Getting Down and Dirty....

[BitterNatch]

No, roaches don't bite and will not crawl over your gecko/s,[...)
No need to pull a few roach legs (...)

Am I glad to read that.... yey!

My bf's clinic gets a lot of science diet dog food samples, I guess I'm gonna use that as a protein source... and lotta carrots! I liked this thing I read about carotene enhancing your geckos colors. How about beets?

 

[EchoPet]

Careful with Science Diet - while their labels don't include it anymore, rumor has it that their ingredients are still preserved with BHA and BHT. Dog food labels don't have to list preservatives that were included before the ingredients get to the company's plant. Also look out for dog foods with Ethoxyquin, which is classified and regulated by the FDA as a pesticide. Besides the chemical preservatives, Science Diet has numerous other low quality ingredients.

 

[BitterNatch]

How about Eukanuba?

Other "good" brands I can get are Royal Canin and Pro Plan...

 

[Nigel4less]

If a lack of protein is a big concern, I'd certainly use a better quality dog food than Nutro. Especially with the fairly recent buy-out, I don't trust Nutro and its quality. I've noticed a lot of changes and heard some very unsettling things from the company rep that I deal with. Can you get Nature's Variety, Wellness, or any of the Innova dog foods where you live? They're all very good quality brands with much better protein in them. :main_thumbsup:

I`ll keep you updated! Until I make the switch they will stay on their Veggie and Fruit Diet

 

[MXW]

Hi Nigel,

did you only set up adults in this colony? Because when they were only set up 1 week ago the nymphs are really big. Or do the babys grow very fast? Because mine are 1 months old and do not grow...


Best regards Max

 

[spykerherps]

Nice big colony you've got there Nigel.

Side Note don't mean to high jack anyones thread but to answer some questions that have come up.
Eukanuba is made by Iams which I don't like aside from animal testing by Proctor and gamble their ingredience are crap. don't like pro plan either.

Madder of fact the quality of many of the foods that have commercials on TV are highly questionable one of the few reason vets and breeders recommend stuff like science diet and pedigree is because they have contracts with them and get either free dog food or money. the vets are the one selling S.D. so of course their going to want to make you by it. ALL these companies have been surpassed in resent years by higher quality foods
like Evangers, Wellness, Eagle Pack, Solid Gold,Royal Canine, and few others I cant remember right now.

the foods are designed for mammals so if their is any question about there being pesticides in them in regards to feeding roaches that will be fed to your geckos, I would not risk it. go with a higher quality food.

Cat foods Have a higher protein content might want to try that instead of dog foods along with fruits veggies and bug load.

I guess I am lucky my aunt bought this big bag of high quality freeze dried all organic cat kibble and her cats wouldn't eat it and so she gave it to us. and now we've got a 5 year supply of high protein roach chow. haha.

 

[SFgeckos]

just sharing...

I've been feeding "Science Diet" canine kibble to my dubia roaches for 4+ years without any ill effects...

J

 

[Chewbecca]

I wanted to bump this (sorry to keep bumping old threads), but I am fascinated (not to mention GROSSED OUT) by the roach colonies you all have going on in this thread.

I will want to keep one for our geckos, most likely, and need this info ready to me.

The gut-load I made up for my mealies last night, will most likely be part of what I give the roaches.

I used a high quality, grain-free dog food (cannot remember the name, a customer of ours gave us a bag because the company sponsors his dog in dock-diving) but it's 42% protein. I'll also be adding dehydrated green tripe treats, sea kelp, and probably fruits and vegetables.


Since there is calcium in dog food, do we have to add more calcium to the gut-load?