# whats best food for dubia roach?



## Mattybofmd

I just started my colony and they dont seem tl be eating well at all they have correct heating no light visible to them lots of egg cartons plenty of space water crystals and ive given them bananas oranges cat food fish flakes it all always looks untouched its a colony of 100 ... 60 adults 40 nymphs


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## grayhound

*try these*

Mine REally like Captain Crunch Crunch Berries crushed up......  Also Froot Loops.


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## Mattybofmd

is that healthy for them? I though only whole grain cereal


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## grayhound

I put in a roach food mix that came with my colony too.... they eat better with the crunch berries though.  I hope its not bad for them.  They are breeding Awesome!!!  I just looked tonight and saw a WHOLE bunch of little babies!!!


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## ornamentalist

oranges! Quartered up, they are the best breeding tackle for them (no need for water crystals if you use oranges!) carrots are very good too! Apples, pears, grapes, butternut squash, cherries and banana are all devoured real quick in my colony (around 3000) cat biscuits and corn flakes for roughage. just mist the sides lightly every night and they will do really well without water crystals if you use the above


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## Mattybofmd

thanks for the info... wonder why they dont eat that much at the moment


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## ornamentalist

they will be, trust me! Take into account, you only have 100 and 40 are nymphs, it may look like hardly any food is missing but imagine how small their stomachs are, and bear in mind, the nymphs' staple diet is the poo! (frass) thats why the enclosures never stink like crickets do. Also they are munching water crystals, i would get rid, they are expensive and pointless, other people may chime in and say they need them, but with oranges and/or juicy fruits, they do fine with a mist on the side of the tub every night. I got a colony (to add to my existing colony lol) for my birthday from the roach ranch, and that came with water crystals in a tub.
 I binned them.


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## BQC123

2 cups commercial non-medicated chick feed 
2 cups oatmeal
4 cups no name Honey Nut O's
1/2 cup fish flakes
Run it all through the food processor and grind it up.

I found this recipe, and it works well for me. I do substitute items alot, and don't worry about exact amounts. Fish flakes are a bit expensive so i use dog food.

They really don't eat as much as you think.


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## grayhound

ornamentalist said:


> they will be, trust me! Take into account, you only have 100 and 40 are nymphs, it may look like hardly any food is missing but imagine how small their stomachs are, and bear in mind, the nymphs' staple diet is the poo! (frass) thats why the enclosures never stink like crickets do. Also they are munching water crystals, i would get rid, they are expensive and pointless, other people may chime in and say they need them, but with oranges and/or juicy fruits, they do fine with a mist on the side of the tub every night. I got a colony (to add to my existing colony lol) for my birthday from the roach ranch, and that came with water crystals in a tub.
> I binned them.


Water crystals are actually very cheap.  I bought a 1 lb. bag online for about $10.  It is enough to fill a 1 gallon jug with crystals something like 40 times.  I can see the crystals that I bought for $10 lasting me at least a year, maybe 2.  $10 for two years worth is inexpensive in my opinion.

I feed my roaches ( colony of about 300 - 400) 1 orange a week.  They devour it in about 24 hours.  I have tried bananas and pears, but they don't eat them nearly as well.  I have also tried carrrots, and they eat them, but not very well.  I always take out the leftover orange peels after 1 day or they will mold.  For the other 6 days its the mix of roach food and cereal.  and water crystals.


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## zonbonzovi

I've been using this cereal made by the Kinetix diet folks.  It's awful stuff & humans don't seem to enjoy it, but my dubia & hisser colonies loves it!  I had a ton of boxes for awhile(people give it away once they've tried it) but when I can't get it, I wait for the unpalatable, hippie cereals like Kashi & GoLean to go on sale.  They get citrus & carrots often & I've never put any sort of vegetable/fruit in that hasn't been wholly consumed.  Of course, this is for colonies with large numbers.  With a starter colony, less is more until you get a solid idea of how much they're taking in weekly.


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## llamastick

I use dry dog food, ground into powder (cheap coffee/spice grinder works well) combined with whatever fresh fruit or veggies I have on hand. They really like citrus in particular.


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## J Morningstar

Whats the temperature like...they (roaches in general) eat better when warmer.


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## grayhound

J Morningstar said:


> Whats the temperature like...they (roaches in general) eat better when warmer.


Very true!  When I first got my colony, I was keeping them just in my T room.  They didn't seem very active, eating much, or breeding.  I then read to raise the heat.  So I put them in the T room closet with a heater, and NO light.  I now keep them in the closet at 95 degrees or more (inside their enclosure) at all times.  They are now THRIVING!!!  TONS of little babies!!


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## ornamentalist

grayhound said:


> Very true!  When I first got my colony, I was keeping them just in my T room.  They didn't seem very active, eating much, or breeding.  I then read to raise the heat.  So I put them in the T room closet with a heater, and NO light.  I now keep them in the closet at 95 degrees or more (inside their enclosure) at all times.  They are now THRIVING!!!  TONS of little babies!!


too right, if they arent warm enough, their metabolism slows to a crawl and growing/breeding time crawls with it. Also, they will drop oothecas instead of transferring them to the incubation chamber, they have in effect aborted their young if they do this, usually if the right conditions arent met. They are also very space-aware and wont give birth if they feel its too crowded.


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## Midknight xrs

I've had a recent discovery with mango''s and my dubia.  My gf's mom eats them and typically there is a pit that is cut out, well that has some meat left on it.  I put it in and within 5 hours or so it's completely cleaned.  just a white pit is left.  They do better with the mango's then the oranges, but the celery and cabbage go down well as well.  For dry food i like to use beta fish flakes.  i use that with my isopods and been a great inbetween meals food.


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## catfishrod69

i keep mine at the room temp. although i have a heater that keeps it about 80...they are in a big rubbermade tub, get all kinds of light, i feed them some cricket gutload, goldfish flakes, and every now and then i throw in some cut up potatoes or carrots....and they are bursting out babies faster than i can count...theres nymphs everywhere, and my colony is, totaly guesstimating, about 2,000-3,000...and if i cut up two whole potatoes into quarters, the next morning theres just dried up potatoe shells that look like they have been in there for a 100 years, and yeah cricket gel water is cheap....for about 20 bucks, i got enough to make 32 gallons....and ive had it for a good while and so far made 2 gallons and used only 1 of them...check this site....



http://watergelcrystals.com/order-crystals.htm


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## Stopdroproll

They really like fish flakes, and fish flakes are very cheap.


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## Moltar

I haven't seen my 'dubs attack anything as voraciously as they do fresh mushrooms. They are like crack for those guys.

Actually, I think Crunchberry cereal is probably more like crack... I'll just say they eat the mushrooms like it was pizza.


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## arachnokid6

i feed mine dog food and apple peals some times bread to


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## mitchrobot

ive had great luck using organic dog food (i splurge and get the good stuff). they seem to like it. although i tried a food that was fish based and they would not touch it...

ive never used water crystals with them, not worth the trouble, easier just throwing in fresh fruits and vegetables. i find that mine like these the best (or atleast go for them before they eat anything else given options)

1)mangos (gotta agree with this, they plow through mangos)
2)green beans (again, theyll eat these all day long
3)bananas
oranges
pumpkin
sweet potatos

besides those theyll eat apples, avocodo etc etc...almost anything. 

keep them hot too. my colony has a 150w bulb on it and i see them usually bulked up on the side the light is on


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## Jones0911

Old thread but current members can respond. 


All I have for fruit for the dubia is watermelon.... Can they eat that?

Reactions: Like 1


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## basin79

I feed peas, broad beans, sweetcorn and carrot (frozen) and fresh oranges and apples. I also give cereal and complete dog biscuits.


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## Hisserdude

Jones0911 said:


> Old thread but current members can respond.
> 
> All I have for fruit for the dubia is watermelon.... Can they eat that?


Watermelon should be a good fruit for them, though it can make the cage quite humid FYI.


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## Jones0911

Hisserdude said:


> Watermelon should be a good fruit for them, though it can make the cage quite humid FYI.


Thanks I just got 5  adult pairs, medium ones, small and extra small


In Arizona heat they'll breed easily enough right?

Reactions: Like 1


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## Hisserdude

Jones0911 said:


> Thanks I just got 5  adult pairs, medium ones, small and extra small
> 
> 
> In Arizona heat they'll breed easily enough right?


Nice, hope they do well for you! 

Yup, should be hot enough for them there, if all goes well you should have a ton of them in no time.


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## Travis K

I feed mine premium dog kibble, not ground up.  I have a dog so I use his and toss in the dry kibble.  I try to not go more than a day or so without a left over fruit and/or veggie.  My dubia culture has been going since 2007, granted I have had a couple times I added some new genes to the pool though.


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## exotictails

How often do you guys clean your colony's? And if you do how? Looking for tips problems with dam fruit flys. And there is no decaying fruit or veggies.....


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## basin79

exotictails said:


> How often do you guys clean your colony's? And if you do how? Looking for tips problems with dam fruit flys. And there is no decaying fruit or veggies.....


I haven't fully cleaned mine out for quite a while now. Although I do clean the food side out when it's needed. I keep all my live food together in a big tub. Roaches, crickets and morio worms/beetles. I've also got a healthy stock of those dermisid (or whatever the hell they're called) beetles and larve running about. A few months ago I had an outbreak of mites so threw a load of predatory mites in. They did the job.


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## Marijan2

exotictails said:


> How often do you guys clean your colony's? And if you do how? Looking for tips problems with dam fruit flys. And there is no decaying fruit or veggies.....


Whenever poop mountain reaches 1/2"


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## DeanS

Those that use dog food or other high protein 'kibble'...do you clean more often due to high uric activity.  I'm basically feeding apples, carrots and ground kibble (dusted in the same manner as calcium).  Are oranges necessary?  Or is the apple/carrot combo good enough?  I'm running a colony of about 1000...with no deaths since its inception...except for those fed out.


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