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long time, no post! anyway, today i heard that roaches wont eat cucumbers which has been a little surprising to me. ive had four hissers in the past, making a grand total of six g.portentosa roaches under my care. i also had some dubia roaches 'gifted' to me with the best intentions which turned into a colony i had for several months until i had to sell the entire colony. not the most experience by far (although im hoping to keep working towards more advanced husbandry with more 'difficult' roaches over time) but i wouldve never thought they didnt like cucumbers since all mine ate them. since mine are pets, i like to feed them whatever is being used in my own cooking/snacking. its fun for me to personify them and sitting on my bed eating 3/4 of an apple while the boys lose their minds over the 1/4 piece i gave them just makes me feel really happy. the roaches get a 'big' fresh food item and i occassionally throw in some of the 'good' scraps before i toss the rest out back if its something they usually like. i eat a ton of cucumbers and they always get at least a little piece. my other four hissers werent really crazy about them but as all my fellow roach enthusiasts know, they will eat them anyway lol. the dubia colony complex or almost completely devoured everything i put in there. my two hissers ive had since october, velveteen and corduroy, are obsessed at this point. i put down an orange slice and a cucumber slice, they fight over who is standing in the cucumber. i went away for a four day trip leaving them a cucumber slice before i left, and when i got back it was completely gone from the little plastic cup. my brother, who was supposed to mist them and check the heating pad, of course didnt so he swears he didnt take it out. these two definitely eat more than any of my others did (if you dont count the dube's colony as a whole) is it just the skins? when i was searching around everything kept mentioning skins as an american/german roach repellent but i cant tell if they are referring to exclusively the skins or not. is it like oranges where theyll eat up to the peel and then stop? (i peel the cucumbers anyway bc i like the skin lol) clearly all my roaches are/were fine with them so its not really going to stop me but it was really interesting!

I currently use rat chow as food for my colonies, but it seems to attract mites. Does anyone use grain free dog food? Any advice is appreciated.

Howdy, roach forum! As my nymphs from my thread in “breeding and nymph issues” grow, I’ve been experimenting with their foods to see what they favor! The other night I made a pasta with some sliced baby bella mushrooms, so before bed, I dumped a leftover handful or so of raw mushroom bits in my feeding dish. I woke up this morning and they were all gone! I only found one small piece that has shriveled up slightly as mushrooms do. I know they’re roaches and can eat about anything but I got to wondering.... So are these mushrooms safe for my bugs? They seem to really enjoy it, more than their normal carrots, apples, celery, etc. but I don’t want them to get some type of disease or fungus from the mushrooms. Not entirely sure that could even happen, but well, that’s why I’m here! Can I continue letting them munch on mush? Or should I limit/not allow them to have it at all?

the cutest thing happened a few minutes ago. i was holding one of my hissers, chestnut and he was just sitting on my thumb hanging out, as hes known to do. i thought it would be funny to pick up a fish flake with tweezers and show it to him, since i always hold up their fruit before i feed it to them (just so they know what's on the menu ) and his antennae went crazy! he reached over and had his two front legs on the blunt tip makeup tweezers and then other legs were still holding onto my thumb and HE ACTUALLY ATE THE FISH FLAKE RIGHT OFF THE TWEEZERS i wish i was able to take a video but he was stretched between my two hands and i didnt want to drop him but it was sooooo funny! every night i take their enclosures off my shelf and let my cats watch them walk around in their tanks for a little bit. i give them salmon cat treats while they sit and watch this way they know not to jump on the shelf (it works! they wait patiently to watch the roaches, its like theyre watching tv) and i think the cats might have told him to eat the fish treats i will have to try it again tomorrow to see if i can get a picture!

I have yet to see my flathorn hissers chow down on anything I put in their enclosure. Has anyone found a favorite food item they enjoy?

P. aegtiaca I'm told that P. aegtiaca take up to two years to reach adult from newborn nymph, is this true? How long do they live as adults? and i heard that they eat mostly, leaves and protein supplement, with an occasional nibble on fruit, is this true? how long does this species incubate for? what's the best temperature and humidity for this species? B. Peruvianus How long do these take to reach adult from new born nymph? how long do they live as adults? i use water crystal gel, apples an a protein supplement for this species, is this alright? how long does this species incubate for? and whats the best temperature and humidity for this species? Please comment some answers and thank you for your time, George.