how do you make your roach food?

biomarine2000

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I know some people just throw misc items like dog food and oatmeal in the cage to let them feast. What I'm interested to know is how you blend these ingredients into a powder for very easy feeding. Also what ingredients you use. I've tried to grind up dog food before in a blender and failed miserably.
 

Israel2004

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I went out the local amvets and bought a old time hand crank meat grinder, works like a charm for grinding up dog food, cat food, oats & whatever else I have on hand when I'm mixing a batch of bug chow.
 

ZephAmp

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I am a firm believer in the theory that roaches will eat certain food items depending on what type of nutrients they are needing at the moment. Therefore, I mix a lot of different ingredients together but leave them whole so the roaches can pick what they want. The primary components I use are dog food, parrot food (the kind that smells really fruity and is brightly colored, more on this in a sec), fish pellets, and ferret food. For feeders I mix in some high protein game bird crumble.

The most convincing "argument" I've seen for the selection theory was when I gave my Eublaberus distanti (voracious feeders, they'll eat just about anything) a mix of fish pellets, dog food, and some new parrot food I was trying out. The next week, the styrofoam cup I had placed the food in was nearly gone, but in the tattered remains I found the parrot food, almost completely untouched. You know there's something bad about food when roaches won't touch it (heck they ate the styrofoam but not the parrot food!) Needless to say I've never used that brand again.
 

biomarine2000

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I went out the local amvets and bought a old time hand crank meat grinder, works like a charm for grinding up dog food, cat food, oats & whatever else I have on hand when I'm mixing a batch of bug chow.
That's brilliant. What is amvets? Also, how much was the meat grinder?

I am a firm believer in the theory that roaches will eat certain food items depending on what type of nutrients they are needing at the moment. Therefore, I mix a lot of different ingredients together but leave them whole so the roaches can pick what they want. The primary components I use are dog food, parrot food (the kind that smells really fruity and is brightly colored, more on this in a sec), fish pellets, and ferret food. For feeders I mix in some high protein game bird crumble.

The most convincing "argument" I've seen for the selection theory was when I gave my Eublaberus distanti (voracious feeders, they'll eat just about anything) a mix of fish pellets, dog food, and some new parrot food I was trying out. The next week, the styrofoam cup I had placed the food in was nearly gone, but in the tattered remains I found the parrot food, almost completely untouched. You know there's something bad about food when roaches won't touch it (heck they ate the styrofoam but not the parrot food!) Needless to say I've never used that brand again.
That's hilarious. Thanks for the info.
 

codykrr

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I go to wal mart, buy a 5 lbs bag of old roy dog food, and throw it in a blender i bought at a yard sale for 2 bucks. works great. but it is extremely loud. so I wear ear protection and only do it when no one else it at home.

10 min to grind up a 5 lbs bag, which I store in the 1 gallon rubbermaid jars from wal mart.
 

biomarine2000

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I've tried the blender thing. It just doesn't seem to chop up the food.

I go to wal mart, buy a 5 lbs bag of old roy dog food, and throw it in a blender i bought at a yard sale for 2 bucks. works great. but it is extremely loud. so I wear ear protection and only do it when no one else it at home.

10 min to grind up a 5 lbs bag, which I store in the 1 gallon rubbermaid jars from wal mart.
 

codykrr

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hmmm....mine makes a fine powder.:?

I used a cheap coffee grinder too, but I broke the blade once and never did that again.:eek:
 

biomarine2000

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hmmm....mine makes a fine powder.:?

I used a cheap coffee grinder too, but I broke the blade once and never did that again.:eek:
I'm finding that the meat grinders are as expensive as the blenders. I might just run up to walmart and grab me a $20 dollar one tomorrow.
 

Israel2004

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One thing I've noticed with my dubia colony is that the whole nuggets of dog/cat food I throw in disappears a lot quicker then the stuff I grind up.

I still grind it up because I want to make sure the tiny nymphs are eating.
 

biomarine2000

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I used to order it from blaberus.com. they ate it like there was no tomorrow.
 

Vulgaris

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I just mix various dried ingredients in a bag. Stuff that needs ground up, i take outside to my shed and hit it with a sledge hammer (gently of course). The dry diet is also supplemented with fresh fruits and veggies
 

TalonAWD

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I use poultry feed and they go crazy for it. Even crickets love it. I also grind it up in a blender till its a fine powder. They eat it faster if its down to powdery consistency.
 

Moltar

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I grind catfood in a blender and mix with oats. That's their staple but I also throw in stuff like veggie scraps, apples, mushrooms, etc from time to time. They seem to really, really love mushrooms.
 

biomarine2000

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Thanks for all the ideas for roach food guys. I picked up a blender from walmart for $13 bucks today and it worked like a charm. Now I have my own powder roach food that takes very little time to make. And Cody, its extremely loud. lol
 

Matt K

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Grinding food for roaches is rediculous. Roaches are decomposers, and made by nature to grind up food to consume it. This includes dog food, cat food, any grains, most fruits or vegetables that they would consider. Do you need your burger or french fries from McDonalds chopped up into tiny-fine pieces in order to eat it? Most likely not.

Also, stay away from parrot food. Most brands have propylene glycol or have it as a constituent of the colorant used, and that can in turn be toxic to anything that you feed a roach too, provided of course that it does not kill the roaches. Its safe for most mammals to consume, but some birds, reptiles, and invertebrates cannot tolerate it at all. So better safe than sorry.
 

codykrr

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Matt, I understand what you are saying, but my roaches barely ate before I started grinding there food up.

I do not feed fresh veggies/fruit because of the fruit fly outbreak I once had when I did.

I started to produce literally thousands more roaches once I started them on a diet of ground ole roy dog food.

To each their own.

Also, for those needing water crystals(if you prefer them over water dishes)

www.watergelcrystals.com

Get the large blend.

1 lbs will last forever. about a year actually.

---------- Post added at 10:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 PM ----------

Wayne...It is worth the 1.25 for the ear plugs.;)
 

Galapoheros

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I buy dry organic cat food at Wholefoods, some greens, a slice of apple or orange and fish flakes now and then. I don't crush things up, feed about twice a week, don't really think about when to feed I just take a look and throw a few things in without over doing it. I get small flies but I live alone so don't have to worry about somebody else not liking it.
 

H. laoticus

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I use dry dog food and don't grind it. I throw in some leafy veggies every now and then as well as some carrots. The occasional fruit slice such as apple or orange are used and that's about it.
 

biomarine2000

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There probably isn't a wrong way to do it. They are roaches after all. For me its all about convenience. I like it ground up so I csn pour it into a dish. It keeps it from getting everywhere in the cage.

Ever since u started keeping roaches I've had problems with the annoying gnats. I still don't know how to get rid of them.
 
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