How do I keep dubias warm?

[Spikeshuman]

I have a fairly large dubia colony in the garage. My husband refuses to let them anywhere inside the house. Up till now it was fine... but it finally got cold in Texas. I have a heating pad from walgreens under them.. and that would work fine if it didnt auto shut off every 2 hours. Last night I lost several roaches. Does anyone have any better ideas for keeping them warm?? Thanks.

 

[Erok000]

could look an youtube for how to disable the timer on your brand of pad, thats what I did. Or look for one that doesnt auto shutoff, which I found to be impossible,lol. Ive read others using heating cables and UTH or CHE for our retiles as well! :study:

 

[Beardeddragonking15]

I have a flukers 7 watt heat pad on my dubias, and it keeps it around 80 degrees F on the side the heat pads on and cooler on the other side, this works really good for me and i havent lost any dubias yet, you can pick the flukers heat pads up at most reptile stores or stores like petsmart and petco. The heat will make them breed also so you will have a growing colony.

 

[Spikeshuman]

it wont melt the plastic bin??

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

I have a ZooMed heat pad strapped onto the side of my plastic dubia bin with electrical tape and I've never had any issues. It doesn't have an auto shut-off, but it only gets up to 80-90 degrees. It probably gets hotter than that in your garage in the summer... I live in Austin, so I know your pain lol! If you're really concerned about it, then alternatively you could cut a big hole in your dubia bin lid, cover with screen mesh (you can use a hot glue gun to secure it, or just tape) and then place a low wattage CHE (ceramic heat emitter) on top of the screen. But honestly I'd be more concerned about a CHE than I would be about a heat pad.

 

[Spikeshuman]

I checked out the heat pad yesterday.. the zoo med one that would fit my bin is like 35 bucks.. hoping that I can disable the timer on the walgreens one I have.. but if not thats what I will be getting.. thanks for the tips. Oh yeah.. and my garage in the summer is EVIL... we are in Killeen.. cant imagine Austin is any cooler.

 

[Spikeshuman]

My dubia are in a 15.5 gallon plastic bin from walmart. I bought the 8w zoomed UTH made for 10-20g terrariums. It seems very small for that bin. Will it really keep the whole bin warm?

 

[Burra]

Amazon has Sunbeam brand human heating pads that do not have auto shut off. I got one 2 months ago and it works great! I keep it on low, and no worries about melting the bin.

 

[Spikeshuman]

hmm i have had the sunbeam one I have on high.. wonder if im cooking roaches...

 

[Burra]

You might want to check your temps with it on high, but maybe your bin is big enough and has enough ventilation that high is OK...