Dubia roach care for keepers who feed them out

To keep dubia roaches alive until you feed them out, hold them in a smooth-sided plastic bin with a ventilated lid and egg-crate shelter, at room temperature between about 68 and 86 F (20 to 30 C). Give them a dry roach food plus fresh produce or water gel for moisture, never an open water dish. Remove dead roaches and old food every few days.

What bin to keep dubia roaches in

A plastic storage tote with smooth walls works well. Dubia lack a developed arolium, the pad between the claws that helps insects grip, so neither adults nor nymphs can climb smooth surfaces.² A smooth bin holds them without tape or barrier gels.

• Size. Pick a tote with enough floor space to stand the egg crate in one layer, so roaches can spread out. Larger roaches and larger counts need a larger tote.
• Ventilation. Drill holes or cut a vent into the lid. Researchers at Louisiana State University held a research colony in a large plastic bin with holes drilled in the top, and held study groups in vented plastic containers.³
• Shelter. Stand pieces of cardboard egg crate on end. The same study gave each container a piece of egg carton for shelter.³ Egg crate also gives you something to lift out and shake roaches from at feeding time.
• Floor. Leave the floor bare. A bare floor makes cleaning fast and lets you see dead roaches.

Keep the lid on even though dubia cannot climb the walls. It keeps out pets and other pests.

Dubia roach temperature and humidity

The best data on temperature comes from Auburn University entomologists. Wu, Hu, and Appel reared dubia nymphs at six constant temperatures, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 C (59, 68, 77, 86, 95, and 104 F). They published the results in the Journal of Economic Entomology in 2017.¹

• Nymphs grew to adulthood at 20, 25, and 30 C (68, 77, and 86 F).¹
• At 35 C (95 F), all nymphs died before reaching the fifth of their seven nymph stages. At 40 C (104 F), all died before the second stage.¹
• At 15 C (59 F), growth nearly stopped. In the thesis behind the paper, the first nymph molted to the second stage on day 277, and after 467 days none had reached the third stage.²
• Among the temperatures where nymphs reached adulthood, they grew fastest at 30 C (86 F).²
• The study also measured critical thermal limits, the highest and lowest temperatures at which the roaches still functioned in a short lab test. The upper limit ranged from 44.8 to 49.9 C (113 to 122 F) across nymph stages, and the lower limit from about minus 2 to minus 3.1 C (28 to 26 F). These are extremes for a brief test, not temperatures to keep them at.¹

For a batch you plan to feed out, room temperature is fine. In the LSU feeding study, dubia held at about 72 F (22 C) and 50% relative humidity had low losses over the week-long trial.³ Warmer, up to about 86 F (30 C), makes them grow faster.² Keep them away from heaters, sunny windows, and cold floors.

Some care sheets suggest holding dubia as warm as 95 F (35 C). The Auburn data argue against holding nymphs at a constant 95 F, since none survived to the fifth stage at that temperature.¹

No controlled study we found sets a humidity range for holding dubia. The LSU roaches had low losses at about 50% relative humidity, with moisture from sweet potato or a high-moisture diet instead of a water dish.³ Normal indoor air with a slice of produce or water gel in the bin is enough for a feeding batch.

Water for dubia roaches

Give water through food, not a dish. Two options work:

• Fresh produce. Slices of sweet potato, carrot, or orange. The LSU researchers gave their roaches sweet potato for both food and moisture.³
• Water gel or water crystals. Sold for feeder insects. Set a small amount in a shallow lid.

Avoid open water dishes. Small nymphs can drown in standing water, and spills make the bin damp and smelly. This is long-standing keeper practice. We found no study that measured it.

Moisture matters more when you gut load with a dry, high-calcium diet. The LSU authors note that dehydration on a dry-only gut-load diet is thought to cause deaths in feeder insects. In their own week-long trial, dubia on a dry high-calcium diet did not die at a higher rate.³ Keep a moisture source in the bin during gut loading.

What do dubia roaches eat?

Dubia eat a wide range of plant and animal foods. Researchers have raised them on dry dog chow, on dog food with fish flakes, on carrots with chicken mash, and on kitchen waste.^2,3 For a feeding batch, use two parts:

• A dry base. A commercial roach chow or a dry gut-load diet, in a shallow dish so it stays dry.
• Fresh produce. Sweet potato, carrot, squash, and leafy greens. Produce adds water and nutrition.

What the roach eats changes what your reptile gets. The LSU study found that dubia "are what they eat." A high-calcium commercial diet raised their calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, while a low-calcium commercial diet did not.³ Adult roaches fed the high-calcium diet still had a positive ratio 72 hours after the diet was removed.³ Our guide on how to gut load feeder insects explains timing and diets.

How to store dubia roaches and how long they last

Dubia are long-lived for a feeder insect. Barras and colleagues, citing a pest-control reference, report a nymph stage of 180 to 380 days and a total life span of up to 530 days.³ With food, moisture, and room temperature, a batch can be held for weeks.

When your dubia roaches arrive, open the box, move the roaches and their egg crate into your prepared bin, and give them produce right away. Check the box for any roaches tucked into the packing. Shipping and arrival details are on the shipping page.

Buy only as many as you will use in a few weeks. If you feed on a steady schedule, subscribe and save delivers every 1, 2 or 3 months at 15% off, and deliveries of $35 or more ship free. You can skip, pause, or cancel from your customer account.

Not sure which size to buy? Our dubia roach size chart for bearded dragons matches each size to your reptile's age.

Do dubia roaches smell?

Very little. The Auburn thesis notes that, unlike other cockroaches, dubia produce little odor.² When a dubia bin smells, the usual causes are rotting produce, dead roaches, and damp frass (droppings). Cleaning on the schedule below keeps it under control.

How often to clean a dubia bin

• Every two to three days. Remove old produce before it molds and pick out dead roaches.
• Every two to four weeks. Move the roaches to a clean bin, dump the frass, and wash the old bin with hot water. Let it dry before reuse.
• Any time. Replace egg crate that gets wet or moldy.

These intervals are practical guidance, not study results. Clean sooner if the bin smells or you see mold.

Can dubia roaches climb, fly, or infest a house?

Climbing. Dubia cannot climb smooth surfaces such as clean plastic or glass, at any age.² They do climb egg crate and other rough surfaces.

Flying. Adult males have wings but rarely fly.²

Infesting a house. No published study has looked at dubia infesting homes. What the biology shows:

• Dubia are a tropical species from Central and South America.²
• They need warmth to grow. Nymphs barely developed at 59 F (15 C) in the lab.²
• Normal room temperatures sit inside the range where they grew to adulthood, so a roach that escapes indoors can survive for a while.¹
• Development is slow. The nymph stage takes months.³

A smooth-sided bin with a lid makes escapes rare. If one gets out, it cannot climb smooth surfaces, so check the floor near the bin first.

Are dubia roaches legal everywhere in the US?

Not in Florida. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, publishes guidelines for importing invertebrates into the state. Its July 2026 version lists pet trade feeder cockroaches, including Blaptica dubia, in its prohibited category. That category covers organisms that could cause significant agricultural or ecological harm, become public nuisances, or pose health hazards.⁴ The department notes that its list can change. For that reason we do not ship dubia roaches to Florida. If you live in Florida, contact the Division of Plant Industry before buying dubia from any source.

Florida is the only state rule on dubia we could confirm from an official source. If you live elsewhere and are unsure, check with your state department of agriculture.

What changes if you breed a colony

Holding a batch and breeding a colony are different projects. Dubia give birth to live young.² Nymphs grow fastest near 86 F (30 C), so a colony needs steady warmth near that temperature.² Even then, the nymph stage lasts months.³ A new colony takes a long time to produce enough roaches to feed a reptile on its own, and it needs a larger bin, steady heat, and more frequent cleaning. For how dubia compare with crickets, see dubia roaches vs crickets.

More questions about feeders or orders? See the feeder FAQ.

Sources

1. Wu H, Hu XP, Appel AG. 2017. Temperature-dependent development and thermal sensitivity of Blaptica dubia (Blattodea: Blaberidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 110(2):546 to 551.
2. Wu H. 2013. Biology of Blaptica dubia (Blattodea: Blaberidae). M.S. thesis, Department of Entomology, Auburn University.
3. Barras E, Boykin KL, Aguilar MG, Lex Z, Bitter A, Mitchell MA. 2025. Effect of commercial diets on the nutritional value and mortality rates of dubia roaches (Blaptica dubia). Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery 35(3):176 to 191.
4. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry. 2026. Guidelines for importing arthropods and other invertebrates into Florida (July 2026).