Roaches and oranges

Was just feeding my colonies of dubias and lobsters, and usually give them fresh fruits for hydration.
But I ran out awhile back and have been giving them crystals.
Well about a 2 weeks ago as I was searching for baby sling-sized roaches, I figured I had just about run out.
Then, last saturday a friend gave me a bunch of oldis tangerines, so for the last week the roaches have had their oranges.
Now, today and yesterday, theres about 50 gazllion babies in both colonies . . .
Coincidence???

What IS it about oranges that makes these guys go crazy???
Were the gravid females just waiting till better rations were available or what?
Ive heard folks say that oranges have this effect, why???

Imma have to get some more spiders to keep up with all these roaches!

And is it just me or do Ts like the lobsters better, I got tease them with dubias, but lobsters they attack with gusto.

Hmmm. Interesting. Vitamin C maybe?

I have a dubia colony that I only feed oranges and carrots to. (aside from their dry diet and water crystals) and they are reproducing like mad! I tried bananas and apples and a few other things at first, but the orange seem to kick the reproduction into high gear. Not sure what it is, and I'm not going to question it either. I just know its working and now I can give friends free starter colonys and still have way more than enough roaches to feed our T's.

I don't know what causes it but it sure is true. Mine just love oranges and seem to have population explosions when they get them and not do so well when they don't. It isn't just oranges either, I've give mine nectarines, tangelos, grapefruit, and just about any other kind of citrus except lemons.
I also give citrus to my hissers, and my cave roaches, but I don't give it to my latteralis, I did once and it seemed to burn their legs.

I'm actually heading out to get oranges for mine today!

My G. Portentosa colony loves oranges as well.

I think because of the smell and the texture of the orange. Whenever i put a slice in all of them crowd around.

ditto
i just started my colony
and they prefer oranges.
next is banana then carrots.

that is all i have tried for now
i will experiment with more later

but at lest i know other peoples roaches like oranges also haha

similar experience. I had a really small colony of dubia for months and no babies at all. Literally the day after I put it in there I had babies. Maybe there's some nutrient that citrus has that is deficient in normal diet. No idea.

Mine have been not really breeding at all so I'm definitely giving them oranges today.

Mine love either pink grapefruit or oranges. It definitely seems to affect the breeding. Mine also will swarm madly for the occasional leaf of romaine lettuce but not if I give it every day. I'm glad to see this thread because until now I really couldn't back up what I was telling people about citrus in the diet with anything more than my own limited experiences.

arachyd said:

Mine love either pink grapefruit or oranges. It definitely seems to affect the breeding. Mine also will swarm madly for the occasional leaf of romaine lettuce but not if I give it every day. I'm glad to see this thread because until now I really couldn't back up what I was telling people about citrus in the diet with anything more than my own limited experiences.

Click to expand...

Mine seem to make romaine disappear overnight. Its better than iceberg because it actually has nutrients in it instead of just nitrogen and water.

1st of all, NO lettuce is very good other than hydration, I dont care what ya heard or how ya argue it . . .



Something about citrus just makes em go crazy!
I wish I could remember where and by whom was the info I heard . . .

I just brought home another bag of Cuties(tangerines from Auburn Ca) so Im well stocked.

This could even be a method of population control for folks . . .
The method is described fairly thoroughly here . . .

I've actually performed an experiment with oranges and dubias. I seperated 80 adult females and 20 adult males and evenly split them into 4 colonies. They had the same containers, conditions, dry food, water, etc. Two colonies I fed oranges and carrots and the other two I just fed carrots. I continued this for three months and at the end the two colonies I fed the oranges to had 3 to 4 times as many babies. I didn't even feed them oranges very often, it was like every two weeks or so. If you're having production problems it's definitely one of the first things you should try.

Pacmaster said:

1st of all, NO lettuce is very good other than hydration, I dont care what ya heard or how ya argue it . . .

Click to expand...

Why do you say that? There is something in romaine that they love. Mine go nuts for it if I feed it occasionally. They have a water dish and also get fruits/vegs for hydration so it isn't that they need water. So far they have ignored other kinds of lettuce.

My dubias like romaine lettuce too. I don't give it to them very often because I'm afriad of pesticides. I had a large walkiingstick colony die once in a matter of hours after eating store bought romaine lettuce that obviously had pesticide residue on it. If you use it wash it thoroughly.

"It is not possible to compare the cost of any of these with milk or the leafy vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, Swiss chard, collards, Brussel sprouts, onions, lettuce, celery tops, spinach, turnip tops and other leaves employed as greens. Milk and the leafy vegetables are to be regarded as protective foods. In some degree eggs are to be considered in the same class. Milk and the leafy vegetables should be taken in liberal amounts. The leaves should not be regarded as foods of low value because their content of protein, fat and carbohydrateis low, and the content of water high. When compared on the basis of chemical composition they appear inferior to seeds, but they have a peculiar value in their high content of fat-soluble A and of mineral elements, which makes them stand in a class by themselves among the vegetable foodstuffs."

SOURCE:
Protective Foods: "A Classic of Science"
Source: The Science News-Letter, Vol. 19, No. 515 (Feb. 21, 1931), pp. 123-124 Published by: Society for Science & the Public


"Abstract: Five cultivars of leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. crispa) - Bergamo, Dubacek, Frisby, Lollo Rossa and Redin-were evaluated in two-year experiments carried out at the Faculty of Horticulture in Lednice (Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno). Experiments were conducted in two trial years, 1998 and 1999; the lettuce was cultivated in three seasons: spring, summer and autumn. After the harvest, contents of following nutrients were evaluated: vitamin C, minerals (K, Na, Ca, Mg), fibre, dry matter and nitrates. The weight of leaf rosette was also recorded. The contents of selected substances and weights of leaf rosette were ranged as follows: vitamin C (65 to 302 mg/kg), potassium (2,394 to 6,477 mg/kg), sodium (39 to 223 mg/kg), calcium (200 to 755 mg/kg), magnesium (110 to 413 mg/kg), fibre (4.98 to 12.22 g/kg), dry matter (59 to 140 g/kg), nitrates (293 to 3,817 mg/kg) and the weight of leaf rosette (164 to 502 g). A significant influence of cultivar was found in the case of K, Na, and Ca content, as well as in dry matter and weight of leaf rosette. The growing season affected significantly all the evaluated substances, except for fibre. The year of cultivation affected all the evaluated parameters but Ca. It appears from the results that the contents of monitored substances were significantly influenced by cultivar as well as by growing season and year."

SOURCE:
Koudela, M., & Petrikova, K. (2008). Nutrients content and yield in selected cultivars of leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. crispa). Horticultural Science, 35(3), 99-106.


Leafy greens are great for you essential vitamin and fiber wise, just not high in protein, fat, or carbs so you obviously can't feed only greens.

I never heard of the listed lettuces . . .


Why would you want to feed a high fiber diet any way, it will only mean more frass, more cleaning, more food intake.
The energy produced by the sugary oranges seems to go right into reproduction . . .

Well fiber probably helps push food through so they can eat even more, which would result in faster growth. I have to eat my veggies every time I eat protein or I cant get down enough food for the day, hitting the gym ftw.

Pacmaster said:

I never heard of the listed lettuces . . .


Why would you want to feed a high fiber diet any way, it will only mean more frass, more cleaning, more food intake.
The energy produced by the sugary oranges seems to go right into reproduction . . .

Click to expand...

the nutrient level shouldn't very much with the type of lettuce, as long as it's dark. Iceburg is useless. The point isn't the fiber, it's the vitamins. Ok, fine, for example maybe you personally dont get a lot of vitamins in your diet. You won't die and you will reproduce. But I assume you're feeding these roaches out, and what ever nutrient deficiencies your roaches having, whatever you're feeding them to will have. There's a big difference between living (and in roaches living=reproduction) and thriving.

The sugar in oranges would be near useless if it werent for the fact that fruits have high levels of vitamins, but still not as high as dark greens and the vitamins are different. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin used in making collagen. Vitamin A from dark greens is a fat soluble vitamin that plays a role in synthesizing proteins needed for eyesight, growth, and cell differentiation.

Fiber is good though. the poster just above me is right.

I don't believe there has been any kind of study on the need for fiber in the diet of roaches. I've never known one to be constipated from lack of fiber or to get diarrhea from too much leafy greens in the diet. You can't compare their dietary needs to human needs - their anatomy is completely different not only in the parts they have but what they're made of. Since many of them eat leaves and fruit in the wild it seems obvious they would get sufficient fiber (if they need it) from a diet which includes these items. I'm pretty sure it isn't the sugar in oranges that they crave as mine show no interest in a lot of other sweet foods.