I have a descent size of orangeheads and ive been feeding high prtoein fish food...problem is I can never get in bulk for a descent price. I know people feed crickets unmedicated layer mash and some roaches but, Im wondering if the layer mash has enough protein plus if there are any sideeffect from the herbicides associated with layer mash..I read it can make animals sterile. ANyways anyone else feed there orangeheads rodents...they make a great disposale for f/t
Roaches and Chicken Food
- Thread starter PadraigC
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PadraigC said:
My roaches seem to be doing real well on chick mash, no problems yet. But I also suppliment them with fish flakes and dog food. And yes I do feed my roaches the occational dead rodent.
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I think Code Monkey feeds his dubia colony unmedicated chick mash almost exclusively... never mentioned any problems... he would have the entomologist's insight into it though.
On a different note, I can't say enough about CricketFood.com's "Premium Roach Diet" ... it's hella expensive, but it's unbelievable the effect it has on roaches. It's something like $5 a pound, which is more than most would/should pay, but should you decide that the quality of your roaches is paramount, give it a spin. I have seen crushed oat cereal sit in the enclosure for days without more than a handful of nibbles. I put a cupful of that premium roach diet in there and all hell breaks loose... hundreds of my B. dubia come literally RUNNING out of the roach hotel to start scarfing it down, in a matter of a few seconds. Unbelievable... whatever's in there, it drives 'em nuts. Definitely worth the money, although I'll admit it is a large amount of money for feeder...ah... feed. Yeah.
On a different note, I can't say enough about CricketFood.com's "Premium Roach Diet" ... it's hella expensive, but it's unbelievable the effect it has on roaches. It's something like $5 a pound, which is more than most would/should pay, but should you decide that the quality of your roaches is paramount, give it a spin. I have seen crushed oat cereal sit in the enclosure for days without more than a handful of nibbles. I put a cupful of that premium roach diet in there and all hell breaks loose... hundreds of my B. dubia come literally RUNNING out of the roach hotel to start scarfing it down, in a matter of a few seconds. Unbelievable... whatever's in there, it drives 'em nuts. Definitely worth the money, although I'll admit it is a large amount of money for feeder...ah... feed. Yeah.
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I feed my roaches (discoids) on dog food i bought at the 99c store. Its around 2-3 pounds of the stuff 
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he could and just might but be prepared for a detailed and specific explanation. He leaves no stone or roach for that matter unturned.PadraigC said:
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$5 for a pound of cockroach food? Yeesh!
Unmedicated chick mash is the way to go. Orange heads will thrive and reproduce on it just fine. $8 for a 40 pound bag. Of the four species I keep, orange heads are the easiest and seem to reproduce in massive numbers no matter what I feed them.
You might get less wing biting if you offer more protien, but wing biting is going to happen a lot anyway (it may even be tied to courtship, as the females tend to have more chewed up wings than the males). All my roaches get the chick mash, but I also give them leftover box turtle and blue-tounge skink food and even dead mice leftover from snakes.
Wade
Unmedicated chick mash is the way to go. Orange heads will thrive and reproduce on it just fine. $8 for a 40 pound bag. Of the four species I keep, orange heads are the easiest and seem to reproduce in massive numbers no matter what I feed them.
You might get less wing biting if you offer more protien, but wing biting is going to happen a lot anyway (it may even be tied to courtship, as the females tend to have more chewed up wings than the males). All my roaches get the chick mash, but I also give them leftover box turtle and blue-tounge skink food and even dead mice leftover from snakes.
Wade
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I use chick mash exclusively for my roaches other than my orange heads. For the orange heads I also mix in some high protein kitten food with the chick mash and grind it all up in the blender.
Wing biting I don't mind, but I was having a lot of issues with freshly molted roaches being completely eaten alive when I was only supplying the chick mash to orange heads.
May not be neccessary, but it works for me.
Wing biting I don't mind, but I was having a lot of issues with freshly molted roaches being completely eaten alive when I was only supplying the chick mash to orange heads.
May not be neccessary, but it works for me.
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The orange heads have become something of a garbage disposal at my house. They'll eat any sort of leftover food from other animals. I've even taken to throwing empty dogfood cans in there. Instead of having to wash them out for recycling, the roaches will swarm in and clean out any remaining food bits leving a totally spotless can. Remarkable!
If you're trying to build up your culture, then high-protien supplements probably will help prevent losses due to cannibalism. In my case, though, my culture has become so large some cannibalism is actually welcome! I think they get enough protein from the leftovers, though.
Wade
Edit: Oh yeah, remembered something. You can also buy fish food pellets intended for fish farming and ponds at the feed store as well. Depending on which type, many are high-protein and available pretty cheap, like $15 for a 40 pound bag. The smallest pellets would probably work best. I HAVE NOT used this for cockroaches, but I have used it for turtles and for rearing flour beetles. Would probably work great if someone wanted an all-in-one food.
If you're trying to build up your culture, then high-protien supplements probably will help prevent losses due to cannibalism. In my case, though, my culture has become so large some cannibalism is actually welcome! I think they get enough protein from the leftovers, though.
Wade
Edit: Oh yeah, remembered something. You can also buy fish food pellets intended for fish farming and ponds at the feed store as well. Depending on which type, many are high-protein and available pretty cheap, like $15 for a 40 pound bag. The smallest pellets would probably work best. I HAVE NOT used this for cockroaches, but I have used it for turtles and for rearing flour beetles. Would probably work great if someone wanted an all-in-one food.
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In my experience, cannibalism is caused by an inadequate water supply. My reasoning behind this is that any wing-biting or cannibalism only occurs on a freshly molted roach. Ever seen your roaches acting crazy at night and frantically running around for no apparent reason? If you wait long enough, you'll almost always see a freshly molted adult running for his life. It usually takes at least a day or two before his new exoskeleton completely hardens, so it's definitely a rough night for him if he can last through it.
If your roaches are overcrowded, this will also contribute to cannibalism because not every roach will have access to the water supply. This happens particularly if you only offer fruits and vegetables a couple of times a week. Make sure your enclosure is large enough and have a large dish of water crystal gel constantly available that all the roaches can access. I guarantee you will see a decrease in wing-biting and cannibalism in your next generation of adults.
If you see cannibalism on an already dead roach, then that's when it would probably be due to a lack of protein in the diet. With that said, I do want to mention that even orange heads should get more than just protein in their diet. They do also enjoy things like sandwich bread and Cheerios.
I have at least 30 colonies of roaches and have seen wing-biting and cannibalism occur in B. dubia, B. discoidalis, and N. cinerea in addition to the E. prosticus.
If your roaches are overcrowded, this will also contribute to cannibalism because not every roach will have access to the water supply. This happens particularly if you only offer fruits and vegetables a couple of times a week. Make sure your enclosure is large enough and have a large dish of water crystal gel constantly available that all the roaches can access. I guarantee you will see a decrease in wing-biting and cannibalism in your next generation of adults.
If you see cannibalism on an already dead roach, then that's when it would probably be due to a lack of protein in the diet. With that said, I do want to mention that even orange heads should get more than just protein in their diet. They do also enjoy things like sandwich bread and Cheerios.
I have at least 30 colonies of roaches and have seen wing-biting and cannibalism occur in B. dubia, B. discoidalis, and N. cinerea in addition to the E. prosticus.
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I have successfully used chicken egg layer mash for raising roaches, as well as mealworms. I know that at least in mealworms, the egg layer mash supposedly helps to increase reproduction rates. I'm not sure if the same applies to roaches though.