How to Breed Woodies (Wood Roaches)
Breeding your own woodies is one of the most cost-effective ways to keep a steady supply of feeder insects in Australia, and it's more achievable than most keepers expect. With the right container, ratio, and conditions, a small starter colony can become self-sustaining within a 4-6 Months.
This guide covers exactly what a breeding setup needs. For general day-to-day care, see our woodie care guide.
Quick answer: Use a smooth-sided tub with egg cartons, good ventilation, and a dry environment. Don't forget woodies are great climbers, so use something like our Insect Barrier Oil to stop them scaping.
The goal is to leave the colony alone (don't feed from it) until it completes one full life cycle. AKA - When your first babies become adults. Once this happens, you'll have all life stages continuously, creating a self-sustaining colony.
Basic Breeding Setup
Your breeding colony needs four things to get going:
- A smooth-sided plastic tub with a slippery barrier to stop them escaping (Reptifauna Insect Barrier Oil, Fluon or Vaseline).
- Egg cartons stacked to add surface area, so more roaches can shelter in a small footprint
- Good ventilation, since stagnant air speeds up mould and die-off
- A dry environment overall, with moisture coming only from fresh food, or crystals, not standing water
Male to Female Ratio
Male woodies fight and are very territorial, but unfortunately it's not super easy, or time efficient, to sex woodies. In an ideal world you would want 3-5 females for every male, but it's too much effort to bother with this.
Just leave your ratio a random mix, but expect you may have some adults die from male to male stress. You may also notice some adults with chewed wings. This is unfortunately normal and to be expected.
Temperature and Feeding for Breeding
Warmer, stable conditions speed up breeding activity, while fluctuating or cold temperatures slow it down significantly. For exact ranges, see our best temperature for woodies guide.
Feed your breeding colony the same way you would a regular colony — a dry, nutrient-dense feed with fresh vegetables a few times a week — but keep portions slightly more generous, since a productive colony has more mouths to feed. Gut-loading matters even more here, since it affects the next generation too; see our guide on how to gut load feeder insects.
Scaling the Colony and What to Expect
Once your conditions are right, patience matters more than intervention — consistent conditions lead to steady results. Woodies once adults, should have babies within 30-60 days.
As numbers grow, scale up gradually — move to a larger tub before the colony is overcrowded, not after. Overcrowding is one of the fastest ways to stall a breeding colony, alongside inconsistent temperature and excess moisture. See our guide on common woodie care mistakes for the full list of what derails a colony.
Starting Your Colony
A healthy starter colony makes all the difference. At Reptifauna we ship live woodies across Australia (excl. WA & TAS) in a range of sizes:
Browse the full range in our woodies collection.
Final Thoughts
Breeding woodies comes down to getting four things right — containment, ratio, temperature, and patience. Get those in place and a small starter colony will reliably turn into a consistent feeder supply.
For the full day-to-day care picture, see our woodie care guide, or browse the complete guide to feeder insects in Australia to compare all your options.