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Hints for a new Roach Colony

Hints For A New Roach Colony
© Mendi Horn 2004


Please note that the carrot salads are based the articles written by Takeshi Yamada
http://www.hissingcockroach.com/t1.htm
Mr. Yamada has some great articles there that go way beyond my article. Every new and experience roach breeder can find something to help at some point

Feeding schedules


All recipes and helpful hints are written by me. The carrot salads are what I have remembered from the several times I've read that post in the above site. I'm sure that they will look similar with possible modifications I threw in. I'm paying him a great compliment by teaching what I first learned from him in Dec 2001 hearing the feeder roaches can eliminate the need for crickets. Too bad I always either fed too many for entertainment, or given into my roach aversion to the point I purposefully fed them all. Honest, I'm doing well with my OW'phobia, pTerrorphobia and Blaberusophobia

The "staple" is all my concoction of foods that everyone supplies all the time (dog food), feline kibbles added to help stop wing biting, others are things I've tried and found they started eating in like they hadn't fed in a few weeks And I also added a few things other feeder insects eat, maybe added a flavor or 3 they seemed to quickly eat before, The seem to like it ok, but they do always prefer the salads

Hisser note: They would be happier in the warmest part of your house, though if you have them in the garage 90+ might be detrimental. Non-climbing species would like this too, but do well regular home temps

The humble root vegetable known as a carrot it the principle player in this infosheet, Roaches of any sort enjoy and eat them readily. And it is also important for the roaches to be interested in them as soon as the catch it's antennae that they are made right before they are going to be fed out, All the ingredients in the salads, "greens mix" none should be prepared longer than 2 hour, and it you make too much Gourmet or Regular Carrot salad, it isn't going to be usable after storage, But all these have vitamins and minerals a human needs...There's nothing in the salads that would stop me from eating it. And I bet even out rodent friends would cheer for, and the birds, they like it too.

Not to mention an iguana : ) Everyone gets to share the salads, and oranges and carrot mix is likely quite tasty

Those who already have large viable colonies and need more, just add in equal parts

Gourmet Carrot Salad


* 1 Freshly shredded carrot
* 1 med orange* peeled, segmented, sliced and other wise slightly mangled
be careful to preserve as much fresh juice as you can, trash the peel
* a generous handful of the **<<whatever's on hand mix>>** found below
* 2 t olive oil

Mix the salad gently with spoon and feed at least once every 2 weeks. Don't feed more often than every 9-14 days. For even more appeal top with a sprinkle of the staple diet below. They probably will completely ignore all other food items in their enclosure. You need to let them eat all they want of this for 2 nights with remains removed that morning. No need for them to expect the best food all the time, and for some reason they just might get picky...

*Actually I have used most citrus fruits... What ever I find on sale really With the sour ones I add apple or pear to sweeten the strong citric acid, sliced grape works also



Regular Carrot Salad


* 1 Freshly shredded carrot
* extra generous handful of<<whatever's on hand mix>>
* 1 t. olive oil
* a sprinkling of daily meal after mixing

mix well so there's a light film of olive oil on everything. sprinkle top with the staple diet



Staple roach diet


This is always on hand in the enclosure. And try to have it positioned good but away from the salad bar.
Even set apart, they will carry moisture into the mix, packing an wetting it. It normally needs replace every 5-7 days. And don't forget to look through it pretty well before trashing it. Newly born and younger nymphs like to be "underground"

Must have old coffee grinder... (Habitat-for-Humanity store $1, Goodwill... think cheap)
Don't use what you use for your coffee, it might not taste right for a long time. Big Lots and Dollar stores are the place to get most all the ingredients. It doesn't need to be the brands we see on the TV. Spend the money on the salad fixing's

* 2 c dried oak leaves **
* 2 c dog food (for both the kibble, I buy the cheapest 2-5lb bag)
* 1 c cat food
* 1 c cracked corn ( in the bird seed area)
* 1 2-4oz cheap fish flakes
* ½c oatmeal dry
* ½c wild rice "
* ½c dried alfalfa (2-4 guinea pig blocks or if you have barn access a nice wad of hay, use some old scissors and cut into manageable and grinding size)
* ½c hamster seed
* 2 T dry milk product
* 4 one a day vitamins pills


Grind and mix well. With a strong whisk mix at least 1 T. of olive oil until all the mix is slightly darker. It may need more olive oil... but it too much that it forms balls or flacks they way a pie crust does. It should try to hold a shape when pressured into a ball, a t light touch and it should fall apart. Too much oil, grind more of the top 3 ingredients and mix well. Hopefully you won't need another grinding to further dry it. I've never weighed this, but it should fit in a med/lg Tupperware and this last bigger batch feels close to 5lbd. I got tired of making it once a week. This might last for some time



*<<Whatever's on hand mix>> or things to keep the meals new and different.

Greens mix


romaine & other leaf lettuce, kale, spinach, dandelions, green & red clover, daylily flowers and stalks, apple, pear, fresh or dry Oak* leaves, chicory, plantain, diced cucumber. yellow and zucchini squash, parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary, broccoli, turnip greens and the diced root, mustard greens. Fresh or dried other hard wood trees like maple, untreated fruit tree, redbud, poplars, hickory. green beans & peas unshelled and diced, top leaves off you carrots... For some reason I can't remember now, but avoid feeding cabbage & it close relatives, including cauliflower,

Ripe or dice in to our pick of greens into smaller ½-1" pieces, add to all carrot salads

Specials

sweet potato & yam, banana & peel, strawberries, cherries, peach, melon, sliced grapes, sugar cane, mango... actually any fruit that isn't normally in the diet, also sweet peppers and hot peppers, tomato

Reject things like potato, mushroom. radish, most other root veggies than those mentioned above



** Oak leaves

Oak leaves have a place all their own when it comes to benefits and taste apparently. Many things in a deciduous forest really depend on the oaks. 1st thing they do when the germinate is sending down a long and strong taproot It really never stops driving the taproot into the soil. This a miracle for more than half the neighboring trees. I'm sure ever has seen those giant maple trees that are pushed down by microburst and thunderstorms, Did you see those wimpy roots. It a wonder they don't fall from their weight alone

But now you are in a mostly oak grove, see the seedlings of maples starting up for the sun, in this little seedling "mind' it knows the strong protective oak is near, As it grows, it is latching on to a safety harness, This tree might be lost to the chainsaw, but a storm probably will never turn it over in there

Oaks are a highly edible tree as insects much them growing and as the are returning their nutrients back to the earth. The have huge amounts of leaves and they hold on until all the other leaved have dropped and a good amount of them have blown away. This tree wasn't to recycle and use the chemical it loaded the leaf with... most of the other plants find oak leaf compost an excellent place to grow

Insect and animals reap all the same harvest from the leave, and black bear, dear, and squirrels would be terribly hard pressed to make it though the winter had they not feasted on thousands of acorns. The are still finding them in the coldest times of the year

Oak has almost magical properties to bestow on those that use the gifts wisely. Many ground dwelling invertebrate live on adding the decomposition getting all they need and returning most of it back to continue keeping the tree alive.

Our cockroaches are forest living ground dwellers, most of the time should you be out sitting and observing the things going on in a forest we don't really see them scuttling about. They're though eating the fallen tree leaves, And Oaks seem to be preferred by all my critters, and plenty of others were shown the oak magic and they feed them too

You live in a city or 300 from a wooded area and want to try them, You probably have a friend that can get you a bag now and then.. Shoot, cover the postage and I'll mail you a box. Note this is a seasonal offering...

If you can't got Oak leaves, substitute maple or untreated fruit tree leave.
And plan a trip to a Nature reserve or a friends that has oak trees, they
will love giving you some. I uses the dried leaves and editable substrate and hides for the
youngest nymphs and snacks for the grownup, you will find bare middle stems in the maintenance

***
For best breeding results, I've found the roaches need fresh citrus at least once a month, better twice

© Mendi Horn 2004
Distribute this freely as long as my document from the title "Hints For A New Roach Colony" through out the remainder or this message does not change and copyrights remain in place so all credits are given to the author has full credit for the staple diet and schedule. I do not claim to be the originator of the carrot salads and have that addressed in the opening address
 
I figured some of you guys would like this article, because Roaches don't STINK and they are less prone to desies like Crickets. Roaches have a higher meat to shell ratio, and can breed like CRAZY. They are just way better than crickets, either way, roaches wont infest your house unless you are keeping something like American roaches or German roaches. Roaches like B. dubia, N. cinerea, B. lateralis or any other good feeder roach, are great feeders they are tropical so they wont infest your house..

I have been doing allot of research and am getting a colony for fun and for a feeder.
 
Thanks for posting that. What species will you be rearing?

Carrot Salad... I wonder if they like Blue Cheese Ranch dressing with that?:-O
 
Well my B. lateralis came in! He also gave me some B. discoidales nymphs.

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I have been contemplating this myself.
Here is an interesting site(a arachnid forum) with a cool set-up.
Yes, crickets smell God-awful even keeping some for a week. Roaches don;t(from what I have heard) and some are horrible climbers and can't even climb a plastic tote.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=463

Cheers,

Joe
 
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