Roach and insect feed. roach buffett

[biomarine2000]

I have searched with minimal results. I am wanting to make my own dry roach or feeder insect food. Please put your recipe in a post below and how to make it. What you use, how much, and where to get it. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Matt K]

There is no such thing really....its whatever someone wants to dry/grind/mix together. Again I refer to the text "Cockroaches: by Bell, Roth, and Nalepa" - really the whole of Chapter Four entitled "Diets and Foraging"; to better understand why roaches only really eat what they need and not pour some homogenous slurry down thier gullets....:}

Most commonly used are dog food pellets and fish food pellets/sticks with some dried green leafy vegetables and such crushed up and mixed in.

The very cheapest you can do is go to your local grocery store and see if you can haul off thier old produce- they pull some almost every day from the produce department to toss in the garbage. Makes great roach food.

I feed mine fresh produce and fish food pellets. :clap:

 

[Matt K]

Since you are in DFW, go anywhere other than Tom Thumb....they have a legal issue with handing over day old fruits and veggies (as though you intend to feed it to your family and have everyone die of salmonella or something)- rediculous.

 

[codykrr]

agree with th above. but here is my mixture....this is only about a months worth(for freshness)

2 1/2 cups fine ground dog food(i use old roy)
1 cup betta pellets(whatever brand)
1/4 cup grits
1/4 cup oats
1 cup dried orange slices( completely dry)

i grid it all up mix it together and serve. mine eat it up like theres no tomorrow! i know sme say its to much but i like to make sure they get what they need.

 

[biomarine2000]

I am aware that there are tons of ideas out there for roach mixtures. Cody is the only one so far that got it. I want everyones recipe that they have made on this thread, for the experienced and newbs. Its something asked a lot on this forum but hard to find when searching. If you make your own, all I'm asking is that you write it down for others. Thanks

EDIT: I buy my dry roach blend from James at blaberus.com. Its great stuff. I want to make my own and I'm sure there of tons of people that would too. Thanks for helping.

 

[brothaT]

This is my very cheap but also effective mix (available at most feed stores)

2 part chicken mash
1 part soybean meal (high protein content)
1 part wheat bran or oats

I get 50 pound bags of all that stuff for ~$10 but smaller quantities are usually available. I've been impressed with the results so far when used along with some occasional fresh food.

 

[biomarine2000]

Thanks brothaT

Here is website with some good information on how to make your own and you can order it from them.

http://www.progeckos.com/gutload.htm

 

[Matt K]

I guess what I do not understand is why bother drying/grinding/mixing etc.? The roaches dont need all that effort put into making thier food, and that is probably why you cant find that much info on the web on how to make it....it's just not necessary. Take the ingredients you buy and put in cage- no grinding/mixing necessary. It serves no purpose.

 

[biomarine2000]

From the threads I've read the best thing so far that I've come across is chicken feed non medicated. Thats what I'm going to go with.

 

[jmiller]

I guess what I do not understand is why bother drying/grinding/mixing etc.? The roaches dont need all that effort put into making thier food, and that is probably why you cant find that much info on the web on how to make it....it's just not necessary. Take the ingredients you buy and put in cage- no grinding/mixing necessary. It serves no purpose.

I agree with Matt K. I use to grind everything up but now I just toss the stuff in. Cat/dog food, fresh fruit/veggies, oats, fish pellets, etc. I never grind anything anymore and they are going strong. It all disappears by the next day.

 

[biomarine2000]

All I have to say to this is, to each is own. Some throw in dog food and forget about the roaches. Others actually take the time to take care of their feeders that go to their prized tarantulas. I'm the second one. I am posting this information for those that want the info not just for myself. There are always questions from newbs wanting to know what the best food is. That is why I want the information in a thread. I plan on adding it to my signature.

I guess what I do not understand is why bother drying/grinding/mixing etc.? The roaches dont need all that effort put into making thier food, and that is probably why you cant find that much info on the web on how to make it....it's just not necessary. Take the ingredients you buy and put in cage- no grinding/mixing necessary. It serves no purpose.

 

[jmiller]

All I have to say to this is, to each is own. Some throw in dog food and forget about the roaches. Others actually take the time to take care of their feeders that go to their prized tarantulas. I'm the second one. I am posting this information for those that want the info not just for myself. There are always questions from newbs wanting to know what the best food is. That is why I want the information in a thread. I plan on adding it to my signature.

I don't think Matt K was advocating that you just feed your roaches crap, and I know I wasn't. The point I think he was making and what I was agreeing to is the fact that you don't need to dry and grind everything up. If you use quality ingredients and just place it in there it is less work for you but no different to the roaches as they can grind it up themselves.

 

[biomarine2000]

No offense to those that have posted but the original post has gone way off corse. I'm trying to get recipes for roach food not opinions of what I should feed them. I want to know what blends people have come up with to feed their roaches to keep them at maximum health. I'm not interested in just throwing stuff in. I appreciate the opinions but its not what I'm looking for at the moment. My colony is thriving beyond what I need.

 

[Mister Internet]

Look dude, the same rain waters your garden and floods your basement. Try being a little less testy and maybe people will give you what you're after. Your thread title was unhelpful, and the fact is that most people do NOT put much effort into their feeders' food, because there has never been any demonstrated proof that inverts benefit AT ALL from "gutloaded" feeders in the same way that reptiles allegedly do. People aren't tossing out anecdotes about how little thought they put into their feeders' food because they don't care, they've just decided it's unnecessary due to lack of evidence to the contrary. That doesn't make you better than them for "caring more", it just makes your quest in this thread a rather dry one.

That's all... ease up and some of the info you seek may trickle through. Keep up with what you're slinging now though, and even those who have the info you seek might be dissuaded.

 

[biomarine2000]

I'm not sure where you getting that I'm dishing out attitude. All that I'm trying to do is make a thread that people can look up and benifit from. I just want the thread to stay on topic. There are tons of threads on here that say the same thing, which is where this thread was going. The reason for the thread title is so its easier to find when using the search function. I never said that I was any better then anyone else. I merely said that I "DO" care what goes into my inverts. I didn't say anything to hurt anyones feelings, and if it came off that way I apologize. I just want a thread that people can find when searching for roach food, and they can actually find it. If they dont care then they wont be searching.

Look dude, the same rain waters your garden and floods your basement. Try being a little less testy and maybe people will give you what you're after. Your thread title was unhelpful, and the fact is that most people do NOT put much effort into their feeders' food, because there has never been any demonstrated proof that inverts benefit AT ALL from "gutloaded" feeders in the same way that reptiles allegedly do. People aren't tossing out anecdotes about how little thought they put into their feeders' food because they don't care, they've just decided it's unnecessary due to lack of evidence to the contrary. That doesn't make you better than them for "caring more", it just makes your quest in this thread a rather dry one.

That's all... ease up and some of the info you seek may trickle through. Keep up with what you're slinging now though, and even those who have the info you seek might be dissuaded.

 

[Matt K]

Ok Biomarine2000-

Here is the ultimate answer to feeding any roaches, feeder or otherwise:

-I quote from a previous post I made to illustrate that I care about my roaches and my roach-eating inverts: "I feed mine fresh produce and fish food pellets"....in other words, I give my bugs the best, freshest foods money can buy. This seems rediculous even to me because now I do it for my own superstitous reasons, but when I fed them food items that were still partially good but starting to go bad for human consumption, they were every bit as healthy and productive as they are today.

There is no mix of ground food that is an all-purpose perfect roach food. As Mister Internet said, too, there is zero proof that premium food is best for feeders going to your prized T's. Now I think that it is logical and stands to reason, but there is no scientific evidence at all. Once food is digested it has undergone biochemical conversion to be utilized by the organism. If you get and read the book I referred to earlier, you would understand why this is so, which has been evaluated by 3 of the worlds leading cockroach researchers.

So to brief:
Feed roaches anything they will eat by tossing it in thier enclosure and leave them alone. No food preparation is required ever. Generally, depending on the roach species, they will eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Foods made for dogs, cats, chickens, and fish can aid in the speed and volume of roach reproduction. Add to enclosure and allow roaches to eat.

****
I have had roaches for years. I have more species than most people ever will. Every one is perfectly healthy and consistant with described specimens documented by science. My sole contention in this thread is to observe the fact that grinding and mixing food for roaches is absolutely pointless and has nothing to do with exactly what ingredients are chosen to be fed. Roaches can live well on a variety of items solely or in combination.

 

[dendrobate]

In the years I bred 4 species of tropical roaches I just used the least expensive high protein Cat food.It worked perfect without any issues and they bred like rats.Roaches have been on this planet longer then humans , have lived through wars , atomic bombs, and plagues. In the wild they do not get fed specialty food.They eat anything they can find from plant matter to dead animals so I would use high protein feed, be it chick feed or cat feed or I even used Purina monkey chow as an experiment once.Cuttings from your fruits and veggies.One very important thing referring to any feeder insects is if you find an escaped insect from your holding tank ,NEVER put it back with the colony or use it as a feeder.It could of eaten or got into something that could wipe out the colony or your pets.
Good luck

 

[biomarine2000]

One very important thing referring to any feeder insects is if you find an escaped insect from your holding tank ,NEVER put it back with the colony or use it as a feeder.It could of eaten or got into something that could wipe out the colony or your pets.
Good luck

That is absolutely excellent advice that I never though about.

 

[biomarine2000]

I think "Mister Internet", is completely taking what I said the wrong way. I am merely wanting things that people put together to simplify the way they feed their roaches. I understand that we dont know what is the perfect diet. I just want to have something easy for dry food that I can toss in there. From my readings the easiest thing that seems to be good for them that I read about on this forum is chicken scratch unmedicated. I picked up a 50 lb bag today from the feed store.

What I wanted this forum to be is some dry mixture that people have come up with that they can just scoop up and throw it in for the roaches that isn't just trash their throwing in there.

Like I said before thank you guys for your words of wisdom, I'm not turning the information away. I just want specific information for other members and myself so when they search they see recipes that are easy to make for their roaches. It took me forever to hunt down some of the information I've read, which was very minimal.

 

[biomarine2000]

Here is another one that I found on arachnophiles.com. Compliments of Uglykid2, I got his permission to post this here. This is his recipe.

I've been asked to post my roach food recipe so here it is.... I always make 4 times as much as this and keep it in the fridge in zip loc bags until my food jar in the roach room is empty.
1 cup dog food
1 cup cat food
1 cup rabbit food pellets
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 tbsp bee pollen
3 or 4 kelp tablets
1/2 cup seeded unsalted sunflower seeds
These last 3 items are not necessary but were on the list of what some labs feed their roaches for maximum nutrition. I get all this stuff at Wal-Mart except for the beepollen cause it's dirt cheap there. I grind it all up in a blender cup by cup then mix it all up together real good in a big bowl. Sneak out at night and watch the roaches go nuts for this