# Natural heat source for my dubia roach colony



## Spam010 (Jun 29, 2011)

My roach colony is getting small and I wanted my roaches to breed.  But my mom keeps the house temp at 70.  Not good breeding temp for the roaches obviously.  And I don't have enough money to buy those expensive heat pads that my PETCO sell...so I looked at my weather and its roughly around 90-95...so I thought to myself...why not put my roaches outside in the garage.  Now the garage has both doors open and has shade so if temps do go up higher I can put the roaches deeper into the garage...that was 2 days ago. I already saw a female laying eggs! I also put oranges for their food, I read that that also speeds breeding.  I'm checking the weather every now and than to see how the temp is doing and also going outside to check on my colony.  I will have baby roaches to feed my first brood of scropions 
(Note: Humitidy outside is around 65%)


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## xhexdx (Jun 29, 2011)

B. dubia don't lay eggs...they give live birth.


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## Spam010 (Jun 29, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> B. dubia don't lay eggs...they give live birth.


It looked like eggs, I've never seen dubia's giving birth


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## Meecht (Jun 29, 2011)

They create an ootheca which is an egg case, then the female will suck it back up inside her for incubation.


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## loxoscelesfear (Jun 29, 2011)

I would keep mine in a hot garage if I had to.  Shade is key.


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## MrCrackerpants (Jun 30, 2011)

Spam010 said:


> My roach colony is getting small and I wanted my roaches to breed.  But my mom keeps the house temp at 70.  Not good breeding temp for the roaches obviously.  And I don't have enough money to buy those expensive heat pads that my PETCO sell...so I looked at my weather and its roughly around 90-95...so I thought to myself...why not put my roaches outside in the garage.  Now the garage has both doors open and has shade so if temps do go up higher I can put the roaches deeper into the garage...that was 2 days ago. I already saw a female laying eggs! I also put oranges for their food, I read that that also speeds breeding.  I'm checking the weather every now and than to see how the temp is doing and also going outside to check on my colony.  I will have baby roaches to feed my first brood of scropions
> (Note: Humitidy outside is around 65%)


I use a cheap 23 foot ($17) heat cable with mine. My population is crazy high.


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## J Morningstar (Jun 30, 2011)

But remember heat cables, pads and other for bugs go, on the BACK of the tank, or all around the vertical outside if asthetics are not a concern. NOT the bottom. Insects burrow to escape heat putting it on the bottom of the tank is wrong and bad for your bugs.


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## Introvertebrate (Jul 1, 2011)

J Morningstar said:


> Insects burrow to escape heat putting it on the bottom of the tank is wrong and bad for your bugs.


Has anyone actually witnessed bugs burrowing towards heat?  I would think they're smarter than that.  An ant on hot pavement will try to get off the pavement.


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## Pssh (Jul 1, 2011)

My roaches that burrow, burrow to the cool end if they are warm. I dont see how using bottom heat is a problem since the bugs know which end is which.


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## JC (Jul 1, 2011)

Spam010 said:


> It looked like eggs, I've never seen dubia's giving birth


They do tend to abort oothecae if kept incorrectly. Aborted oothecae are the ones that are no longer attached to the female. These will not hatch.


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## MrCrackerpants (Jul 1, 2011)

J Morningstar said:


> But remember heat cables, pads and other for bugs go, on the BACK of the tank, or all around the vertical outside if asthetics are not a concern. NOT the bottom. Insects burrow to escape heat putting it on the bottom of the tank is wrong and bad for your bugs.


Never had a problem with the thin cables. The heating pads yes, cables no. I just stack the bins and put the cable in between.


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## J Morningstar (Jul 3, 2011)

Introvertebrate said:


> Has anyone actually witnessed bugs burrowing towards heat?  I would think they're smarter than that.  An ant on hot pavement will try to get off the pavement.


They aren't smart, they are instinctual, and going in and down gets away from heat going out in the sun or up gets heat. People have cooked scorps and other bugs by doing this. Almost always the substrate used for insects does not in most cases allow heat to rise through it and just cooks a small area near the glass bottom. Also if not a roach breeding enclosure, but a pet bug like a scorp, If you only use one half of the back of the enclosure the insect will be able to better regulate how hot or cool it is for it's own good.


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## akpropst (Jul 4, 2011)

I use a 6$ light fixture from lowes with a clamp duct taped to my bin so that its hot on the side I keep my egg crates on. They'll migrate from crate to crate depending on how hot they wanna be. My bin stays 82'ish and I see nymphs every few weeks. I started with about 130-150 mixed 2 1/2 months ago. Prolly have 500+ now. Wont be feeding from it for another 2 months. I am guessing it will reach the thousands by then. Don't count out your normal human heat pad for backs and injuries. Get a cheapo one with no timer to turn it off. Place it underneath as it poses no fire risk.


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