My own take on a protein heavy diet for roaches

[tabor]

I've been in the arachno-hobby for about a decade now. In my wildest dreams I never thought that i would one day be kepping hissing roaches.

Well, here we are, got a trhiving colony of several hundred individuals. I really didn't do any research regarding what foods hissers preffer but this is what i have come up with:

(keep in mind i like to work out and as such am a bit of a health freak)

-A small amount of chicken feed

-A small amount of crushed dig food

-Tons of all natural oats and various dehydrated food items

-finally, something I haven't seen anyone else use, a Protein supplement. For those who don't know, protein is key to building muscles, and as such bodybuilders usually chug 4-6 protein shakes a day. These shakes taste pretty good and also give you an INSANE amount of protein. I thought, why not try this out on my hisser's!

So far they love this mix... my main complaint about roaches is that they themselves do not stinky. Rather, it is usually there food items the lead to some funky odors. The smell of the chocolate protein shake + he smell of the deydrated fruits = pure heaven.

For water, i of course over them greens or apples to spice things up. I also use water crystals.

I'm thinking about adding some calcium supplements to my mix, as well as possibly some freesedried flies/crickets for an extra boost of protein. Might grow into hisser's the size of Oklahoma

Has anything tried anything like this before? Any tips and or warnings? Thanks guys, im starting to dig roaches more and more!

[vixvy]

Since you are in the US you can try this feeders:

http://www.ectotherm.com/roach.htm

They are the best for roaches whats sad for me is I cannot buy those I got a sample from DD but I never have had a chance to order them again.

[crepsis]

I've been using hemp protein powder (human supplement usually added to shakes or food for added protein), available at Whole Foods, as a supplement to other mainly vegetarian foods (keeps any smell from developing) and according to the label it's 50% protein. Mine seem to like it.

In regards to a "protein heavy" diet - read this thread -----> Thread

[Chris Driggers]

I would stay away from the calcium supplements myself. I think I remember reading or hearing somewhere that arthopods don't need very much calcium, and if they get too much it will make their exoskeleton brittle, for a hisser a brittle exo could be fatal if they fall off the wall of their enclosure, I would think it would increase the chance of a rupture.

Chris

[Matt K]

I've been in the arachno-hobby for about a decade now. In my wildest dreams I never thought that i would one day be kepping hissing roaches.

Well, here we are, got a trhiving colony of several hundred individuals. I really didn't do any research regarding what foods hissers preffer but this is what i have come up with:

(keep in mind i like to work out and as such am a bit of a health freak)

-A small amount of chicken feed

-A small amount of crushed dig food

-Tons of all natural oats and various dehydrated food items

-finally, something I haven't seen anyone else use, a Protein supplement. For those who don't know, protein is key to building muscles, and as such bodybuilders usually chug 4-6 protein shakes a day. These shakes taste pretty good and also give you an INSANE amount of protein. I thought, why not try this out on my hisser's!

So far they love this mix... my main complaint about roaches is that they themselves do not stinky. Rather, it is usually there food items the lead to some funky odors. The smell of the chocolate protein shake + he smell of the deydrated fruits = pure heaven.

For water, i of course over them greens or apples to spice things up. I also use water crystals.

I'm thinking about adding some calcium supplements to my mix, as well as possibly some freesedried flies/crickets for an extra boost of protein. Might grow into hisser's the size of Oklahoma

Has anything tried anything like this before? Any tips and or warnings? Thanks guys, im starting to dig roaches more and more!

Hissers do not require large amount of protein. In low protein diets they grow/breed just as well.

As for the smell produced by food, this is a cause of overfeeding. If fed properly, they eat everything fed in one sitting and should not require food again for 3-7 days. No food left in the cage means no offending smell.