# Thermostat and heat pad for dubias



## Rosiebelle84 (Nov 10, 2016)

Hi im setting up a roach colony and I'm interested to know how you all heat them thanks


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## Blackmelo (Jan 12, 2009)

Hi Rosie,
when it comes to heating I would generally never advise to heat from underneath as it dries out the medium and can generate hot spots. When it comes to dubia roaches though it really doesn't matter too much.
These guys love a heatmat placed directly underneath to absorb most heat.
I have a polystyrene insulation board underneath and never had a problem, a 30 watt heatmat is overkill for roaches I think so that should be placed to the side to let excess heat be wasted off to the sides.
These guys can breed down to as low as 20 degrees celcius and will happily survive for years at 16 degrees c - they stop growing at this temp and thus live for a long long time in suspended growth.
Anyway although they can breed at lower temps it can take a lot lot longer with optimal temp being 28 degrees but tbh I've never had to keep any colony that hot because the breeding rates really explode at those temps.

Unlike what most people think or say about dubia roaches, they NEED moisture. Not high humidity - the lower the better, I have no lid on my cages but they do need constant access to water. They will breed without water but the amount of water they get will determine how much they breed, and food too of course but they like to drink a lot and they even like to store water like camels for when there is a draught.
Providing water without them drowning, that is the tricky part. For small colonies a small tray fiilled with a shallow amount of water and covered with squashed up toilet paper to stop any drowning will do.

Did you manage to find a starter colony? So I don't know if you knew or not but breeding dubia is a long run thing.
When I first started I thought I could maybe get going in a few months.
Thing is dubias are relatively slow growing for an insect. I've had dubia live for over 3 years here in the past.
The fastest I've managed to get them from baby to mature adults has been 6 months which if you think about it is a pretty long time. If their temperature dips or becomes unsteady or they get stressed this can easily go up to a whole year.
Once established a colony will be endlessly supplying new roaches though and is so easy to maintain. Just chuck in a bit of food and water once a week and maybe clean them once in a while. 

I have found that the best staple diet of dubia's should be oats. Ontop of that they need a good high protein animal feed, like dog food, cat food or chicken feed. Thats pretty much it. They love fruit but don't need it.


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