What's your thoughts on feeding a b.dubia colony with fish flakes?

[forfun]

I've had a success with my b.dubia colony that i feed to my T's. I feed the b.dubias with Fish flakes for growth and carrots/oranges for moisture.

I only give them a moderate dose of fish flakes every now and than.

What made me think if fish flakes are good or bad is that i read that a high protein diet for b.dubias can be bad for them(fish flakes is like 50% protein)

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

An occasional dose of fish flakes is good.

I use oats as the bulk of my dubias' diet. It's cheap and has a good moderate amount of protein.

 

[Ran]

Dubia, as with most roaches need some form of protein in their diet. Fish flakes/food is good, dry dog food (high protein), oats...etc...to supplement their diet of veggies and fruit.

 

[Dark]

I used to breed all my bugs exclusively on zucchini and fish flakes. Successfully had colonies of pure G portentosa, E javanica, B dubia, peppereds, S consefarium etc etc. Although the peppereds and the simandoas had dried leaves to munch on too. Developed and allergy to the bugs and got rid of everything. Good luck

Eric

 

[ErinM31]

I've had a success with my b.dubia colony that i feed to my T's. I feed the b.dubias with Fish flakes for growth and carrots/oranges for moisture.

I only give them a moderate dose of fish flakes every now and than.

What made me think if fish flakes are good or bad is that i read that a high protein diet for b.dubias can be bad for them(fish flakes is like 50% protein)

I don’t see why not. I give fish food kibbles to all of my roaches and millipedes who will eat them (an occasional food for the latter). It definitely should not be their only food; I believe they also require fresh produce and also some decayed wood and leaves.

I don’t know what the ideal ratio of macronutrients is. Does anyone?

 

[ErinM31]

An occasional dose of fish flakes is good.

I use oats as the bulk of my dubias' diet. It's cheap and has a good moderate amount of protein.

Do you know whether there have been complications from feeding dry oats (I’m assuming you don’t soak or cook them first)? Is there any risk of impaction?

 

[Beedrill]

For my dubia's I mix up Fish Flakes, Tadpole Food, Calcium Powder, Bearded Dragon Pellet Food, and Bird Seed as a "Dry Staple." Then I add various fruits and veggies (mainly the scraps from feeding my Bearded Dragons) for water. So yeah, I think Fish Flakes are fine as long as you still feed them fresh fruits and veggies as well. Heck I even toss in extremely small slivers of meat from time to time, and the roaches seem to appreciate that. They're pretty bullet proof, so most errors in diet will be met with only minor consequences if any.

 

[basin79]

I feed fish flakes to all my feeders for protein.

Also if you've got enough roaches put a roast chicken carcass in with them. They go daft and clean every tiny piece of meat and cartilage off it. To make clean up easier put the carcass on something.

 

[Beedrill]

I feed fish flakes to all my feeders for protein.

Also if you've got enough roaches put a roast chicken carcass in with them. They go daft and clean every tiny piece of meat and cartilage off it. To make clean up easier put the carcass on something.

WHAT?! Oh, I am SO trying that once my colony gets bigger! Currently only at around 50 individuals.

 

[basin79]

WHAT?! Oh, I am SO trying that once my colony gets bigger! Currently only at around 50 individuals.

Aye. When I had Rancor my adult male African bullfrog I had a huge colony of dubias. I'm a greedy sod and pick a carcass proper. Still incredible to see what they left in the morning. A pile of clean bones.

 

[JesusV]

It’s ok in moderation but for me personally I use a mix of potatoe flakes , oats and some powdered alfalfa.Then I use all sorts of fruits and veggies for food and moisture .You can also use water crystals for moisture but I suggest sticking to juicy fruits .

That’s what I give my Dubia’s specifically for T’s .as a side note Dubai’s with more protien cam breed more however to much protein can lead to gout in reptiles and is harmful to T’s

 

[boina]

to much protein can lead to gout in reptiles and is harmful to T’s

What? Too much protein is certainly not harmful to tarantulas, where did you get that? I think your diet is actually pretty poor. Potato flakes have little nutrients and are mainly starch. Your diet is severely lacking in proteins and thereby essential amino acids. Several studies show that feeding drosophilas (fruit flies) protein (in the form of dog food) make them more nutritios feeders. If you feed a diet low in protein to drosophilas, and then feed those drosophilas to true spiders, those spiders will die. I'd think from this I'd go with a high protein diet for dubias, too, to make sure my tarantulas get all essential nutrients.

To reply to the original question: I feed a mix of oatmeal, fish flakes and cat kibble, supplemented with fresh veggies.

 

[Galapoheros]

Sounds like you got it goin on! Mix it up a little like you're doing. Their instincts will kick in anyway if they are eating too much of something imo and will not eat as much of it. I regretted getting rid of thousands in a tub. I kept a few and it took a pretty long time to have too many again. I raise my own crickets, hissers and dubias, I haven't bought feeders in years. Sometimes organic grocery stores have sales on their produce that is getting old you can feed your doobs.

 

[Dadsgreenhouse]

Chicken feed, egg layer mix is good roach chow !

 

[Lithobius]

I give mine a few fish flakes occasionally, but I mix their diet up quite a bit with cricket food and table scraps.