Shipping Adult Dubia Roaches

Adult dubia roaches are currently one of my most popular items. But, these are very temperamental when shipping. Female dubia have a very low stress tolerance, this is why they are so delicate. When breeding, if they’re stressed, they will drop their Ootheca. When taking care of the adult dubia in your colony, be very gentle with them, do not drop them or toss them while you’re holding them. To put them down, put your hand next to an egg crate or the bottom of the tub and let them crawl off. 
When I ship dubia roaches, each and every order is hand counted. Yes, this takes a lot of time, but I like to be as accurate as possible and I try my best not to ship and “duds”. I also aim to pick the freshest adult possible. Ones that have not been pregnant yet or have just molted. I prefer to ship adults that are on their first pregnancy. These are slightly more hardy than the fresh molts because their exoskeletons have hardened. 

How to tell between a freshly molted adult roach and an old breeder?

Over time the adult female dubia will still grow. Males will as well but very slightly. Adult females can weigh as much as 2.8 grams at full size. I have seen one 3.1 gram female which was about ready to pop with babies. The average weight of an adult female dubia is 2.3 grams. Fresh females can weigh as little as 1.4g or less. Therefore, when choosing females for shipment, I pick them out of a grow out bin. No breeders come out of my personal breeding stock. Why? These typically have had a cycle or two of babies already as well as it will stress the rest of the bin reducing my production. 

What do the colors mean on a female dubia?

To this date, I have not been able to pinpoint what the colors on female dubia mean. Often you may see an all black dubia. You also may see a yellow and black dubia. From what I have learned in my personal observations as well as college science classes, I believe the more color a female has, the healthier they are. This does make sense with my observations as well. Most, not all pregnant females tend to have the yellow stripes. Smaller pregnant females tend not to have all the stripes. This may be due to lack of nutrition. I have also noticed that many freshly molted females do not have stripes yet. Could this be from molting and using all their energy to shed their old skin?

Picking dubia roaches for shipment

When I hand select adult dubia to ship out, I always add extra. (No, I am not one of those companies who will continuously add extras to beat the other shippers, you get what you order.) The reason I add extra is because I understand that there will be deaths in shipment. I often see about 5% dead on arrival (DOA). Therefore I aim to add a few extras. For example when I ship an order of 20 females and 5 males, I pack 22 females and 7 Males. I WRITE ON THE BAG how many I have packed. If one or two are DOA, the extras will make up for it. If none are dead, well then you get a bonus two roaches. In shipping, deaths can come from stress, cold USPS trucks, overheating USPS trucks, or males fighting and ripping each other to shreds in such a small space. 
Have you ordered dubia colonies in the past from me? Let me know how they are doing in the comments. I love to hear success stories!

Need adult dubia roaches? Click here -> ADULT DUBIA ROACHES FOR SALE