# Dubia roaches - appropriate tub size + heat mat? Where to buy?



## midnighttuck

Hi all,

I'm looking at setting up breeding some Dubias...I've read most of the guides etc, and know that basically I need heat mats, a large tub, egg crates, and so on.

I'm quite new to reptiles in general, having just got 2 leopard geckos recently from the classifieds, but once my colony is established, I plan to get a few more lizards.

As far as I can tell, I seem to be requiring a 35litre or larger tub for the roaches

I'm mainly wondering though.........can anyone recommend the best value place to get a suitable RUB/Tub from and ideal size? The tubs will be kept in the house, so have to be pretty secure to stop the missus (and me ) from worrying about them escaping.

Also, would appreciate it if someone can also point to a recommended heat mat/size of heat mat to make sure get hot enough? As from what I can tell, need to make sure it is set to regular the heat to a fixed temp, and not just be on full pelt (or get a thermostat I guess)

So basically, I'm after help in sourcing the best place to get the right size tub, and heat mats/tape, that will be ideal/easy to fit, and aren't massively overpriced either 

Thanks guys,
Tuck


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## StaneyWid

Dubia Cockroach Colony Over 5000 - YouTube

Its simple! :notworthy:
Best advice i can give is plenty of Ventilation!Its prob the most important part that people mess up on :no1:


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## midnighttuck

hmmmm....never thought of using an Exo Terra glass cabinet. A little bit more money than a tub, but easier to apply a heat mat to it I guess.

Mind, suppose at least a plastic tub can be coloured, and non seethrough, therefore hide them from sight of freaking out the inlaws when they visit  (but then again..... :devil

I thought they needed relative dark too?


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## StaneyWid

Money well spent! Ive moved them to a 3ft exo now n got a 5ft fish tank full as well :2thumb:

Fastest ive seen them breedin is in the Exo! Great Results! 

No matter what use a roof tho! I learned the hard way that males can fly for short distances :whistling2:


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## midnighttuck

thanks - I may have to consider an Exo for it then  Maybe a little more expensive than I was initially looking for, but at least its all together.....mind....can the babies not squeeze through the gap in the doors?


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## midnighttuck

I'm guessing these tubs would be good

Storage Box And Lid Clear 80L | Storage Boxes with Lids | | Plastic Storage from Wilkinson Plus

and find some heat mat that will wrap around it well........still being a noob to reptiles hard to find exactly what I'm looking for mind. I searched heat mats at Seapets, and only results were Exo Terra ones which I'm guessing would be way too small to wrap around the sides


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## StaneyWid

Egg cartons fit perfectly to point leaves enuff gap for gel crystal bowl and food bowl to sit!

So unless they make mini roach hand gliders i cant see them getting out!

Only escapees ive ever had were males,n that was due to me being a chicken nugget and not putting a roof on it :whistling2:


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## midnighttuck

is this the kind of heat strip I'd need?

Habistat Heat Strip 30w (47in x 6in) - Surrey Pet Supplies

Give or take size dimensions.......to go vertically around a tub like the wilkinson ones (or similar 84l RUB). I presume these are flexible to be wrapped around?


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## zzxxy

midnighttuck said:


> I'm guessing these tubs would be good
> 
> Storage Box And Lid Clear 80L | Storage Boxes with Lids | | Plastic Storage from Wilkinson Plus


Those ones DON'T have shiny corners so the roaches can climb up. 

I use the black 45l and 65l boxes from IKEA. I but two tubs and one lid. I tape a heat mat to the outside of one of the tubs. Wrap that tub in bubble wrap and then put that inside the other one. I then cut two holes in the lid down the middle ( one at each end ) which are about a third each of the length of the lid. Plug in the heat and wait for them to breed! You can also add a thermostat to this kind of setup. 
They also do clips for the lid for the samla range to help prevent escapees!
SAMLA series - IKEA


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## midnighttuck

doh...typical....I'd bought one of them wilko 80l tubs a week or 2 back, and a "Habistat Heat Mat 42w (35in x 11in)" to go around, which was just delivered the other day, so in the process of sourcing somewhere to buy a decent amount.

I can see exactly what you mean about the corners of the tubs not being smooth though.......doh!!

Hmmmm, have to reconsider my options now lol. Having bought a 35 x 11 heat mat, will have to make sure whatever I get can use that size to best of ability.....maybe an official RUB brand of similar size........tub inside a tub too a great idea, so the bubble wrap is a cavity wall insulation in effect.....though again have to find something of a similar size


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## Bab1084

midnighttuck said:


> I'm guessing these tubs would be good
> 
> Storage Box And Lid Clear 80L | Storage Boxes with Lids | | Plastic Storage from Wilkinson Plus
> 
> and find some heat mat that will wrap around it well........still being a noob to reptiles hard to find exactly what I'm looking for mind. I searched heat mats at Seapets, and only results were Exo Terra ones which I'm guessing would be way too small to wrap around the sides


I use one of those but with the flip top lids, i have unclipped one side of the flip top lid and have covered it with a piece of netting secured in place with a couple of hair clamps :lol2: ive never had any escapees. I also dont have anything heating the container as they are in a warm room and breed fast enough for me to feed from as i only have the one beardie and 6 Slings


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## midnighttuck

possibilities.......what do you mean by flip top lid tho?

Where did you get the netting from? certainly if I am going to use this tub, it'll be worth me getting a netting of some sort, but not sure how fine it should be.

At the moment, it's only for 1 beardie, and 2 leopard geckos, but there will hopefully be a few more cresties to that pile soon.......I still hope to have too many to use though, but at least I can just pass on some of my spares then


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## Bab1084

midnighttuck said:


> possibilities.......what do you mean by flip top lid tho?
> 
> Where did you get the netting from? certainly if I am going to use this tub, it'll be worth me getting a netting of some sort, but not sure how fine it should be.
> 
> At the moment, it's only for 1 beardie, and 2 leopard geckos, but there will hopefully be a few more cresties to that pile soon.......I still hope to have too many to use though, but at least I can just pass on some of my spares then


The lid has a hinge down the middle so i have detatched one half
Wilko Flip Top Box 40L 57.5ccm x 38.5cm x 27.5cm | NA | | Plastic Storage from Wilkinson Plus

I have the bigger tubs though i think the ones i have are either 65litre or 80 litre


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## midnighttuck

aah gotcha. Easier than cutting a hole in it with them then.

I'll probably cut a hole in the centre area of our main lid, less chance of escapes then as they'd have to either push up the lid sides, or walk upside down to the centre area...presuming I still use this 80l tub. Where do people get their appropriate sized mesh from?


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## Bab1084

ebay sell it but to be honest a piece of net curtain glued round the hole works just the same


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## Dannyk79

I have used this before on a previous Dubia colony and it worked a treat..
Halfords | David's ISOPON Aluminium Mesh

Danny


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## midnighttuck

nice one - other half will probably be happier feeling safer with it being metal 

thanks


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## Dannyk79

No worries :2thumb:


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## Dubia82

Fly/Mosquito netting is cheap and found in most DIY/Household shops and fine for Dubia. I'd just make sure to get one that wasn't soaked in chemicals.

If you can't get what you want at Halfords, the likes of B&Q should also sell Aluminium mesh at low cost... and as another member said, ebay also has it cheap.


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## midnighttuck

cool thanks - just realised that could possibly use the other halfs stinky old tights too  poor roaches(!)

Got a mate who works at school, so hopefully he can get me a load of cardboard egg cartons....I have a few smaller ones, but most of the bigger ones I've bought have tended to be made out of plastic which I'm guessing probably aren't suitable for climbing reasons etc


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## Dubia82

Yeah lol.. tights should be fine.

Like you guessed, the plastic/polystyrene cartons aren't any good. 

Most fruit and veg shops will look at you stangely if you ask then happily hand over what they have when they realise you're serious.

I buy mine in batches... I get about 150/160 trays for about £25 inc delivery. Delivery being about £8 of that.


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## midnighttuck

good thinking - ask our local veg shop when the other half gets some more rabbit food etc :2thumb: if my mate can't get me any from the primary school they work at......thats if we're not flooded in for the next week!!


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## henney2280

midnighttuck said:


> good thinking - ask our local veg shop when the other half gets some more rabbit food etc :2thumb: if my mate can't get me any from the primary school they work at......thats if we're not flooded in for the next week!!


there was a guy selling fully mature dubia coloneys in st helens for £55 have a look in the feeder section of the classifieds i bought one off him and am extremly happy with the purchase :2thumb: hope this helps


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## midnighttuck

yeah I saw that......sadly can't post, and its a 3hr each way journey going by google maps from mine.

There was another guy selling reasonably close too and could post but seem unable to get a reply after a week or so. Another guy is selling small sized (bug size that is) - maybe have to contact him see if he's letting some larger ones go too, so don't have to wait a few months for it to establish itself


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## zzxxy

The 4 cup holder trays from McDonald's etc. work quite well too so i'm told.. :whistling2:


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## Bab1084

midnighttuck said:


> cool thanks - just realised that could possibly use the other halfs stinky old tights too  poor roaches(!)
> 
> Got a mate who works at school, so hopefully he can get me a load of cardboard egg cartons....I have a few smaller ones, but most of the bigger ones I've bought have tended to be made out of plastic which I'm guessing probably aren't suitable for climbing reasons etc


Ebay also sell egg trays, get them cheap enough i think i paid around £6 for 20 trays inc delivery  the more you buy the cheaper they are but i only have a small colony so the 20 trays were more than enough 


Also incase anyone was interested i seen 160litre storage boxes on asda :2thumb: They are out of stock at the minute (wernt yesterday)
Wham Box And Lid - Clear - 160 Litre | Plastic Storage | ASDA direct


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## midnighttuck

Well I bought some 500 little roachs from Gecko Mick on here....just arrived today.

I saw that Asda were selling 80 litre tubs for only £5, and had smooth corners unlike the wilkos one, so got one of them too.

Ideally, with this number of smaller roaches, a smaller tub would have been better, but the heat mat I have is a Habistat Heat Mat 42w (35in x 11in)....so would've been way too big on a small tub. I've wrapped this around the sides of the tub instead of underneath as heard this was more efficient.

On the lid, I've cut approx 5"x9" hole, covered with some stinky old tights superglued onto it. I've put that hole area to the cooler side, thinking that may perhaps be more efficient than directly over the heat corner (easy to just turn around if not)

Main concern with heat mat being on side, is it doesn't exactly make a permanent connection all the time. I mean, it does where I've taped it on edges, but there is obv some flex in the middle areas which are nigh on impossible to stop just minimised as much as I can.

I've just got 3 smaller sized egg cartons in there for now, and 3 or 4 loo/kitchen rolls, so not much height or depth but should be good for the amount of roaches that are in there now and can expand as and when.

I may have to look at increasing efficiency by finding a suitable sized larger tub that it will fit into, wrapped in towels or bubble wrap as others suggested earlier.

Looks like its working, been plugged in for about 40 mins or so, and heats risen inside from 75f to about 81 so far, but lid has only been on for past 10-15mins.

Not sure whats best for putting food on. At moment, I used a nesquik milkshake tub lid, gave it a quick rub with sandpaper inside and out, and have a few carrot bits on that, and the same with a milk bottle lid, with some water crystals in. Beforehand I chucked 2 or 3 roaches into it, and they seemed to climb out and down the side without too much bother. How far away from the egg crates should I keep the food trays?


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## Bab1084

i was using a cricket box lid for my food but the roaches dragged it all off anyway so i ended up just chuckin it on top of the egg crates, as long as its not soggy foods like tomatoes or oranges i find its ok. 

Dont worry about the rub being a bit big at the min if you give them a couple of months they will have grown loads and need the space, plus each female roach can have 40 babies a month so you will have loads in the next 6 months or so


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## midnighttuck

cheers 

quick look and its now at 84 - so slowly getting there.

Being quite new to reptiles etc in general, not sure how fast these heat mats speed things up, but so far so good.

I do have a ministat 100, that I'll connect to it, but just have the heat mat plugged direct in for now, while see how hot it reaches in there


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## midnighttuck

stupid question alert.....

I've taped the heat mat (on the outside of tub), with the gold coloured metal border pointing to the inside of the tub.

Is this the correct way round to do it? I can feel quite a bit of heat coming out on the all-black side, less so on the other side, but at same time of course that is spreading through the plastic so it would naturally be less I guess.

Or does it make no difference?


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## Bab1084

I dont have a heat mat on mine as the room there in is really warm plus i only need mine for my beardie and they breed fast enough without so I couldnt tell you off the top of me head.

If your worried about heat loss get some polystyrene sheeting and tape it over the heat mats it helps reflect the heat back into the rub


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## caine7

Hi do you need a ministat on the heat mat for the roaches? Is a 7w heat mat big enough to heat a 60l plastic tub


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## midnighttuck

well so far I haven't put a stat on yet.

I think ambient room temp is about 75f at moment, and inside my 80l tub (with a 42w mat wrapped around the sides, its reading 85-88 ambient inside the tub (temp/humidity reader is clipped half way up the tub), and around 45-50% humidity

That being said, my current setup is far from ideal........too big a tub with too few roaches for now.......and need to ideally get a bigger tub and look at insulating it with bubble wrap or old towels etc......then I'd probably need to use a stat, but at least should cut heating costs.

They seem to be doing well at the moment at least, opened up earlier and they definately like to huddle together...so even the very few egg cartons I've got now are more than enough till colony grows.

Will have to take some pics of the setup for a mini blog, and hopefully get some pointers for changing it

A bit of a pain seeing the odd critter on its back and turning them the right way up once in a while - they seem content to just lay upside down at random areas


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## zzxxy

caine7 said:


> Hi do you need a ministat on the heat mat for the roaches? Is a 7w heat mat big enough to heat a 60l plastic tub


The size of the mat depends on how warm the room is. To be honest, 7watts for a 60l box doesn't seem worth it due to the physical dimensions of the mat. they're like 6in x 11in or something aren't they? you'd need to put that underneath the box with kitchen foil under the mat to have any kind of effect really.

It's best to have a stat just incase something goes wrong with the heat mat and it gets too hot / catches fire ( they can do sometimes ) but it's not essential for roaches. 

I normally affix my heatmat with the flat side of the plastic connector flush with the box. this would normally be the bottom if it were used in a viv. It doesn't seem to affect the heating of the container but then, mine is in two boxes and has insulated walls to deflect heat back in towards the inner box. Since doing it this way. My roach colony has increased significantly. And before anyone points it out... I did this back at the begining of the year before the summer and noticed i had a lot more babies wandering around in the tub after about 8 weeks! so it wasn't due to the summer "heat wave" we had :lol2:


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## switchback

Bought my rub from the range 4 quid I think it was. 
Egg cartons..... Go to your local butchers and ask there mine had loads and were happy to give them away / win!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and technology


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## midnighttuck

my friend managed to get me some from his local shop too - so have plenty of spares.

Only downside at the moment, I feel, is that having one full row of egg crates in an 80 litre tub probably a little bit too big for a comparatively small amount (500 babies)....as I read they like small confined spaces. I think they mostly stay together at least.

At night they come out to feed......but quickly disappear when the light in the room comes on (temporarily in the dining room), and reduced amount when the pc monitor in same room is turned on only. I generally probably see about 20 roaches at a time munching at the food. I'll have to find something I can wrap around the tub to keep some heat in, and make it more consistently darker for them

Mainly concerned that you don't really know for certain that they're managing to find the food, for those that are in the opposite corner.

Must admit, sad to say I'm enjoying breeding them though lol.....they seem to be starting to grow quite fast.....looking forward to it being established, and getting rid of horrid crickets


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## Dubia82

Don't worry too much... they'll find the food aslong as they can access it. they can go quite a while without food or water and even survive much lower temperatures than the suggested breeding temps.

Think of it this way... when the container is loaded with roaches, those little nymphs will still have to make the same journey to food/water dishes except they'll have to navigate through more roaches to do it.

If yours have a huge space then they probably will just take a little bit longer to get going.


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## midnighttuck

good point - thanks 

Other half thinks I'm a bit weird prefering to look at the roaches than the geckos 

Just hope by geckos/dragons actually like roaches.......reluctant to feed any off for yet till they grow to test, every one cave in and feed might have turned out to be a female and slowed my colony down lol


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