Roaches

On the subject of roaches and protein, studies have shown that female hissers prefer high protein diets (presumably for reproduction) whereas male hissers prefer high carbohydrate diets (to supply energy for territorial activity). The best thing to do rather than selecting one type of diet or worse, a premade diet, is to offer different types of foods.

Have a pile of grounded dog food or fish flake food (hissers seem to like that over dog food), a few scraps of fresh bread, cereal, some romaine lettuce or other veggies, and other types of fruit. You don't really need to go out and buy all of this stuff for your roaches. But if you happen to be eating a banana or orange, share a few small pieces with your roaches. It also shouldn't be hard to snag some bread or cereal from the kitchen, or romaine lettuce from your bearded dragons.

Here's the key: Don't ground up all the ingredients together. That defeats the purpose of self-selection. The roaches will choose what they need. There is substantial evidence showing that roaches are capable of balancing themselves nutritionally when they select their diets. But you have to offer them a choice of different foods. You shouldn't assume that a newborn nymph is going to have the same dietary needs as a gravid female or a robust male and keep it all the same for all of them.

Now with that said, hissers are some tough roaches. Once you get them started, they will breed even under dismal conditions. If you're having problems though, it may be more of a set-up issue. A cage with lots of hides are necessary to enable the females to feel more secure and to also let the males duke out who's the top dog.

If any of you are interested in checking out the studies I've mentioned, I have sources cited on my site under the FAQ.

Thanks Olivia, that was very helpful. So you are saying I should give them the dog/cat food I'm looking for with the 'right' nutrition and then all kinds of scraps too. I think I will probably go with dog/catfood, oatmeal, and occassional scraps, does that sound good? Does the dog food have to be ground up? How about the oatmeal? How finely?

Shrap, are you saying that dog/catfood would really be better for worms substrate/feed? Would I need to grind it up?

Do superworms have enough chitin to be dangerous or even unhealthy for lizards such as bearded dragons when used as a primary insect?

Thanks so much!

Originally Posted by Chris Steele

Shrap, are you saying that dog/catfood would really be better for worms substrate/feed? Would I need to grind it up?

I personally have never used dog cat food with worms. So I have nothing to base an opinion on concerning this. But any bedding/food you keep worms in needs to be ground up. Large chunks of things would not work well.

Originally Posted by Chris Steele

Do superworms have enough chitin to be dangerous or even unhealthy for lizards such as bearded dragons when used as a primary insect?

Thanks so much!

Supers are a much better feeder than mealies from a chitin standpoint. They are a bit softer bodied and have a much better meat to shell ratio.

on another housing note, where do you get egg carton sheets from?

I had no idea so I went to a layer chicken house haha.

Originally Posted by RowingMunkeyCU

on another housing note, where do you get egg carton sheets from?

If you are wanting them in small quantities I sell them as do many places like MG Reptiles, Reptayls, etc. In large quantities the only place I know of is eggcartons.com.

why are the common roaches we see everyday not bred for feeders? They look juicier and softer than the ones that you can buy..