Need Help Starting Dubia Roach Colony

[JTF801]

I have a 1 year and a half year old bearded dragon named Gizmo. I want to start a dubia roach colony to save money and because I am planning to have more bearded dragons and other lizards in the future and think it would be a smart idea.

I've been planning to start a dubia roach colony for awhile now just trying to find the best price for setup and roaches. I already found where I am going to buy the roaches, their food, water, screen, and egg crates just need help on everything else. The only place I am allowed to have them is in my garage and I live in Utah so sometimes you never know on the weather haha. I"m planning on getting Flexwatt heat tape 11 inch and hook it up to a dimmer switch. I just have some questions.....
What size tote should I get?
For heating I want to get flexwatt heat tape but how longer should I get it?
Would 1 foot of it be enough?
What should I use to tape the flexwatt heat tape to the tote?
What is a cheap but good working digital thermometer with probe?
Finally I want to have my dubia roach bin on a wood stand. Would the flexwatt be fine against the wood on the bottom of the bin?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Trying not to spend over $80 dollars for everything. Thanks to all who reply and fill free to tell me your setups and/or give me links for the supplies.

 

[JTF801]

Also If anyone knows who sells dubia roaches, food, and water crystals on this site for a good price would be willing to buy from them instead of somewhere else.

 

[BabySkales]

I use a 50qt bin, but you can always go bigger. I don't have any experience with heat tape but I'm sure someone will chime in. I got all my roaches from theroachguy.com he has starter kits that pretty much come with everything minus the tote. Zoo med makes a digital probe thermometer and they cost roughly $8.

 

[JTF801]

Bump

 

[cathemall]

The tote should be 18-20 gallons, and the heat tape needs to go on the end and not the bottom so there is a temperature gradient and fire is not an issue. There is a lot of downloadable info on my website and if you have specific questions feel free to call or email http://www.southtexasdragons.com/