adding the dermestid until a week or two after all the sick dubia have died or stopped dying. This gives whatever may have caused the die-off to work its way out of the group and reduces the risk of reintroducing it back into the main Dubia colony. Of course, the safest thing would be to keep the two groups permanently separated, but if that’s impractical, the next best thing would be to give it a little time. For the same reason, you might consider removing the extra dermestids and feeding them something other than the dead Dubia from the sick group for a time.

      Reply
  10. Maciek says

    November 27, 2015 at 4:48 am

    The reason I keep Dubia is because they are not good at escapes; however Dermestid adults fly, does that mean the escapes are inevitable when maintaining the colonies? As I keep these in my house, escapes are highly undesirable, could I spray my carpet with some kind of pesticide to make sure any escapes die? Do you have any recommendation on what to use or how to minimise escapes?

    Reply
    • DRD says

      November 30, 2015 at 9:03 am

      Yes – lids and lower temperatures. Dermestid beetles fly at between about 85° F and 90° F. Dubia roaches breed below 90°F. There is a sweet spot there, though we haven’t explored it to find exactly where it is.

      Another option is using lids on your Dubia bins. This can prevent Dermestes escape. You’ll have to cut ventilation holes and cover them with screen. You can find more information about how to do that in our article about Dubia breeding. Dermestid beetles can’t really “fly” like flies or mosquitoes or such. They kind of catapult themselves from one location to another by first climbing to a high spot, opening their wings, then jumping and flapping. My point is they aren’t great fliers, and lids tend to hold them. Of course, you would want to test that first.

      Regarding pesticides? I would not try that. Pesticides are persistent in the environment, which means they can be tracked from one place to another. If you just can’t accept any escapes, I’d say pass on the Dermestid beetles and go with a different cleaner crew like lesser mealworms. If there’s some room to work in your calculus, you might try these suggestions.

      Reply

Ask a Question or Leave a Comment

Please enter your comment and first name below.

Primary Sidebar

Like & Share

Share | Email | Print

Likefacebook (like)TweetTwitterSharefacebook (share)PinPinterestStumbleUponMixEmailemailPrintprint

Related Posts

  1. Should I Use Dermestid Beetles in My Dubia Roach Colony?
  2. How Many Dubia Roaches Are Needed to Start a Colony?
  3. Roach Chow Tweaks: Enhancing Nutrition
  4. How to Choose the Right Size Dubia Roaches
  5. Dubia Roach Care Sheet

Looking to buy Dubia roaches?

When you're ready, check out our Dubia Roaches. They're the highest quality, most orders ship the same-day, and every purchase comes with our Complete Satisfaction Guarantee. Find out more about our products, services, & guarantees.
Contact Us
  • email
  • contact form
  • facebook twitter instagram pinterest

Sign Up
Site Links
  • about us
  • privacy & terms
  • customer testimonials
  • mail carrier info
  • sitemap
  • payment security and order guarantee seals
Our Service
  • same day shipping
  • free shipping
  • shipping schedule
  • live arrival guarantee
  • complete satisfaction guarantee
  • recurring shipments
  • faq
Order Info
  • log in/register
  • order status
  • shipping alerts
Payment Options
We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, AmEx, PayPal, Pay With Amazon, Google Pay, and Apple Pay
logo small

Copyright © 2012-2023 · dubiaroachdepot.com

Share this Article

Email sent!