Good Nutrition for Your Pets!

Why Dubia Roaches?

Dubia roaches are quickly becoming the preferred feeder insect for reptiles, amphibians, arachnids and any other insect-eating pet. Following are some reasons why.

Dubia roaches are very nutritious for your pets:

• They have a much higher meat-to-shell ration than crickets. It would take about 5 crickets to equal one Dubia roach of the same length.
• They contain up to ten times more protein than crickets.
• They have a soft shell, which makes them easy to digest.
• They come in a wide range of sizes (ranging from ¼” to 2”), so you can feed your pet precisely the size insect it needs.

Dubia roaches are easier and more convenient for you:

• They are silent.
• They are odor-free.
• They don’t jump or fly (adult males have wings, but don’t use them).
• They are easy to care for and live a long time (up to two years).
• They won’t infest your home. Dubias are a tropical species of roach that need high heat and high humidity to breed.

Why Jersey Roaches?

As a result of their fresh, wholesome and varied diet, our Dubia roaches contain the right balance of vitamins, minerals and proteins that your pets need for optimum health. Our roaches are fed a primarily organic vegetarian diet. They receive a different grain and fresh fruit or vegetable daily. Grains we feed include wheat bran, rice, corn meal, oatmeal, and occasionally whole-grain bread. Their favorite produce includes oranges, carrots, broccoli stems, and yams. They seem to really love orange colored produce, which may indicate a high need for beta carotene. They are also fed apples, bananas, berries, melon, lettuce, green peppers, celery, green beans, etc.

Our roaches are fed a grain and a fresh fruit or vegetable daily.

As is true for all herbivorous animals, roaches have symbiotic bacteria in their gut that help them digest cellulose in fruits and vegetables. Therefore, roaches are very efficient at obtaining all the nutrients they need from a vegetarian diet.

Roaches have evolved to thrive on a diet very low in protein. A diet too high protein can result in the accumulation of high levels of uric acid in their bodies, since they convert extra protein to uric acid and store it. The excess uric acid, in turn, can cause health problems such as gout or kidney stones in reptiles that consume such roaches, especially if the reptiles have any health issues or are dehydrated (a common problem with some reptiles). Dubia roaches produce high levels of protein in their bodies when they're maintained on a low protein diet, so you can be sure your pets are getting the protein they need from our roaches, without excess uric acid. There is no need to gutload your Dubia roaches with protein prior to feeding them to your pets; in fact, it may be detrimental. Please note, however, that we don’t supplement our roach diet with extra calcium, since that would make our roaches unsuitable for some pets, such as tarantulas. If your pets require supplemental calcium, you will need to add that by dusting them or feeding a calcium supplement to our Dubias prior to feeding them to your pets.