Dubai roaches need different types of food to be healthy.  When keeping roaches one of the most important things is diet.  You have heard the saying, you are what you eat. That is very true for roaches.  You must keep in mind that these roaches come from the rain forest, so they are used to eating food that is rotting.  One of the most common mistakes people make is to feed their roaches food meant for other animals, like cat food, dog food or even fish flakes.  Of those, probably fish flakes would have the most nutritional value close to what the roaches need.  While the roaches will probably live off those foods, they will not thrive as they would off a diet more suited to their needs.  

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Dubai roaches need fresh produce. Things like potatoes, apples, carrots, bananas, greens and oranges are excellent food sources.  They contain many vitamins.  It is important to note that if you are raising your roaches as food sources for certain reptiles, especially chameleons, you should remove citrus off the menu for the roaches at least one week prior to the gut load.  These foods also contain liquid, which is vital because roaches cannot drink water out of a dish, they will drown.  So you must provide another source or sources for liquid.  Some people find that the vegetables can provide enough liquid, but most people also supplement with water crystals.  You can purchase water crystals at pet stores and also in plant sections of hardware or retail stores. You place the crystals in a container of water, let them absorb the water, and then they can be placed in the enclosure.  The roaches can get the liquid from the crystals without drowning.  

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In addition to produce, I use a commercial roach food.  This saves the trouble of trying to figure out what they like and what additional nutrients are necessary for the roaches.  Roach chow usually consists of unprocessed grains.  You can also give them some processed grain based food like bread or dry oatmeal, especially if you have some sitting around or have bread about to go bad or you don’t like to eat the heel.  Other good food sources could include soy beans, flax seed, alfalfa, strawberries, bee pollen, and yams.  Avoid kiwis, they are bad for them.  Also food that contains a lot of protein can be bad for them.  Foods like dog and cat food and meat contain protein.  Protein is bad for the roaches because it causes them to produce uric acid, which can be harmful to our cold blooded friends, the lizards which eat these roaches.  Because of the heat and humidity in the enclosure, it is important to keep an eye on the amount of food you place in the container and how long you leave it in there.  You don’t want the food to spoil or get moldy.  This can affect the health of your roaches.  You may also get an invasion of fruit flies which can cause their own issues.

Like every other creature that is raised in an enclosure, cockroaches need to be cleaned up after.  Dubais produce droppings called frass or poop.  They also shed the exoskeletons when the grow larger.  And there are some that will die.  These need to be removed.  The enclosure should be cleaned every 2 – 3 weeks depending upon colony size.  You should remove all contents, especially the debris containing frass and dried exoskeletons.  These is also a problem with bacteria and mold growth when you have the warm, wet environment that is needed for the Dubais to flourish.  When you have a tropical environment that contains feces, dead roaches and moisture, you have a good environment for bacteria and it can cause a colony to go bad quickly.  You should replace the entire contents putting in new egg crate and dirt at the bottom.  

So how do you make sure that all the roaches are transferred to their newly cleaned home?  This works best if you have a second enclosure already set up and you transfer the roaches.  Carefully pick up the egg crates and bring them to the new enclosure.  Holding the crates inside the enclosure, shake off the roaches.  Try not to let any of them escape during this process.  

Then you have to go through the dirt to find any remaining roaches.  It helps to have a sifter or netting to put the dirt in to sift through and find the roaches.  This can be a little messy, but important step.  Finally, when you have transferred all the roaches, replace the petroleum jelly on the top of the cleaned enclosure.  You again want to give them fresh food.  

It is a good idea to have a separate trash can for disposal of the debris.  You want to put a pest killing strip or agent into the container.  That way, if any roaches were missed, they will be killed and not escape into your house.  Leave the material in the trash can for a few days to ensure that there are no live escapees.  

There are other cleaning options.  Some roach keepers decide to use a Dermestid beetles and larva as “cleaner crews”.  These beetles eat waste and dead Dubai roaches. These cleaner crews save a lot of time and effort if you are raising a lot of roaches. They even eat left over food before it can spoil.  It is important to monitor the number of beetles that you have.  You don’t want too many, or they may start eating the live roaches. Also, you don’t want them to escape your enclosures either.  They can eat almost anything, including clothing, food, carpet, and wood.  This could include your floors or walls.  So you don’t want them loose in a house.  By using a cleaner crew, you are trying to create a sustainable ecosystem.  If you keep everything balanced, your roaches will live and flourish in a warm, moist environment.  The cleaning crew is like the “scrubbing bubbles”, they do the work for you. 

Why would anyone in there right mind intentionally allow Roaches to live in there space with them? Well if you keep Reptiles, primarily Lizards, then you might want to breed your own feeder roaches.  They are one of, if not the best, food source out there.The Dubai Roach is packed full of easy to digest protein. I know what you are thinking; aren’t all bugs full of protein?  Yes, but Dubai roaches contain more protein that many other sources, and they also provide other nutrients that are not found in other food sources.

Meal worms for example are the novice lizard keepers go to.  This is an issue for our Cold blooded companions. Yes it is true meal worms are far cheaper and easier to get than Dubai’s. However mealworms are harder for lizards to breakdown because of there hard exoskeleton or “shell” that is made out of a substance called chitin.  This shell can cause some very costly bad issues, the best of which is an intestinal impaction. The worst being death.   It can even cause your Pet to be Over weight because mealworms are not only hard to digest,but they are high in fat so lizards get fat too.  

Crickets are another possible food source some people use. I don’t like them because they can escape more easily, they make noise, and they stink.  They also are less available currently because they have been plagued by a cricket virus.  Even when they are available, they don’t contain as much protein as roaches. Crickets can also carry pinworms, which are not carried by Dubai roaches.  

For these reasons, I prefer Dubai roaches as a feeder source.  Additionally, Dubai roaches can be gut-loaded more easily and efficiently than crickets.  Gut-loading is done 24 – 48 hours prior to being fed to a lizard.  Gut-loading means feeding a prey item more nutritious foods prior to them being fed off.  This is so that the animal consuming them will get a greater nationals value.  Depending upon the animal they are fed to, the diet may vary a bit.  They make a commercial product designed for this feeding process or you can make your own.  Generally speaking, you want this food to be high in vegetable, and stay away from beans, citrus, and meat.  It is important to note that your pet will be only as good as the food you feed it, so raising your own food puts you in greater control of their diet.

However, it is work to raise roaches.  You will need a large enclosure in which to keep your roaches.  You want to be sure that the roaches will not escape.  And that they will have enough room to breed and they need to have air.  A fish tank or plastic tub will work.  Dubai roaches do not have claws like the American cockroach or hissing cockroach, so they do not climb as well as these other types of roaches.  That being said, they are still roaches and have a surprising ability to escape. Havingsmooth sides on the enclosure is a good deterrent to escape.  Additionally, I like to rim the top of my enclosure with petroleum jelly as a second like of defense.  The enclosure should have a lid that allows some air flow, but again does not allow escape.