This care sheet provides steps to preserve the quality of Dubia roaches over time.
Our Dubia roaches arrive healthy and nutritious for your animals, but their quality fades over time. To maintain them for longer than a week, you will need to provide simple upkeep, which we detail below.
If you don’t have the time or interest and want the 5-minute version, you can get information about how to house and keep Dubia roach feeders here. Continue reading below if you want more than the basic Dubia roach care requirements.
Fortunately, Dubia roaches are easy to care for, especially nymphs. Nymph feeders can live for weeks or months at room temperature with minimal food, moisture, and darkness. However, this covers only their basic needs. With the tips below and a little effort, you can do even more.
Table of Contents
NOTE: The following information is intended solely for those caring for Dubia roach feeders, not breeders. If you are interested in breeding Dubia roaches, please note that breeding requires specialized equipment, specific environmental conditions, and additional effort, which are not covered on this page. For those needs, see our comprehensive Dubia Roach Breeding Guide.
Temperature
Keep Dubia roach feeders between 50ºF and 80ºF. They can survive higher and lower temperatures, but may become stressed if those temperatures persist for too long. A temperature range of 50ºF-80ºF is safe and supports the health and longevity of Dubia roaches. A dark, quiet spot in your home that maintains a temperature between 62ºF and 72ºF for most of the day and night will suffice. If the roaches reach a temperature of 80ºF during the day, allow them time to cool down at night.
Temperature and growth
Keep your roaches between 70ºF and 90ºF if you want them to grow larger. To a point, the higher the temperature, the faster they grow. However, many people buy the biggest Dubia their animal(s) can handle and don’t want the roaches to grow any larger. In this case, keep them between 50ºF and 70ºF. Dubia roaches kept at 60ºF can take up to 10 times longer to complete an instar (growth cycle) than those exposed to higher temperatures.
Providing heat
Whether for growth or to maintain the health of their Dubia roaches, people often boost their roach bin temperature with supplemental heat. Heat pads, tape, mats, cables, ceramic heat emitters, and light bulbs are the most common methods of heating.
Be mindful of safety if you decide to provide external heat. Always follow manufacturer instructions and warnings. We do not recommend placing heating devices inside Dubia roach enclosures. Nothing the roaches come in contact with should ever get hotter than 90ºF. As a rule, Dubia roaches should be able to escape temperatures above 90ºF. If they cannot escape the heat, they will become stressed, and their health may suffer as a result.
With feeder roaches, deciding whether or not to provide heat depends on (1) how long you keep them and (2) the temperature of your home. If you plan on feeding them off in the next week or two and you keep them at a comfortable room temperature, you probably don’t need supplemental heat. If you keep them for a month and store the roaches in a basement that averages 50ºF, they might benefit from additional heat, at least for some time during the day.
Dubia roach hydration
Temperature management is crucial, but hydration is the next priority. Dubia roaches require moisture to stay healthy. You can meet their hydration needs through fresh fruits, vegetables, or water.
If you feed the roaches off quickly, it probably doesn’t matter how you provide moisture. You can drop a sliver of apple or a slice of carrot into their enclosure.
However, if you plan on keeping the roaches for a while, use a dish when giving your roaches food and water. A dish prevents moisture from coming in contact with frass, which is the roach poop and discarded exoskeletons that build up in their enclosure over time. Frass wicks moisture, and it tends to dry slowly. When frass is deep enough, it may never dry. This can lead to mold and bacterial overgrowth, which can cause problems for your roaches.
If you use a dish or saucer, be sure it allows access for all the roaches – especially the smallest ones. The smaller the roach, the more vulnerable they are to starvation and dehydration. A dish all the roaches can use has a lip short enough for them to step over or a texture that enables them to climb.
Fresh fruits & vegetables
To the extent possible, give your Dubia roaches fresh fruits and vegetables. These are healthy and part of the Dubia roach’s natural diet. In addition to satisfying their hydration needs, fruits and vegetables provide excellent nutrition. This benefits the roaches, and it also benefits the animals that eat them.
Remove any uneaten food remnants from the enclosure before mold forms. This is especially important with high-water-content foods that break down quickly. Examples include apples, bananas, leafy greens, and moistened pet foods. Carrots and potato slices, for example, tend to last longer and require less frequent changing.
Regarding nutrition, consider feeding your Dubia roaches plants that contain the nutrients you want your animals to eat. For example, you might choose vegetables rich in calcium or carotenoids. Also, consider that dietary diversity is healthier than monotony. So mix it up if you can.
Related reading: Gut loading Dubia roaches for the health of your animals »
Water
Dubia roaches can go a long time without water, but this is probably not very healthy for them.
If you don’t give your roaches a constant supply of fresh fruits or vegetables, they will need supplemental water. This can be tricky because Dubia roaches are notoriously prone to drowning. It would be nice to be able to give them a saucer or dish of plain water, but you can’t because some will drown. Sometimes, Dubia roaches drown in water so shallow they could walk out if they tried. This is just a weird thing they do.
If necessary, provide access to water in one of the following ways. Common Dubia roach watering methods include water crystals, paper towels, and sponges. These methods absorb water, allowing roaches to wick it from the material.
Once you have chosen a hydration method that all your roaches can use, set your water dish inside the enclosure on the floor. Do not place it where it can tip over or where substrate or harborage can come in contact with it. A spot on the floor with some space around it is usually best. Clean and replace the water dish every few days to prevent it from drying out or before mold grows.
Water quality is not critical if you feed the roaches off within a few weeks. However, if you keep them longer, consider distilled rather than tap water. There are a lot of chemicals in tap water (external link) that persist for a very long time (external link), and we know little about the long-term effects they have on us, let alone insects, reptiles, amphibians, and the like. The chemicals present in your water depend on your location, but a few common chemicals include chlorine, fluoride, pesticides, copper, lead, fertilizers, and prescription drugs.
Water quality is often unknown, so we avoid the potential risks to our roaches and animals by using distilled water in our colonies. You don’t have to worry about this when you meet their hydration needs with fruits and vegetables.
Food
With hydration covered, let’s move to nutrition. Dubia roaches can survive a long time without food. And they have specialized bacteria in their gut that enable them to eat items with almost no nutritional value, such as paper and cotton. This is certainly not ideal for their health, but they can do it. Since these are feeders, and because Dubia roaches can survive on almost anything, focus on supporting the nutritional needs of the end consumer, rather than the roach. The end consumer, of course, is your animals.
Because Dubia roaches can eat almost anything, almost anything you give them will keep them alive. However, food like fruits and vegetables will help keep them healthy and strong. These foods will also help keep the animals that feed on them healthy and strong. This speaks to the concept of gut loading, which we highly recommend.
The bottom line is that while Dubia roaches benefit from a healthy diet, they don’t need much. They are scavengers with simple, basic needs. This is great for the animals that eat them. Feed your Dubia roaches healthy foods with the nutrients you want your animals to consume, and they will live up to their reputation as superior feeders.
Examples of food for your roaches
Some common, widely available foods that are beneficial for Dubia roaches (and likely also for the animals that consume them) include oats, whole-grain breads, cereal grains, apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and broccoli stalks.. Dubia roaches consume these foods readily.
Experimenting with foods
You can experiment with different foods and food combinations if you want. We feed our Dubia roaches various foods depending on their growth stage, but you don’t have to worry about growth or reproduction with feeders. Your Dubia feeders have presumably arrived at or near the desired size. Your concern is not roach health or development, but your animal’s nutritional needs. Feed the roaches based on those.
Be careful with protein
We recommend not feeding Dubia roaches too many high-protein foods. Dubia roaches are a high protein insect, and they evolved to deal with scarcity by storing uric acid when protein is plentiful (external link) during times when it’s not. Uric acid is an antioxidant and a natural byproduct of protein digestion, but it can also be a toxin at very high levels.
Instead of providing your animals with more protein, overfeeding protein to Dubia roaches may create a situation where the animals that eat them must remove more uric acid than they otherwise would in the wild. There is no benefit to this. While probably not a significant issue for most captive insectivores, protein overload can be detrimental for animals with pre-existing health issues, particularly those with kidney problems or those that are already on the edge of good health. You can read our post about Dubia roaches and dietary protein if you want to learn more. Protein is a somewhat mysterious nutrient, and many people think the more, the better. However, we believe that isn’t necessarily the case. A high-protein diet is known to kill cockroaches, so don’t overdo it.
Housing
Naturally, you will need a secure place to house your Dubia roaches. As feeders, they don’t need much. You can keep them in any container that is:
- unaffected by moisture
- provides you with easy access
- is slick-sided
- and opaque
Many different types of plastic storage containers are suitable for roach housing, but jars, buckets, aquariums, and similar items can also serve this purpose. There are many options for temporary storage. Perhaps the top two most important things to consider when choosing housing for your feeders are escape and air circulation.
Nutritional Note: We notice many things in large colonies that are less obvious in small ones. One of these is the importance of shelter, darkness, and community. Dubia roaches that have these things are healthier than those that lack them. To maintain peak health, make sure your roaches have a dark place to hide and regular access to physical contact with other roaches. Interestingly, there is such a thing as roach psychology, and Dubia are particularly social roaches. They seek the company of other roaches for protection when possible and prefer not to be alone. Provide them with at least some shelter if possible.
Container size
Dubia roaches favor small spaces. They will survive in large enclosures, but Dubia roaches do better in tight quarters surrounded by other roaches. You will find that they seek these conditions when placed in large, open spaces. Keep this in mind when choosing a container. A group of 50 Dubia will do better in a shoebox-size enclosure than a 40-gallon tub, for example. Since these are feeders, there is no need for a large container. Determine a suitable enclosure based on the number of roaches you currently have. If you end up with a larger colony in the future, you can upgrade to a larger size at that time.
Harborage
To accommodate their need for darkness and physical contact, put harborage material in their enclosure. This will ideally be something they can crawl on and hide inside. It could be paper egg cartons, crumpled newspaper, or cardboard tubes from a used paper towel roll. You can use anything that provides small, dark spaces where roaches can gather together and hide. This probably isn’t necessary if you feed them off in a few days or a week, but if you keep them longer, consider giving them a place to hide.
Lids
Lids are often unnecessary because Dubia roaches can’t climb smooth surfaces. However, in addition to keeping things in, lids also keep things out. This may come in handy if you have pets or people who want to check out your roaches. Also, remember that Dubia roaches can climb lightly scuffed surfaces. With any new enclosure, make sure the sides are smooth enough to prevent escape before going lidless. Keep in mind that small nymphs are smaller and lighter than larger ones, which means they can climb smoother surfaces. Sometimes, all it takes is a little dust or dirt on an otherwise smooth surface for tiny nymphs to climb right up. A container with smooth, clean sides will discourage the roaches from climbing out.
If you use a lid, ensure the roaches have sufficient air. You can cut ventilation holes and secure them with a window screen and hot glue or tape. Dubia roaches can chew through fiberglass screens, so if they can reach it, use metal. If you aren’t trying to keep anything out, open ventilation holes may work.
If you have a container with walls that roaches can climb and you don’t have a lid, you can prevent escape by spreading a two to three-inch-wide band of petroleum jelly around the interior walls. Apply it very thin, using only enough to coat the surface. Petroleum jelly loses its thick viscosity at high temperatures and tends to run when applied too thickly. This won’t be an issue for those who keep their roaches at room temperature.
Alternatively, you can apply a strip of clear packing tape to the upper inside surface instead of petroleum jelly. Both work equally well. All things equal, packing tape is less messy than petroleum jelly and would probably be our recommendation.
However, the best solution is a container with slick sides that the roaches cannot climb and a lid with vent holes to keep roaches in and curious animals and people out.
Substrate
Don’t use any substrate in your enclosure. As mentioned above, bacteria and Dubia roaches thrive in the same conditions, and the two are not always a healthy mix. Reduce the potential for bacterial overgrowth by keeping the enclosure clean and dry. There is no advantage to letting a little frass (roach poop and exoskeletons) accumulate. However, in most situations, there is no harm either.
The exception is with Minis that may still be in their poop-eating stage. Young Dubia roach nymphs eat feces for the nitrogen and bacteria they need to colonize their intestines. However, you don’t have to worry too much about any of this if you feed the roaches off in a week or two. In most cases, frass is a waste product that can be discarded.
Humidity
Generally, Dubia roach feeders don’t have special humidity requirements. If you live in a dry climate or the air in your home is dry due to central air or heating, your roaches may appreciate daily misting. However, it is unlikely to improve their health or increase longevity. Humidity aids molting, so if your air is dry and you notice molting problems, consider increasing humidity. If you spray, allow the enclosure to dry completely before reapplying the spray. Dubia roaches are not super high-humidity insects. A relative humidity of 40% to 60% is generally sufficient.
Please note that these recommendations are specific to Dubia roach feeders. Breeders have humidity requirements that are not covered here.
Light
If possible, store your Dubia roaches in a dark place. This is not super critical if you feed them off quickly. However, if you keep them for more than a few weeks or months, they will become stressed if exposed to too much light. On the other hand, they need darkness and can never get too much of it.
Size Dependent Care
This Dubia roach care sheet wouldn’t be complete without size-dependent care information. We think it’s useful to pay attention to the various differences between sizes from a nutritional perspective. However, it’s up to you how deeply you want to get into caring for your Dubia feeders.
Temperature
Large roaches can withstand greater environmental extremes than their smaller peers. Nymph Minis, for instance, are particularly sensitive to temperatures outside our recommended range for growth. They are also more susceptible to the effects of food and water shortages. As Dubia roaches grow larger, they become better equipped to handle environmental extremes and other stresses.
Young Dubia grow fast, so they use up the energy they eat quickly. They also have fewer reserves due to their small size, and because they’ve had less time to build their reserves compared to older roaches. Basically, the larger (older) the roach, the better it handles adversity. The smaller (younger) the roach, the more consistent care it needs.
Colony stress
Small nymphs are vulnerable to predation within a colony. Stressed adults with inadequate protein, sporadic food availability, or poor food quality will eat young nymphs. Adults also tend to take the young nymphs out when colonies are overcrowded and conditions are otherwise substandard. Adult males will eat the young when reproductive pressures are high, as when the female-to-male ratio is low. Basically, the more stressed the colony, the fewer small nymphs survive.
Under normal conditions, Dubia are social roaches and don’t tend to harm each other. Newborn nymphs can generally be kept with larger nymphs and adults without any issues if you follow the steps below.
- Keep temperatures within the range for “growth” listed above
- Maintain adequate food and water
- Provide adequate safe harbor and at least 10 hours of darkness in 24 hours
- Reduce the ratio of adult males to adult females to 1:3 or lower
Newborn nymphs get a fair amount of protective care from adult females. Captive insects probably don’t need the protection to survive in well-stocked enclosures, but it may benefit their well-being. This, in turn, may affect their health, which influences how long they survive, how much they eat, how fast they grow, and ultimately how nutritious they are as feeders. Dubia roaches require physical contact, and their growth can be stunted if they don’t get it.
Frass
As previously mentioned, newborn Dubia roaches eat frass. This generally applies to roaches ¼-inch or smaller. If you have roaches this size, consider leaving at least some frass in the enclosure. On the other hand, neither frass nor its absence seems to have an effect on adults.
Conclusions
What’s important to remember is that maintaining Dubia roaches is not an all-or-nothing proposition. There are some things they can’t live without. Still, once you meet their basic needs, any marginal step you take to support their physiological (and in some cases psychological) health is likely to preserve their overall health and well-being. And remember: Healthy feeders are nutritious feeders.
To determine the level of care to provide your Dubia roaches, first specify their purpose. If you plan on feeding them off in a week or two, there’s nothing wrong with storing them in a warm, dark spot with a little food and water and leaving it at that. If you keep them longer, or if you want to gutload them or grow them larger, the roaches and your animal(s) will benefit from doing more.
Our bottom-line advice is to decide what you want from your roaches, and then act accordingly. We hope this Dubia roach care sheet has provided you with useful ideas as you work to achieve your goals!
