Feeding Dubia Roaches

Last Updated on July 11, 2021 by Jeffery Jago

There are a few things you need to know when it comes to feeding your Dubai roaches.

You can view their diet information here. Learn about keeping dubia roaches here.

Dubia roaches will get most of their water intake from fresh greens, vegetables, and fruit.

Some people also opt to add a drinking sponge with their roaches. If you decide to do that, keep in mind it will need to be changed every 3-5 days. You don’t want it to be moldy or rancid, so try to change it accordingly.

While you shouldn’t offer your Dubia roaches plain water, (certain circumstances allow for a very shallow water dish) you should consider if they are getting enough from what you are feeding them and if you use a sponge or not.

An alternative to a water sponge is water crystals formulated specifically for insects.

Wet food should be removed within 24 hours of placing it in the enclosure or risk mold growth and bacteria spreading around.

It’s important to avoid giving them too much protein. Some protein is good, however, the excess protein will cause them to produce uric acid. This isn’t inherently bad for the roach itself, but it can cause issues to the animal that is consuming the roach.  

Ulric acid is toxic to birds.  Birds who are fed Dubia roaches regularly can develop kidney failure or gout.

Even higher levels of uric acid can cause joint pain in dogs and cats, so avoid allowing your pets to consume large amounts of roasted insects as a treat.

Lizards and reptiles are also affected negatively by excess uric acid in their diet. It can cause a type of cardboard or porridge-like diarrhea that will require medical attention if it persists too long.  Long-term exposure to high levels of uric acid has been shown to increase the risk for malignancies.  

So as you can see it’s important to keep the protein levels down. If you don’t intend to feed your roaches to animals right away, and just wish them to breed, an increase of protein may be necessary.

It’s also important that any food added to the enclosure should be on top of its own dish to avoid mixing with frass or making the rest of the enclosure overly damp. Mold is the enemy.

Some people will add a supplement to their Dubia roaches diet. Just sprinkle it onto whatever food they happen to be eating.