# Dubai Roaches



## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

I'm getting some Beardies again and I'm thinking of breeding my own roaches. My OH is worried that they may smell or escape or even make a creepy noise so I would like some advice to put her mind at rest and I reckon if she reads some decent replies on her she might change her mind. 

I'm thinking Dubai roaches to be a good option to go for in a big plastic box! With a heat mat under the one side.


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## spencerburgo (Dec 1, 2010)

*roaches*

ive just started breeding them, and i do not like roaches they give me the creeps, but theses seem ok there is no noise or smell from them and they cant climb, there better than crickets and aparently beardies love them i feed mine to frogs and toads, ps there is a fellow down your way selling some adults at a cracking price in the clasafieds on here,

cheers spencer...............


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## kez30 (Jun 15, 2008)

They can't climb smooth surfaces so won't escape out of the tub and the only time i can smell mine is when i'm getting them out of the tub and even then it's not much at all. They're pretty slow so even if you dropped one you'd easily catch it. 

When i first got roaches (lobsters) they had me shuddering when i opened the box, now i like them and have ended up with giant madagascan hissing roaches as pets!

As for creepy noises, i have mine in my bedroom (ran out of space in the living room!) and they make next to no noise, they seem to prefer to huddle up in the egg carton.


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## Marcus_anthony24 (Sep 2, 2007)

They are probably the least smelliest feeder food to have, ok they don't look nice but they have a good chitin to protein ratio and my beardies loved them, very good for fussy beardies also.

Marcus


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Cheers I've bought some stuff a big tub, heat mat, water gel crystals and I'm picking up 400 adult dubia's tomorrow ..... hopefully that'll be enough to get my colony up and running pretty quickly as I have 4 beardies comin soon !!!


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## kez30 (Jun 15, 2008)

Might be an idea to get some smaller sizes too or there will be a big gap between the adults having babies and those babies reaching adulthood themselves to breed.


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## SteFANNY162 (Oct 28, 2010)

What see did you get them from?
I need some more!


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Speak to a fella called FireDragon on here he may be able to sort you out at good prices, how long does it take for a Dubai Roach to reach sexual maturity?


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## FrankSpencer (Apr 7, 2009)

I hated the idea of them in the house when I decided to start a colony - now they are joint favs...minimal imput needed, no noise, smell, can't climb, eat fresh scraps, breed regularly and don't put any further drain on my leccy bill as they just live on top shelf of airing cupboard in the dark.

I started with about 30, mixture of sizes, parked them in cupboard, left them be and within a month or so there were tiny babies running around the tank.

And my rotation had begun :lol2:


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

Nigel_wales said:


> Speak to a fella called FireDragon on here he may be able to sort you out at good prices, how long does it take for a Dubai Roach to reach sexual maturity?


5-6 months


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

imginy said:


> 5-6 months


thanks mate


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

I've just got my Dubai roaches and after about 2 hours there's loads of them "mating" so fingers crossed ive got things right and ill have a good colony going ! 

What is the best consistancy to have the water gel crystals???


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

How much water gel will depend on how many roaches you have and what diet they are on and what temps they are at. So to work out how much they need give them some on a dish every other day and if they still have some left on the dish 2 days later throw it away and replace but this time give them less, if they have eaten it all in 2 days give them a bit more until you can work out how much they need.
With my roaches I don't use water gel as I feed them wet chicken food and fruit and veg and they get all the water they need from this and if you are planning on breeding a lot of roaches cutting out water gel will save you money.

But as with all food and water gel if it isn't eaten with in 2 days it needs to be thrown away to prevent mold.


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

imginy said:


> How much water gel will depend on how many roaches you have and what diet they are on and what temps they are at. So to work out how much they need give them some on a dish every other day and if they still have some left on the dish 2 days later throw it away and replace but this time give them less, if they have eaten it all in 2 days give them a bit more until you can work out how much they need.
> With my roaches I don't use water gel as I feed them wet chicken food and fruit and veg and they get all the water they need from this and if you are planning on breeding a lot of roaches cutting out water gel will save you money.
> 
> But as with all food and water gel if it isn't eaten with in 2 days it needs to be thrown away to prevent mold.


 
Ok mate cheers for the advice! What temps are best for Dubai roaches?


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## madavies65 (Jan 21, 2009)

I keep mine at 90F at the 'hot' end and around 80ish in the cool for optimum breeding conditions


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

madavies65 said:


> I keep mine at 90F at the 'hot' end and around 80ish in the cool for optimum breeding conditions


I aim for the same temperatures as these but it can vary a little through out the year : victory:


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

cool cheers ! I'll have to get a thermostat in as ive just got a heat mat for now....


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Can anyone recommend a cheap thermostat I can get for use with my roaches?


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

most mat stats are cheap! I think I have one to sell if your interested? Its a Habistat mat stat? Ill pm you a price if you like?


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## JonathanB (Dec 18, 2008)

I don't use a stat with my roaches, just have a small heat mat stuck on the outside of a tub.
Also never give them water or gel, if feed them quite a bit of fruit and they do fine on that.


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## FrankSpencer (Apr 7, 2009)

JonathanB said:


> I don't use a stat with my roaches, just have a small heat mat stuck on the outside of a tub.
> Also never give them water or gel, if feed them quite a bit of fruit and they do fine on that.


Virtually the same except no heat mat - top shelf of airing cupboard. No gel etc just veg cuttings. Cheap free non smelly breeding food :2thumb:


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Approaching 3 weeks nearly and still no babies, 200 females and about 100 males had to remove 100 males because there was to much scrapping going on, I've seen a few doing it also lol! I'm only going in the rub once every two days to replace veg, water gel crystals etc. Temps are spot on! When do you think I should expect to see little ones running around, there are some really big females in there two so I'm assuming they are carrying some lil dubias!


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