My experiences feeding, a continuing journey!

Just thought I'd record how my roaches react to various foods .. I'm completely new to really focusing on keeping them for anything more than feeders 6 months experience with that has led me to appreciate how amazing these little guys and gals really are!

Their main diet, which I always have available to them, is a mix I made myself. It's one I use for my isopods, and then I add in some dog food for extra protein. It's made up of:
Chicken Layer crumbles, the non-medicated one.
Rabbit pellets (or guinea pig pellets would work too)
Dehydrated peas
Dehydrated pumpkin
Dehydrated carrot
Steel cut oats
Dehydrated Green Beans
Dry dog food kibble - currently using Blue Buffalo chicken and brown rice, my dog hated it lol .. trying to use it up. I don't use a lot, just grind up a good size handful when i make the roach chow and usually make enough to fill a 1 gallon bag.

Grind all of the above up, mix it together and add a tablespoon or two of molasses in and grind up a second time.
So far my two colonies (Dubia and Shadow Roaches) both *love* this stuff.

Experiences with fresh fruits and veggies will be in the next post!

I keep a staple of organic carrot in their enclosure at all times for a nutritious food plus water source.

I do try to buy organic as much as possible on all foods, in an abundance of caution to reduce risk of chemical fertilizer or pest control sprays.

Veggies first!

Great reactions:
Butternut squash - especially the "guts" of it. I tend to leave the bottom of the squash, scrub the crap on the skin of it and leave it in with all the nummy squishy guts there. They apparently love the skin too - they get underneath it and gobble that up almost as fast as the innards!
Sweet potato / yam

Mediocre reactions - they nibble at it, but that's about it. :/ I remove more than they ever eat lol
Romaine Lettuce
Collard greens

"Absolutely no heckin' way I'll eat that" reactions:
Brussels sprouts. I thoroughly rinsed off the outer leaves and bottom and tossed them in once and they wouldn't even go near it, lol!
Kale - same reaction

Fruits - so far, all positive reactions! I use these very sparingly so I don't get a bunch of gnats though, omg I hate them.
Apple
Pear
Banana

They do love oranges, but I have to be very careful since I do pull feeders for my tarantulas and I read that citrus is not good for gut loading. (Not sure how true that is?) I only feed this when my spiders are in premolt, and it will be 2-3 weeks or more before they feed again.

Please do post any results you've had!
Also, I do research anything prior to feeding but if you know of specifics that are toxic to them go ahead and post that too!
I know not to feed things like onions and garlic and I avoid processed foods and anything salty.

Well, on Sunday I put a small piece of zucchini in with my two colonies. My dubia devoured it, there is no trace left of it My P. nigra, however didn't touch it and now it's molded over. I didn't expect it to mold THAT fast, it's crazy! I scooped out the zucchini and any soil that was under it, what a mess that was lol! Glad I peeked in to check, I can't imagine if I'd left it any longer.

Kudos to keepers such as yourself that provide an enriching amount of food. Many have reported it isn't necessary, but it doesn't hurt them either and I'm sure they're thankful for the many flavors! Mine just get dog food and apple

My P. nigra, however didn't touch it and now it's molded over. I didn't expect it to mold THAT fast, it's crazy!

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I noticed nigra are pretty picky. They love apple but refuse carrot, sweet potato, regular potato, zucchini, and butternut squash. In fact most of my roaches prefer fruits over veggies, some of them only apple. Tried giving grapes to my dubias and they nibbled a little bit but didn't really eat it. And yeah definitely check on left over food that you aren't confident they will devour. I still haven't figured out what the right about is to give them yet so I check for mold every 2-3 days.

They do love oranges,

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Be careful feeding citruses - they're very acidic. They eat oranges and tangerines fine but I would only provide it as a treat now and then. I would caution giving them lemon, lime, etc,.

"Absolutely no heckin' way I'll eat that" reactions:
Brussels sprouts. I thoroughly rinsed off the outer leaves and bottom and tossed them in once and they wouldn't even go near it, lol!
Kale - same reaction

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My roaches will eat lettuce but most other leafy greens get ignored.

Writing this actually made me realize why I only give them apples and dog food - it's because they're so picky they ignore 98% of the foods I try to give them It's great you're experimenting. Please continue to try different foods. I'm curious to see what works!