Have Dubia roach questions? We have answers. The following are answers to questions not covered elsewhere on our site (ie. in guides, posts, or product pages). If you don’t find what you’re looking for, please let us know!
Is there anything I should not feed Dubia roaches?
As breeders, no. As feeders, don’t feed them anything you don’t want your animals to consume. Citrus fruits, for example, can cause temporary gastric distress in some reptiles. Excess calcium may not be good for tarantulas. As with any feeder insect, the end consumer should be your focus.
Do Dubia roaches require fresh fruits and vegetables?
No. Dubia roaches can survive on a well-formulated dry food alone. However, you might consider adding fresh fruits and vegetables to their diet for the following reasons: Roaches like them, they contain nutrients dry foods don’t, and they appear to boost productivity.
What is the best food for Dubia roaches?
The answer is more complicated than the question suggests. There is no one food that Dubia roaches do better on than others. Give them a healthy diet with plenty of the nutrients they need at different growth stages. The trick is knowing what nutrients they need at which time. Without going into the details, their general nutritional needs can be met by providing a variety of grains, fruits, and vegetables. For feeders, try to include foods that contain the nutrients you want your animals to consume.
What do Dubia roaches eat in the wild?
Their natural foods include dead leaves and decaying plant material, lots of secondary bacteria, fungi, fruits, roots, and dead insects or mammals they may come across. Occasionally, they even eat each other.
What are Dubia roach’s favorite foods?
Some of their favorite foods include include wheat bran, oats, oranges, bananas, dates, squash, carrots, beets, sweet potato, and broccoli stalks.
How can I increase Dubia roach reproduction?
Temperature is number one, followed by promoting health via proper nutrition and environment.
Should I give Dubia roaches vitamin and mineral supplements?
We wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re gut loading. This is a tricky topic. Beta-carotene, for example, is just one of 600 identified carotenoids in plants, and science has no clue how all of them interact with respect to nutrition. Supplements may make sense in some areas but not others, and for some animals more than others. Different classes of animals have different nutritional needs and concerns.
How much roach chow do I need?
Very roughly: 5,000 breeding adult roaches will eat about one cup of roach chow a day if offered no other food. That means 1,000 roaches can eat about five cups a month and 100 roaches can eat one cup every two months. Of course, this all depends on environmental conditions – particularly temperature and access to other foods.
How long do Dubia roaches live?
Females live about two years and males about 18 months under ideal conditions. Nymphs may live a year at 70ºF, though they may not grow at all. Dubia roach longevity is determined mostly by temperature and food availability. The less they eat the longer they live. In an average 70ºF home they should certainly live long enough to be fed off to an animal.
What happens if they escape in my house?
That depends where you live. In most places they will die in weeks or maybe months. Dubia roaches are nothing like German or American cockroaches. They are not pests because they need a tropical climate to grow and reproduce. And, even if they were to colonize, they aren’t destructive. But in 95% of the US they can’t colonize. The exception might be the southern tip of Florida and Hawaii, where they are banned.
Do I ever have to separate adults from nymphs?
Yes, but only to alleviate overcrowding. Dubia are social roaches that naturally live together in large numbers. The only time you may need to separate nymphs from adults is if growing nymphs begin to crowd out the adults.
Can you tell male and female Dubia roaches apart before they’re adults?
Yes. The difference between Dubia roach male and female nymphs is that females have five abdominal segments while males have six. To sex them, count the segments on the underside of their abdomen starting at the hind legs. The last segment on the end is also relatively narrow in males and wider in females.
What if I buy Dubia roaches and they breed out of control?
They actually don’t reproduce quickly, but if you’re concerned we will probably be willing to take them off your hands. If your colony is out of control and you want help, contact us.
Will Dubia roaches hurt or bother my animal if I let them roam the cage?
No. Dubia roaches don’t bite and are generally very mild-mannered – though adult males can be a little hyper. They tend to wander cages in search of a warm, dark place to hide. They prefer darkness but they need warmth, so if they don’t find both they will camp under heat lamps.
Will Dubia roaches eat the plants in my animal’s cage?
Probably not. While Dubia roaches eat a lot of things, greens aren’t usually among them. They prefer dead leaves over live ones, though there is no way to say they would never eat living leaves.
Can I feed my animals a diet of only Dubia roaches?
Dubia roaches provide relatively complete nutrition and make great primary feeders. However, captive herps tend to do best with a varied diet. Give your animals occasional treats to keep them happy and optimally healthy, if possible.
Why are Dubia roaches different colors?
It’s probably a combination of genetic variation, age, diet, and environment. Individual Dubia roach colors and patterns vary within each colony, but there is often an even wider variation between colonies. The bottom line is that the differences are probably cosmetic. A possible exception could exist in the case of nutritional status, but we don’t know.
Can Dubia roaches live without their heads?
Yes, if you call brain death “living”. Because roaches don’t breathe through their mouths, and because they have an open circulatory system, nerves continue functioning in the absence of a brain. This means headless roaches can survive and even respond to external stimuli. They can’t eat though, and they will starve to death or be eaten by other roaches in the colony.
Could I be allergic to Dubia roaches?
That’s possible. Like grass, pollen, and mold, roach “dust” can trigger an allergic reaction in some people. Cockroach allergies are not common but they do occur.
Are Dubia roaches illegal in Florida?
Yes. It is a misdemeanor to import or possess Dubia roaches in Florida without a permit.
How long does it take for Dubia roaches to mate?
Mature adult males and females will mate immediately on introduction. This assumes environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, and access to food are sufficient.
Do Dubia roaches bite?
No. They will not bite or otherwise attack people or animals.
Is there any way to make Dubia roaches grow faster?
Yes and no. While their growth is bound by natural constraints, they do grow faster in favorable environmental conditions compared to unfavorable ones. The most important variables are temperature, nutrition, humidity, and darkness.
Can Dubia roaches fly?
No. Adult males have wings (females don’t), and when temperatures are high they like to jump from high spots and “flutter” to the ground, but they cannot fly.
Have a Question?
If you have any questions you think we might be able to answer, please let us know by leaving a comment below. Who knows…we may just end up adding it to our list of FAQ’s.
Nancy Farlow says
Excellent information, thank you! I have one question relating to your answer to “Is there anything I shouldn’t feed Dubia roaches?” I recently read an article by Allen Repashy detailing some research he and others have done on the effect of too much protein in the diet of Dubia roaches, such as when they are fed dog or cat food. His research indicates that a high protein diet can lead to the build up of uric acid in the bodies of roaches, which in turn can lead to gout in reptiles they are fed to. What is your opinion on this? Here’s a link to Repashy’s article:
https://www.store.repashy.com/can-feeder-insect-diets-contribute-to-gout-in-reptiles.html
DRD says
Yes, this appears to be the case. Dubia roaches probably can eat too much protein. This can be unhealthy, and it can even go so far as to kill them. Dog food is probably fine but cat food may be pushing the limits. As a rule, cat food is generally high in protein.
You can read more about Dubia roaches and excess dietary protein in the following article:
https://dubiaroachdepot.com/guidance/dubia-roaches-dietary-protein
Cynthia says
Are dubia roaches legal to own in Washington State?
DRD says
As far as I know Dubia roaches are legal in all states except Hawaii and Florida. Washington state would not be in any danger of infestation due to its climate, so I see no reason why they would be banned. You can always check with the WA state Department of Agriculture for a definitive answer.
Jaime Kendall says
what are some colors they can range from?
Chris says
Is starting a colony for feeders worth the time, trouble, and money to feed only 1 bearded dragon? Also if the answer is yes and I wanted to to start a colony with only one male and one female should I plan on not feeding from the colony for many many months? I would have a mixture of roaches of various sizes with the two that are ready for breeding.
DRD says
Here are some issues I see. (1) Starting a Dubia colony involves up-front costs and ongoing costs in terms of money, time, and effort. (2) After the colony gets going, at some point it will provide more Dubia feeders than a single bearded dragon can eat.
Whether or not it’s worth it is up to you to decide, but for just 1 animal I tend to lean toward no.
With respect to time, it will indeed take months to get from one male and one female to feeder sustainability.
Clay Crawford says
Can I feed raw potatoes to my Dubia colony?
Also, lemons are citrus. Are there issues with feeding lemons?
Thanks
DRD says
Dubia roaches do very well on sweet potatoes. We haven’t tried feeding them regular white potatoes, but if they eat them then they’re probably OK. Same with lemons. The only issue with lemon is that it could cause stomach upset in animals that eat a roach gutloaded with it.
Sandra says
When I first started breeding Dubai’s I came across someone selling a white powder that was suppose increase productivity.
I believe it did help but I don’t know who I got it from or what it was. Do you know anything about it?
DRD says
I’ve never heard of anything like that. The only white powder I’ve seen is supplemental calcium, but that’s usually used for dusting or gut-loading.
Angelia Kennedy says
Can you tell the age of Dubai roaches with color or how they look? If so, can you elaborate? Have alot of males and was hoping to feed my lizards just the older ones. Thanks in Advance!
DRD says
I think the answer is “sometimes”. It’s not always obvious, and the following is probably not terribly reliable, but it may help you do better than selecting at random.
Both male and female Dubia are smaller when they’re young, growing larger as they age. Males tend to accumulate wing damage over time – either from fighting or wear and tear – though young males can have damaged wings too. With respect to color, the answer is probably no. Dubia roaches tend to be more black or black and off-white or yellow when they’re young, and they may develop more orange or rust-colored accents as they age. However, this this is not universal. I’ve seen plenty of young Dubia with orange accents and black or nearly black adults. Color might only be useful in combination with the other factors above.
So to answer your question; you would probably feed off more older roaches if you chose the larger, slower, more orange males with tattered wings. It’s not perfect, but I think this is better than pulling them out randomly. If it were binary, and assuming random selection gets you 50/50 old/young, this method might get you to 60/40 or maybe 70/30.
Jenelle says
I got an oil diffuser and I also love eucalyptus. Without thinking about it, I’ve had eucalyptus scented stuff going on in my house for weeks, and never thought about the fact that it’s used as an insect repellent. How bad is this for my colony? They obviously can’t go anywhere, but can it make them sick/kill them, or prevent them from breeding?
DRD says
Eucalyptus could possibly have an effect on Dubia roaches, but my guess is that for it to be meaningful, you’d probably have to spray the roaches directly with the extract or oil. It seems unlikely that just the aroma would be enough to slow reproduction or harm them in any way. I imagine they notice the smell, but unless they have some innate aversion to it (which I doubt because eucalyptus doesn’t grow in places Dubia roaches are from), they probably just get used to it or ignore it. And I don’t think eucalyptus is innately poisonous to insects generally. Some live in and around its bark. Maybe keep an eye on it because anything is possible, but don’t worry unless you see signs of trouble in the colony.