millertimeinc
New Member
As the title says just curious what you guys feed yours I'm looking to find a good mix. Thanks in advance!
What do you feed your Blaptica Dubias?
- Thread starter millertimeinc
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Tygerr
Avid Member
You'll find that they eat pretty much anything... That's one of the reason they make good feeder insects: they're good vessels for transporting nutrients to your cham (gutloading), since they're not too fussy about what you put inside them.
Personally, I always keep two food dishes in my Dubia container: one for dry food, one for wet.
For the dry food, I use home-made mixes based loosely on the James/Wells/Lopez gutload. I use two mixes: one with all the 'fancy' ingredients (kelp, brewer's yeast, spirulina, etc.) that I use for gutloading, and one that only has the basic staple ingredients (baby food, milk powder, oats, some ground nuts) that I use to feed my breeder colony.
For the wet food, I alternate various fresh fruits and veggies (apples, pears, oranges, carrots, squash, butternut), and a few times per week I'll add in some leafy greens (kale, herbs, lettuce).
Basically I feed them the same way I feed my crickets. The only difference is that I provide a lot more leafy greens to my crickets, and I provide 'water gel' crystals to the breeder roaches to ensure they always have a source of moisture (a quick spray of water into their container every so often also seems to stimulate breeding activity - they don't do well in very dry conditions).
Personally, I always keep two food dishes in my Dubia container: one for dry food, one for wet.
For the dry food, I use home-made mixes based loosely on the James/Wells/Lopez gutload. I use two mixes: one with all the 'fancy' ingredients (kelp, brewer's yeast, spirulina, etc.) that I use for gutloading, and one that only has the basic staple ingredients (baby food, milk powder, oats, some ground nuts) that I use to feed my breeder colony.
For the wet food, I alternate various fresh fruits and veggies (apples, pears, oranges, carrots, squash, butternut), and a few times per week I'll add in some leafy greens (kale, herbs, lettuce).
Basically I feed them the same way I feed my crickets. The only difference is that I provide a lot more leafy greens to my crickets, and I provide 'water gel' crystals to the breeder roaches to ensure they always have a source of moisture (a quick spray of water into their container every so often also seems to stimulate breeding activity - they don't do well in very dry conditions).
sweetmisery
New Member
Yeah they eat anything alright! lol
I feed mine dog food, breakfast cereals, vegetables.
I feed mine dog food, breakfast cereals, vegetables.
shaneandjennifer
New Member
Why? Isn't that being a bit fussy? I mean really, it's a cockroach. They survive nuclear wars. My roaches will eat anything. I don't use food dishes even, I just throw the food in there. And I use sponges for moisture.
shaneandjennifer
New Member
Mother of mercy you have got to be serious. it's a freaking cockroach. I guarantee you any and every one that we all keep is covered in germs. Germs will grow on every thing that you put in a roach pen, whether you have a food dish or not. The babies eat the poop of the adults for crying out loud. I know all about gutloading--I'm sure everyone else separates the two or so the night before to gutload, and during that time they gorge on whatever fresh wood we give them. As long as you remove the rotting food I don't really see the problem.
Dankmeleon
New Member
sponges suck water crystals are where its at
and by the way shane he's right
and by the way shane he's right
Dave Legacy
New Member
Hard-boiled egg for protein and fresh veggies for hydration. I like to QT a handful away from the group with Cricketfood.com Advanced Blend Gutload before feeding to my chams.
Dave Legacy
New Member
That's pretty much why I also feed mine chicken mash (that I accidentally purchased thinking it was gutload)... it's a way easier source of protein than hard-boiled eggs.
chamlover
New Member
It might be "just a roach" but the old saying " you are what you eat" kinda sums it up. Feed your roach icky stuff, then your cham eats icky stuff. Do you want your cham to eat like he was going to McDonalds all the time or like he was eating at a health food store ( not quite that bad, but you get the idea)? And yes it might go through them in 48 hours but unless you seperate the ones you will feed off, how will you know which ones had a nutritious last meal. So you see it is not " Just a roach".
Debby
Debby
shaneandjennifer
New Member
I agree that sponges suck. But they were also free for me and can be reloaded at will.
And I'm not sure what you are saying he's "right" about. This isn't a question of right and wrong or black and white but of opinion. . .
Roach food....
I am always amazed how much they eat. I feed mine carrots, and a couple different types of dry foods, mostly breakfeast stuff. It must be working, they are growing and the baby roaches come out and eat too. I keep the male population down, and that seems to actually increase the breeding rate, but I am still not sure of that, it could be the summer weather, though I always try to keep the temp at 85ish. I use the water crystials, it works for me, and they are easy to keep. I agree with all the prior posts about the fact that they do eat almost anything, and they are alot better then keeping crickets for my money.
I am always amazed how much they eat. I feed mine carrots, and a couple different types of dry foods, mostly breakfeast stuff. It must be working, they are growing and the baby roaches come out and eat too. I keep the male population down, and that seems to actually increase the breeding rate, but I am still not sure of that, it could be the summer weather, though I always try to keep the temp at 85ish. I use the water crystials, it works for me, and they are easy to keep. I agree with all the prior posts about the fact that they do eat almost anything, and they are alot better then keeping crickets for my money.
Eric Adrignola
Avid Member
Dog food is a VERY bad idea as a staple. But it's not bad for the roaches. It's not bad because it's "icky". it's bad because of the high content in animal protein.
I would use it as a feed for the roaches that are breeding, but not for those that are being fed to the chameleons. Feeding dig/cat/fish food to feeder insects as a gutload can, over long term, lead to gout. I've seen it happen with dog food once, and a lot of times with fish food.
I've had great results using ground up guinea pig pellets as a base, with some dry baby cereal mixed in (have some left over from a few years back!). The alfalfa has high protein content, it doesn't go bad quickly, and the guniea pig food is very high in vitamin C.
I would use it as a feed for the roaches that are breeding, but not for those that are being fed to the chameleons. Feeding dig/cat/fish food to feeder insects as a gutload can, over long term, lead to gout. I've seen it happen with dog food once, and a lot of times with fish food.
I've had great results using ground up guinea pig pellets as a base, with some dry baby cereal mixed in (have some left over from a few years back!). The alfalfa has high protein content, it doesn't go bad quickly, and the guniea pig food is very high in vitamin C.
Tygerr
Avid Member
Eric, I'm glad you mentioned the guinea pig food. It's an interesting alternative. I've come across a lot of people who are new to the hobby, that are feeding their crickets and other insects dog food as a gutload, simply because "that was the food that was included in the cricket container when they bought the crickets".
It's true - a lot of the crickets available commercialy in pet stores where I am contain a few dog pellets and [sometimes] some carrot. I'm thinking that the cricket breeders do this because the dog pellets don't mould easily and also don't dry out in the way carrots and other veggies do. And since a lot of those crickets end up sitting on shelves in pet stores for quite a while (and the pet stores won't bother to go around feeding the crickets), I can understand why the cricket breeders want to use a food source that will last a while.
Perhaps guinea pig pellets would be a good alternative.
I think this highlights why it's important to make cham keepers aware that the food the insects are shipped with is just there to preserve the insects, and is not necessarily the food you should be using to gutload your insects.
It's true - a lot of the crickets available commercialy in pet stores where I am contain a few dog pellets and [sometimes] some carrot. I'm thinking that the cricket breeders do this because the dog pellets don't mould easily and also don't dry out in the way carrots and other veggies do. And since a lot of those crickets end up sitting on shelves in pet stores for quite a while (and the pet stores won't bother to go around feeding the crickets), I can understand why the cricket breeders want to use a food source that will last a while.
Perhaps guinea pig pellets would be a good alternative.
I think this highlights why it's important to make cham keepers aware that the food the insects are shipped with is just there to preserve the insects, and is not necessarily the food you should be using to gutload your insects.
shaneandjennifer
New Member
Fair enough. I never said that I gutload with dogfood though. I just throw dog food in the bottom of the cage to keep them alive. Then I separate two a day or two prior and gutload them with veggies so I think I'm o.k.
On another note, any idea how high heat they will tolerate? It's 107 today and my wife won't like me bringing them inside. I also noticed today in doing the monthly clean out that a few full grown roaches were actually dead. Like 4 or 5 out of the 50 or 60 that I have. Too hot? Humidity is always an issue here as well.
spatulars
New Member
I was under the impression that dubias are from tropical areas that need temps no less than 75 and high humidity. I live in Houston, so I just stuck them outside on my shaded patio for the summer. I really thought they weren't breeding, and I'd see a few dead now and again, so I was worried that they were all going to die. Lo and behold, I feed them late one night, and there are more out there than I started with. Gross.
Also, for some reason I thought they weren't supposed to have calcium as a staple, so I have been holding back on the James/Wells etc. gutload because of the dried milk. It kills me that I have a huge bag of that stuff and could have been feeding it to them the whole time!
Also, for some reason I thought they weren't supposed to have calcium as a staple, so I have been holding back on the James/Wells etc. gutload because of the dried milk. It kills me that I have a huge bag of that stuff and could have been feeding it to them the whole time!
Hi, I'm new to the world of chameleons. I had a question too about the milk products as part of roach diet. I know that my bearded dragon can't digest milk products so I don't feed my roaches any. Are chameleons similar? Do I need to make sure at least some of my chameleons feeders are gut loaded with a milk product, or is it just a personal preference of the person?
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