Best noncommercial roach food?

[AutopsySoldier]

Ok, I have dubias...not that many...mostly adults and a bunch of babies too small to feed my dragon so I'm waiting for them to grow up, and I have a question about food....

Is there anything I can buy from the grocery store....or might already have at home that my dubias will go crazy for?

I already have in there ground up dog and cat food, fish flakes...and Flukers High Calcium cricket diet and I've never caught any of my Dubias eating any of it. Not even with the lights off...or at 3 in the morming....I think they're eating though, since the poop piles keep increasing. But I was wondering if there was anything that that they go crazy for?

The only things I've seen them eat, without them caring if there's any light or not is bananas and a slice of bread. Put either one in there and the Dubias are all over it! But....that's not the "gut loading" kinda food I'd want to feed them.

 

[Litakat]

Mine go nuts for apples, but again, not particularly a gut loading food, just good stuff.

They do eat the ground up stuff. You just never see them. Think of it like candy. The regular food is great, but when you see something really delicious, you will go nuts for it

I don't think most roaches are crazy about any kind of gut load

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

You don't really notice them eating in smaller quantities. In large quantities they annihilate food in a matter of hours. Also make sure your temps are up. These guys get more of an appetite when they are nice and warm. Don't even bother w/ temp gradients either. They don't need em'. Warm, dark, and these guys will make you happy! And they have a sweet tooth. They go kookoo for Oranges as well.

-Ian
http://www.theroachranch.com

 

[AutopsySoldier]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, that all makes sense. I was just worried that they'll start eating each other or something, lol.

Yeah I've thrown apples and oranges in there, but I think it's probably what Ian said about not having a large quantity of them in there. The fruits usually go bad before they make a noticeable dent in it.

Well, thanks for the help guys!

 

[DragonsInKansas]

How many do you have in there?

 

[crazyseany]

I don't know if I'd listen to Ian or not.... I bought 120 large nymphs from him and now they are mostly gone! Now I have all these stinking ADULTS running around!

also of the Adults he gave me I've already had 3 clutches of babies.... ! Not bad for a week!


I only ever see a couple by the food but like you said maybe I just don't have enogh to make a large dent at one time....

sean

 

[DragonsInKansas]

I use non-medicated chicken feed as my roach food base. They absolutly love it, when i pour it in their dish they acutually come out in droves. I use that, cat food and tortosie pellets all ground up together. (i use the tortoise food just because i had it laying around, not for any magical reason) Then I of course add half an orange once a week.

 

[diggerdrake]

a thousand roaches will demolish an orange in a day or 2. most of my dubia are babies with about 50 adults. even still an orange won't last. I also have a couple hundred hissers that go crazy for fruits but veggies just sit there. the roach chow goes but at about the rate of 1/4 cup a week between the 2 colonies

 

[HYPORollo]

ive done a few diffrent recipes for chow and now what i make drives my roaches nuts when i fill the dish in the am around 9 by lunch time its gone i fill it again at night and when i get up in the mourning its all gone lol i use 6 diffrent things all ground up and i have three diffrent types of roaches and they all love it you just have to play around with diffrent stuff and just make a little bit at a time and try it out once you see them eat every thing up then stick with that recipe

 

[AutopsySoldier]

ive done a few diffrent recipes for chow and now what i make drives my roaches nuts when i fill the dish in the am around 9 by lunch time its gone i fill it again at night and when i get up in the mourning its all gone lol i use 6 diffrent things all ground up and i have three diffrent types of roaches and they all love it you just have to play around with diffrent stuff and just make a little bit at a time and try it out once you see them eat every thing up then stick with that recipe

Well hook a brotha up, what is it?

 

[kalipbean]

For chow I make a couple different batches at the same time to give them variety.

Heres some ingredients i use. Mix any of the below together in whatever amounts you want. I personally use a $10 coffee grinder from Wal-Mart.

Ferret Food
Kitten Food
Dog Bone Treats (Have tons of crude protein)
Baby Oatmeal
Baby Cereal
Fish food
Oatmeal

For fruit & veggie recipe I use an assortment of things and the roaches go absolutely crazy for it. When i put this mix on their dish, hundreds come out and you can no longer even see the fruit/veggies, its awesome.

I bought veggie chopper from Wal-mart, like 9 bucks, well worth it.

Veggies used
Collard Greens
Dandelion Greens
Mustard Greens
Any kind of squash
Carrots

Fruit used
Oranges (Use good amount in mix to promote breeding)
Apples
Grapefruit

Mix all in a veggie chopper and chop away until you have a nice diced mix. I use these little containers about 3 inches tall, and a 2 inches around. Put 2-3 containers in the roach colony every week. As far as "how much" of each thing, doesn't really matter but don't be stingy on the oranges!
Banana (Just a little bit)

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

I agree totally w/ the last poster Kalipbean. Grind, chop and cut any and all foods you offer and I'll tell you why. Roaches are constantly cleaning themselves because they need to keep their sensory bistles in prime working order. These sensory bristles sense where food, water, even help when it comes to mating. When you grind or chop something up it obviously increases the smell. This will help attracting the roaches. After that they'll pass the coordinates through the colony using pheromones, swarm on it, and eventually eat all the food, or in my case eat me out of house and home....

-Ian
http://www.theroachranch.com

 

[kalipbean]

I agree totally w/ the last poster Kalipbean. Grind, chop and cut any and all foods you offer and I'll tell you why. Roaches are constantly cleaning themselves because they need to keep their sensory bistles in prime working order. These sensory bristles sense where food, water, even help when it comes to mating. When you grind or chop something up it obviously increases the smell. This will help attracting the roaches. After that they'll pass the coordinates through the colony using pheromones, swarm on it, and eventually eat all the food, or in my case eat me out of house and home....

-Ian
http://www.theroachranch.com

Nice info Ian, good to know my precious time chopping isnt being wasted. With the chow i grind up about10-15lbs at a time and that lasts a good while in conjunction with the fruit/veggies. Invest in the chopper & grinder, well worth it. Feed those dubias like royalty, they'll pass that on to your little lizard friend =)

 

[RioReptiles]

Wow, that is cool to know! No wonder I can take the lid off the roach bin while holding a banana and the adult females start coming out like crazy before I put it in there. I make up about 6lbs of chow at a time and it lasts me a week. Each bin gets a quarter cup three or four times per day and it's gone within a couple hours. A whole banana is gone within an hour. I think all my roaches are about equal to owning a medium to large sized dog.

Oh... word to the wise... Don't stack your roach bins cutting off the air supply to the bottom bin over night. It's not pretty!

 

[switchitup813]

I have a compiled a list of ingredients on my blog.

http://dubiaroachguide.blogspot.com/

I hope that helps!