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Toasty

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  1. Just fyi, Johnson's Baby Oil Gel makes an awesome barrier. Its already the perfect consistency, it only takes a tiny bit to apply a very thin and super slippery layer around the top few inches or so of the enclosure without any risks of anything getting stuck in it. Lasts a long time so I don't have to remember to re-apply that often and I've never had a roach even come close to getting past it--kinda important with my hisser and lobsters lol. I just grab a paper towel, fold it in half a couple of times, squeeze a small amount on it, and use that to apply it.
  2. Rose petals, rose buds, and rose hips can all be safely fed to roaches as long as the rose bush they come from and the surrounding area aren't treated with pesticides and/or any other harmful chemicals. The rose hips especially, are very high in Vitaman C and other antioxidants and this is the time of year you're going to find them too. I've been harvesting all three lately to feed to my hermit crabs and small animals specifically, but the roaches get their share too. There are also quite a few edible flowers/herbs/plants growing in my backyard (some on purpose, some not lol) that I've been collecting too. Marigold petals (calendula), red clover blossoms and leaves, dandelion flowers, leaves, and roots, and honeysuckle are among the stuff I've been collecting--I've been dehydrating most of it so that I will have a store of it over the winter, and once dried they can be crushed or ground into powder, making it easy to feed small amounts or mix into other foods. I don't have an actual dehydrator, I just set my oven to 200* and depending on the size/density of the different items, it usually takes anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours, I just check ocassionally to see when they're completely dry. You can do the same thing with fruits, veggies, meats, etc., just slice everything into very thin, small, pieces so they don't take too long.
  3. You're talking about pet roaches though, this is about feeder roaches. Jarich's point was that the excessive amounts of protein can definitely have adverse affects on whatever animal they are being fed to. Anything over 18% protein is excessive for roaches, even that is very high. Actually, 14-15% is more appropriate, they can do fine on even lower levels than that even. And your statement that you've "never had a roach die" kinda contradicts what you said about how long your roaches have lived. I agree that good nutrition is important, but protein =/= nutrition. And Zoo Centre, it is most definitely NOT a myth that excessive amounts of protein can lead to kidney problems. Different animals have different protein needs, and also need different types of proteins (animal vs plant). And what do you consider an "insufficient amount of protein"? Protein requirements vary greatly among animals so what might be insufficient for one, could be extremely excessive to another.
  4. Are you sure they aren't springtails?
  5. Exactly what part of jarich's post do you not agree with? High protein levels might speed up reproduction, but possibly at the risk of harming the reptile the roaches are being fed to. I have never fed my hissers cat, dog, or fish food and they've never eaten each other. Roaches don't need more than 18% protein in their diets, and even 18% is quite high. They can do just fine on much lower protein levels.
  6. The only roach bin/enclosure I currently need to use a barrier with is my lobster colony. They are in a 20L glass tank with a that fits well but I definitely don't trust to prevent escapees. The morning my huge lobster colony arrived I was still finishing up their enclosure and realized there was absolutely no vaseline/petroleum jelly to be found in the entire house. But while digging all the way to the back of all the shelves in my bathroom closet I noticed something that I must've bought well over a year ago and then completely forgotten about as it got buried behind other products on the shelf. It was Johnson's Lavender-scented baby oil gel. After feeling the consistency I thought that it would probably work at least as well as vaseline and was worth a try. Using a paper towel to spread the baby oil gel in a thin, ~3-inch barrier along the top of the tank. Dumped the hundreds of lobsters in and crossed my fingers. First thing they did was all race to walls and starting to climb. Most stopped short of even touching the baby oil gel (maybe something to do with the lavender scent? idk). In no time at all almost all of them had returned to the bottom of the tank and in the 1.5 month or so I've had them I have not witnessed any even try to climb higher than a few inches up the side of the tank (*knock on wood* lol). Just thought I'd throw that out there lol.
  7. I actually use the dry baby cereal that comes in a box. It is much cheaper and much less messy. There are oatmeal, rice, whole wheat, etc. based ones, and several contain fruit which makes it sweeter and more attractive to the roaches. I use this regularly, along with things like granola, wheat bran, ground flaxseed, and a few other things I can't remember right now lol. I don't find dog or cat food to be an appropriate food for roaches, but I know that is a controversial subject, and obviously just my opinion. Fruits and veggies are used to provide moisture.
  8. Thank you, I was fairly pleased with how it turned out . I would suggest adding some leaf litter to your substrate. A. tesselatas seem to need it to really thrive. I use oak leaf litter mixed in with eco earth.
  9. Here is a picture of my A. tesselata enclosure. Despite providing several hides, I've found that they just burrow down into the substrate anyway.
  10. What substrate are you using for the tesselata?
  11. I recently acquired 10 T. olegrandjeni (Question Mark Roach) nymphs, and their care requirements are very similar to those of the domino roach. From the information I've found, it seems as though they really do need leaf litter in their substrate in order to really thrive. I give mine a deep layer of eco earth mixed with oak tree leaf litter. It is completely normal for the nymphs to burrow down and stay there except to come up occasionally for food. Mine had buried themselves several inches down within minutes of me putting them into their enclosure. I have seen some in the food dish though. I feed all my roaches pretty much the same thing, although I do like to rotate foods for variety. Personally, I prefer not to use dog food, and especially not cat food for any of my feeders. I also prefer not to blend everything together and I try to offer a fairly wide variety. Right now I'm feeding plain oatmeal, wheat bran, ground flaxseed, granola, and powdered baby cereal mix as their "dry" foods. For moisture I'm giving small chunks of squash, pieces of carrots, and a little kale. Since I've witnessed them eating the food in the bowl and there is obviously less of everything I'd originally put in there, I'm pretty comfortable with feeding those things. I also like to feed small amounts of food more frequently, vs. giving large amounts that are only refilled/replaced infrequently. Since I use fruits and veggies to provide moisture it makes more sense for me to change out the food every few days to prevent mold. Oh, and in case you didn't know, while the nymphs do stay buried, once they've molted into adults they will start spending time on the surface and seem to like to climb on branches and any other items in the cage, so you will get to enjoy their beautiful pattern once they mature
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