Dubia Roach Breeding

[Beardomania]

So I wanted to try a mealworm/fresh mealworm beetle diet on my beardie after my superworms run out but that won't be necessary it seems. I ran across a monster of a deal on Craigslist today and drove 80 miles round trip (at basically 90+mph since it's first come first serve on Craigslist) to pick up an established Dubia colony with literally more adults/large subadult nymphs than I can count even during a tub transfer/cleaning for just $40! Can't turn that down so mealworms will have to wait.

Question: What temperature do you guys keep your Dubias at? I've heard several instructional sources say that they need 85-90 degrees to breed and will experience almost zero fertility at close to 80 degrees while others say from experience that they breed Dubias just fine (although not super fast) at room temp and I don't think anyone keeps a room at 85-90 degrees.

I currently keep them in a large gray Sterilite (maybe 18 gallons) with the lid ajar on top of my beardie enclosure so it can soak up the rising heat from the 125W MVB bulb running on the other side of the enclosure beneath it. I don't have a temp reading yet as I just set it up 20 min ago.

PS. Threw an old male with ragged wings in with my beardie (who is overfed and quite picky with his food) and he just crunched him down like Honey Boo Boo on a Kit Kat Bar so I am pleased.

 

[Beardomania]

Edit: My Roach tub is 30 gallons, not 18.

 

[BeardieLover<3]

The hottest part in mine is like 108 and i know its too hot but they just stay away and the other parts are at a gradient of 98 to 82. I use a heat mat stuck right to the bottom but its lifted a bit so the carpet doesnt get hot

 

[Beardomania]

The hottest part in mine is like 108 and i know its too hot but they just stay away and the other parts are at a gradient of 98 to 82. I use a heat mat stuck right to the bottom but its lifted a bit so the carpet doesnt get hotView attachment 26569

Cool, and they're successfully breeding for you dropping lots of babies, right? Do you use any substrate to stabilized the rising heat and humidity in your setup or no? What's that wiring and black stuff on top of the tub? It's not another heat mat on top, is it? Thanks

 

[BeardieLover<3]

Cool, and they're successfully breeding for you dropping lots of babies, right? Do you use any substrate to stabilized the rising heat and humidity in your setup or no? What's that wiring and black stuff on top of the tub? It's not another heat mat on top, is it? Thanks

They have had babies ive only had em for about 1 month so i think the babies were bc they were already prego. As far as i know everything is good i spray the inside of the tank everyday or so if i dont the humidity stays at 17 percent ish. The wiring on the top in the hyrdometer/thermometer. I dont use substarte that is a good idea though, i just spill food on the bottom of the container

 

[Skybug]

So I wanted to try a mealworm/fresh mealworm beetle diet on my beardie after my superworms run out but that won't be necessary it seems. I ran across a monster of a deal on Craigslist today and drove 80 miles round trip (at basically 90+mph since it's first come first serve on Craigslist) to pick up an established Dubia colony with literally more adults/large subadult nymphs than I can count even during a tub transfer/cleaning for just $40! Can't turn that down so mealworms will have to wait.

Question: What temperature do you guys keep your Dubias at? I've heard several instructional sources say that they need 85-90 degrees to breed and will experience almost zero fertility at close to 80 degrees while others say from experience that they breed Dubias just fine (although not super fast) at room temp and I don't think anyone keeps a room at 85-90 degrees.

I currently keep them in a large gray Sterilite (maybe 18 gallons) with the lid ajar on top of my beardie enclosure so it can soak up the rising heat from the 125W MVB bulb running on the other side of the enclosure beneath it. I don't have a temp reading yet as I just set it up 20 min ago.

PS. Threw an old male with ragged wings in with my beardie (who is overfed and quite picky with his food) and he just crunched him down like Honey Boo Boo on a Kit Kat Bar so I am pleased.

I'm raising discoids, there a little different cause they can't take lower temps(but basically the same roach) I'd do ur best to keep it above 75 degrees. They really start to slow down anything closer to 72, if u can have substrate in there that'd help them out so much(but u run the risk of mold) half my bin is sand(the area I mist) the other half is dirt(where the roaches lay their egg sacks) I put the food and cardboard on the dirt side(put the food in a dish) , I believe roaches need gravity to molt?(may be wrong) so vertical egg rates/cardboard is a must, I'd replace all the cardboard if you can, who knows what germs the person had. If u can get some dog kibble, female roaches need lots of protein, broccoli, carrots, potatoe, celery, and fruit with lower water content are great(watermelon, grapes are okay) other fruits will mold quickly so watch out, if you get a mold outbreak you need to remove everything dry out everyone and everything (most molds are harmless, you want to watch out for black and green mold, those are the nasty ones) check the adult roaches for mites(some mites are beneficial so don't freak out right away if ur roaches do have them) if u have any questions I didn't answer please do ask, I love bugs !