Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

Budsteam · Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:15 pm Post subject:

Re the cat/dog food, if you have a cat or dog or have frieds who have, when you get to the botoome of the sack of biccy's sieve the dust out - we find all our live food loves doggy dust and it's full of vitamins and calcium Wink

Budsteam · Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:16 pm Post subject:

sorry about the typo's turned off the spell check now my office skills/lack of are showing Embarassed

Insectsunlimited · Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 2:33 pm Post subject: Temps

That is one thing you must be VERY careful with, IF you up the temperatures, you MUST up the humidity as well as they do dehdrate very quickly. If you keep them about 90d F, it is best to keep them on a damp substrate. I prefer to keep mine just dry enough to stop the food going mouldy & mist spray a corner every evening. They also get a dish with a sponge in, soaked in water (the sponge is stop young falling in & drowning) but they do actively drink from them.
ALL roaches love fruit but lobsters have a particular liking for sweet apples (as opposed to "cookers"). I don`t know how big your colonies are but I personally slice a whole apple, very thinly & spread it out over the substrate, in each of my lobster boxes... & within seconds, you can`t see ANY apple as it is covered with them. Some breeds, like Madeira`s & wood roaches, prefer orange but ALL will eat apple readily... & regularly. Regards... Dave.
_________________
Dave Messer @ Insectsunlimited.

It may be the early bird that gets the worm but it`s the 2nd mouse that gets the cheese.

GJ · Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:44 pm Post subject:

That's a good idea as i go through 20kg of dog food a month and i will often chuck it out if there are no biscuits left.

I have noticed that when i finely chop or slice the fruit & veg it will dry up quicker and not mould it just needs to be replace more often.

What sponges are safe to use as a water source, i was led to believe most household sponges contain harmful chemicals.

johne.ev · Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:34 pm Post subject:

GJ, try cotton wool balls, soaked in water on a shallow lid (pringle crisps lid's are ideal). also my Dubia have been eating carrot & bannana.

Insectsunlimited · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 12:27 am Post subject: foodstuffs

Hi There,
I`ve always found that it is a good idea to ask for a feeding list from whoever you buy your roaches from. Some people prefer to feed totally different to others & this can cause problems if you feed them on a different diet... they MAY not take readily to it if they`re not used to it. Mine get a varied diet of dried cat chow, cereal & fresh fruit & veg on a daily basis but try them on different things & see if they like it or not. It`s not just to keep them happy... it can save you a lot in food wastage. With the fruit, you can vary the amount you put in & judge it so they have enough... but not too much. this also cuts down on waste. Virtually any fruit or veg will be taken by one roach or another but they do tend to have favorites. My Madeira`s love orange but hardly touch apple. Having said that, it wouldn`t surprise me if someone else joins in & says that theirs live virtually on apple.
cotton wool balls is a good idea for holding water, the reason I used sponge was because it is eay to wash out every 2 or 3 days to keep it fresh. I use the sponges that are made to go in fish tank filters but to be honest, I hadn`t thought about them being toxic. None of my sponges have been nibbled & they certainly drink from the dishes so they seem O.K.
_________________
Dave Messer @ Insectsunlimited.

It may be the early bird that gets the worm but it`s the 2nd mouse that gets the cheese.