Dubia Roach Care Instructions

What are Dubia Roaches?

Dubia Roaches (Blaptica dubia) are a harmless species of cockroach native to the tropical regions of Central and South America. They are primarily found in South America ranging from Venezuela to Argentina. They dwell on forest floors in warm and humid environments.

Why are Dubia Roaches so special?

Due to their superior nutrition levels and ease of care, they have become one of the most popular, if not the most popular feeder insect on the market. They are an excellent staple feeder for pet reptiles and amphibians of all kinds including bearded dragons, chameleons, geckos, tegus, monitor lizards, frogs, etc. They can't fly, can't climb smooth surfaces, can't bite, and they are surprisingly clean compared to many other feeder insects. They don't leave off foul odors when they die like crickets and superworms, and they're very easy to care for once you understand their basic needs.  

Are Dubia Roaches Invasive?

Dubia roaches are not invasive in captivity, or in the wild in most parts of the United States. The outdoor conditions and indoor environments in most U.S. homes do not allow dubia roaches the proper biological conditions to survive and breed. They cannot tolerate extended periods of cold or dry environments, and they typically will not survive outdoors through the winter in most states. They will typically not thrive in your home as well unless you set them up in the proper environment, and you do not need to worry about them escaping and infesting your home as they will typically be on the loose for a few weeks until they dehydrate and die. There are a few states where dubia roaches are prohibited, Florida being one of them. They can potentially survive and breed in the tropical and subtropical areas of Florida, and due to this, they are banned from entering the state without special permits. Due to Florida laws, we do not ship dubia roaches to Florida. All Florida orders are cancelled and refunded.

How do Dubia Roaches reproduce?

Dubia Roaches hatch around 1/8" long from an oothecae, a type of egg capsule created by the female to protect her eggs. They can grow upwards of 3" by the end of their lives, which ranges from 1.5 to 2 years, with females growing larger and outliving their male counterparts. Once they reach adulthood, they become sexually dimorphic, which means you can easily distinguish males from females. Males have long wings that flow from the back of their head beyond the end of their abdomen. Male dubia roaches cannot technically fly, but they can jump and glide from a high point to a low point. Females have very short wing-like appendages called tegmina which are basically underdeveloped wing remnants and they are shiny black in color. 

What kind of climate do Dubia Roaches need?

Here at Exo-Morphs, we raise all of our dubia roaches in plastic storage totes in a climate controlled environment. Dubia roaches like it hot, and we keep the breeding rooms of our facility between 85 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit at all times, 365 days a year. Humidity is another key environmental factor, and we keep the humidity levels between 55% and 60%. We're located in Pennsylvania, so we have hot summers and freezing cold winters. Our facility is set up to maintain the preferred breeding environment for dubia roaches all year-round. We use commercial humidifiers, dehumidifiers, and heating systems to keep all of our colonies at optimal conditions regardless of the season.

What do Dubia Roaches Eat?

Feeding animals the proper diet is the most important aspect to any breeding program, and this applies to everything we breed, including dubia roaches. Dubia roaches are detritivores, opportunistic feeders, omnivorous scavengers. They will eat basically anything that is presented to them (with some exceptions as we have discovered). In the wild dubia roaches feed on vegetation, decaying plant matter, wood, roots, mushrooms, fruit, seeds, dead insects and animal carcasses, etc. Insects have an extraordinary ability to sense exactly which nutrients they need, and they will carefully craft their diet based on their current nutritional needs. This is achieved using sensory receptors on their mouthparts, feet and antennae, and also influenced by their gut biome. 

You can pretty much feed them whatever you want, but for breeding purposes at scale, we have found that dubia roaches in captivity thrive on a high-quality diet consisting of primarily fresh fruits and vegetables. We also supplement their diet with organic chicken food, organic rabbit pellets, and fresh greens, but fresh fruits and vegetables make up a bulk of the daily diet we provide. Apples, pears, oranges, bananas, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, yams, red beets, carrots, zucchini, squash, spinach, kale, collard greens and lettuce are some of their favorites. The list of fresh fruits and vegetables goes on and on and dubias will readily consume almost any fruit and vegetable we offer them. We notice that overall they do not prefer peppers, tomatoes, or white potatoes. Many other resources you will read online say that they will readily consume rotting fruits or vegetables, but after years of raising them in captivity, we have observed that fresh fruits and vegetables are always preferred. Often times they will not even touch overripe fruits and vegetables, and rotten fruit ends up making a mess out of their enclosures which perform the best under clean conditions.

Can Dubia Roaches eat oranges?

We get asked about this a lot, and we want to address this from our perspective. Many other sources online suggest avoiding oranges or other citrus fruits because they can pass the acids onto your reptiles and cause upset stomachs. We have never found any actual scientific information to back this up and believe this is a bogus claim. We feed our dubia roaches oranges on a regular basis, and they love them - they devour everything except the most fibrous skin and outer portion of the shell, sometimes even consuming the entire thing, seeds and all. We have also raised thousands of reptiles to adulthood and beyond using our orange-eating dubia roaches as their primary food source, and could never identify any issues directly correlated to dubia roach orange consumption. Again, we believe this is a bogus claim with no scientific backing, and for some reason it's always being spread all over bearded dragon social media pages and internet articles. Many sources advise waiting a few days after feeding your dubia roaches oranges to feed them to your reptile, and if that makes you more comfortable than feel free, but we do not see any reason to do this.

More coming soon, this is a work in progress!