pulverized or not?

[Aquanut]

Regarding roach food: Just curious as to who pulverizes the dry food they feed to roaches VS just leaving it in whole pieces/chucks/pellets (dog, cat, chicken, fish food etc.) When i started with roaches i was told to grind it to a fine powder, but as my colony got huge i became lazy and tried putting the food in whole. I haven't noticed any difference in feeding. What do you guys do and what are your thoughts??

 

[cacoseraph]

Regarding roach food: Just curious as to who pulverizes the dry food they feed to roaches VS just leaving it in whole pieces/chucks/pellets (dog, cat, chicken, fish food etc.) When i started with roaches i was told to grind it to a fine powder, but as my colony got huge i became lazy and tried putting the food in whole. I haven't noticed any difference in feeding. What do you guys do and what are your thoughts??

i have seen little tiny nymphs walk up to kibbles hundreds of times their mass and chew on it for a while, so i just stopped grinding up part.

also, i think ground up food in the substrate + moisture led to moldy patches more often than i get with whole chunks of food

 

[Stylopidae]

Every time a roach eats, there's little crumbs that fall out. The bottom quarter of all my food containers is pulverized food/frass and both of those are great for nymphs.

 

[bugmankeith]

I spray the cat or dog food with water to soften it, plus they get a little extra water too while they eat it.

 

[Scarp172]

I feed my colony pulverized dry food, and cut the "wet" food (fruits and veggies) into smaller pieces. They get eaten faster, are distributed more evenly among the colony (ever seen roaches fight for food? The largest roach shakes the smaller ones off of its piece of food and runs) and reduces the chances of mold. The larger chunks of wet food start to mold after a day or two, but the smaller pieces are all gone by then.

 

[ScorpDemon]

I put all my roach food through the grinder, I find it doesnt mold nearly as quick as the whole chunks. I also noticed a lot less humitity forming on the walls of the enclosures too, but in the winter I have a small space heater that blows on my roach bins most of the time anyway, which kills more of the humidity anyway.

 

[becca81]

I put all my roach food through the grinder, I find it doesnt mold nearly as quick as the whole chunks. I also noticed a lot less humitity forming on the walls of the enclosures too, but in the winter I have a small space heater that blows on my roach bins most of the time anyway, which kills more of the humidity anyway.

I've noticed the opposite - that the ground-up food molds more quickly than the chunks.

I currently just use chunks in all my roach tanks and it has served them well. I put any fruits or other "wet food" on the opposite side to reduce any chance of mold.

 

[Aquanut]

I never had mold problems either way. Ive always kept the dry food, produce and water crystals well separated. I went to chunks because i got lazy and my blender was starting to smoke.

 

[Stylopidae]

I use pup corn brand dog treats (hey...they're cutsey but they come with awesome sling containers...not bad for $2.50 plus discount.)

I just pile a peice or two into a ice tea cap (like the nestea bottles...they're perfect) and crush them by putting all my body weight into it.

I remove all uneaten wet food once per day and wash out the caps and then start the process over.

Most of the time, it's already eaten or dried when I get back. I'm going to start cutting down on the wet food in my lobster colony.

 

[Steven.WK]

I use a blend of dry cat food and oatmeal. I thought grinding them up to almost a powder would be too small for them but they love it. I keep my food and water crystals in deli cup lids and change them once a week. I haven't found any mold or food fallen to the bottom of the tank. My dubia are such neat freaks.