Feeder questions, answered

Open the box as soon as it arrives. If any bugs arrived dead, you have 1 hour from delivery to make a claim, so check them first. Move dubia roaches into a smooth-sided bin at room temperature. In lab tests, dubia nymphs grew to adults between 68 and 86 F (20 to 30 C). Keep waxworms cool and keep black soldier fly larvae at room temperature in their cup. Our dubia roach care guide covers the bin, food and water.

Maybe not. Insects that get cold enough enter chill coma, a reversible state in which they stop moving. Open the box as soon as it arrives and let the roaches warm to room temperature before you judge them. Roaches that were chilled too hard or too long can still die, because severe cold injures insects. If some are still dead, email us photos or video within 1 hour of delivery to make a claim. Our shipping page has the live arrival terms.

Keep waxworms cool, at about 55 to 60 F (13 to 16 C), in the container they came in. Research labs that use waxworm larvae commonly hold them at 59 F (15 C) or room temperature for one to three weeks before use.

Keep black soldier fly larvae at room temperature in their cup, out of the sun. You do not need to feed them. Near the end of the larval stage they turn dark and stop eating. Kept warm long enough they pupate and become harmless flies, so buy what you will use in a few weeks. Details are in our BSFL guide.

No. Dubia are a tropical species. In a lab study, nymphs grew to adults only between 68 and 86 F (20 to 30 C), and a refrigerator is far colder than that. Chilling would not help anyway. Dubia grow from nymphs straight into adults with no pupal stage to hold back. Keep them in a bin at room temperature instead.

It depends on your dragon's size, not only its age. Our dubia roaches come in Small (1/4 to 1/2 in), Medium (1/2 to 3/4 in), Large (3/4 to 1 in) and XL (1 in and up). The dubia roach size chart shows how to measure your dragon and which size fits at each stage.

There is no single number, because it depends on your dragon's age and size. Our size chart and feeding guide gives meal frequencies by age, so you can work out a monthly count from it. Then pick the dubia roach box of 100, 250, 500 or 1,000 that covers your month.

Pick your feeders and choose a delivery every 1, 2 or 3 months. Every delivery is 15% off, subscription deliveries of $35 or more ship free, and you pay one delivery at a time. We email you 3 days before each charge. You can skip a delivery, pause or cancel from your customer account. See subscribe and save for details.

A subscription takes 15% off every delivery, compared with buying the same feeders one order at a time. When a subscription delivery comes to $35 or more, it also ships free. Example: Large dubia roaches, 250 count, cost $45 plus shipping one time, or $38.25 with free shipping on a subscription. You can skip, pause or cancel from your customer account. See subscribe and save.

Yes. If heat, cold or a storm on the route puts live insects at risk, we may hold your order until it is safe to ship, and we tell you by email or text. Orders ship sometime between Sunday and Wednesday. We do not promise a ship date or a delivery date. See our shipping page for the details.

Open the box as soon as it arrives. Cold dubia can look dead and recover once they warm to room temperature. If bugs are still dead, email clear photos or video of the dead bugs to andres@thebugcartel.com within 1 hour of delivery to make a claim. If the claim qualifies, we resend the order once at no cost. Our shipping page lists the full live arrival terms.

They are poor escape artists. Dubia cannot climb smooth plastic or glass at any age. Females cannot fly, and males rarely fly. They breed best warm and humid, at 77 to 86 F (25 to 30 C) and above 60% humidity. No study has tested whether escaped dubia breed in homes, so keep a lid on the bin. Florida lists dubia as a prohibited import, so we do not ship them there. Our dubia roach care guide has the details.

Dubia make no noise. Unlike crickets, they do not chirp. They also produce little odor compared with other cockroaches. If a bin starts to smell, clean out old food, dead roaches and damp droppings. Our dubia roach care guide covers cleaning.

Yes. Anyone can order every feeder we carry, including dubia roaches, waxworms, black soldier fly larvae, mealworms, superworms, hornworms, fruit flies and silkworms. Pet stores, breeders and keepers with big collections can also apply for a wholesale account, which adds fruit fly price breaks at 6, 12 and 20 cups. Our wholesale page has the details.