Cockroaches are a very nutritious food for bearded dragons with a lower fat content than comparable feed animals. The protein content is slightly higher, and the animals bring a larger mass and thus also a higher nutrient content.
Bearded dragons are allowed to eat all commercially available cockroaches. The most famous are the Madagascar cockroaches, the chocolate cockroaches, the skull, and the Argentine forest cockroaches.
Cockroaches communicate with each other via pheromones and can exhale a defensive secretion in case of danger. The quantity and intensity vary from species to species and also depend on the age of the cockroach. It is not harmful to bearded dragons, but it can lead to the fact that they are not liked initially or that a specific type of cockroach is preferred.
Which cockroaches are suitable as food animals for bearded dragons?
People perceive cockroaches primarily as vermin, but from the point of view of bearded dragons, these are authentic delicacies. Since cockroaches are highly nutritious, you should integrate them into the menu.
However, since there are many different types of cockroaches, you should know that the following cockroaches are especially suitable as live food for bearded dragons:
- Chocolate cockroaches
- Skull cockroaches
- Argentine forest cockroaches
- Madagascar cockroaches
Chocolate Cockroaches
Chocolate cockroaches belong to the smaller species and reach a maximum of almost 3 cm long. The males are bright red, and the females are dark red to dark brown. Chocolate cockroaches are rather soft-shelled, easily overpowered by young bearded dragons, and are often taken by bearded dragons who dislike other hard-shelled cockroaches.
Like Argentine forest cockroaches, they can not run up smooth walls. However, they are very skilled and use impurities on panes and very high protruding hiding material for their escape attempts. It is also the case with them that females cannot fly, and males can, but rarely do. If this cockroach species escapes, it can survive for a long time in the apartment and, in rare cases, multiply there.
Skull Cockroaches
Skull cockroaches, sometimes called giant forest cockroaches, grow to 6 cm in size. These cockroaches like it a little wetter and should be kept on terrarium soil, occasionally moistened. Due to their original way of life, fruit should be an integral part of the food supply.
The military secretion of this species is more intense, so it happens that bearded dragons avoid them. Escaped skull cockroaches do not survive in the apartment for a long time and do not multiply there.
Argentine Forest Cockroaches
Argentine forest cockroaches are deservedly the most popular cockroaches. The 4 to 5-cm-long insects are unpretentious in keeping and fond of eating bearded dragons. They multiply best at 25 ° C and 30 ° C. They are not breakout artists. The females cannot fly, and the males can, but rarely do. In addition, they can not run up on smooth walls. Even if cockroaches escape, they will eventually die in the apartment without leaving offspring.
Madagascar Cockroaches
Madagascar cockroaches can grow up to 7.5 cm tall. Thanks to small adhesive elements on their feet, they quickly run up vertical surfaces and should therefore be kept in a well-secured container. The nimble cockroaches can be located well thanks to their hissing sounds but are challenging to capture. But they do not multiply in the apartment.
When feeding adult males, they should take care because their breast shield is rigid. It can splinter when eating and lead to injuries in the bearded dragon or cause problems with digestion. Males are, therefore, better fed to bearded dragons at an earlier stage.
Keeping Cockroaches As Food Animals
Even feed animals have the right to animal-friendly husbandry. These include a sufficiently large and well-ventilated container. Suitable are fauna boxes, available in different sizes, or plastic containers such as the Samla box from Ikea, which are provided with air holes and mesh lids.
Feed substrate is often used as the substrate, but this has the disadvantage that it mixes with the manure. A layer of terrarium soil for (rain) forest terrariums is even better. It is often based on coconut fiber and does not start to smell unpleasant or mold, even at higher humidity. Some owners have also had a good experience with fret sawdust and bird sand.
Cockroaches are predominantly nocturnal and require hiding places. Egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, bark from deciduous trees (previously disinfected in the oven), and cork parts are very suitable.
The optimum temperature is between 25°C and 29°C. Most heated rooms can do this by putting the cockroach containers on the terrarium or a heating mat. Temperatures below 20 ° C and well above 30 ° C are poorly tolerated by the cockroaches and can lead to death.
Cockroaches are omnivorous and can be fed a varied diet with oatmeal, wheat bran, green food, fruits, vegetables, dry cat food, and fish. Put food containing water in a shallow bowl because cockroaches would leave more water behind when they eat, seeping into the substrate.
Cockroaches can easily cover their water needs with water-containing food alone, for example, by offering a fresh piece of cucumber daily. Also, wick potions or wet sponges are suitable for water supply. In open water vessels, the animals easily drown. An upside-down lid of a jam jar or similar can be filled flat with water for adult cockroaches.
Cockroaches are more expensive than other food animals, such as crickets or domestic animals. But they are straightforward to grow on their own.
Why Do Bearded Dragons Need A Cage Outside?
Breeding Cockroaches
The breeding of individual species of cockroaches differs only slightly. If the husbandry conditions are right and the temperatures are not too low, cockroaches multiply by themselves.
It is essential to pay attention to a good gender composition. In the best case, the ratio of males to females is at least 1:5. However, significantly more females and fewer males are better. Cockroaches have a
After mating, it takes about three to four weeks for the female to form an elongated egg package (other), which at first glance somewhat resembles a worm. Argentine forest cockroaches store this egg packet in the body; other cockroaches deposit it in cracks. After a few weeks, the young hatch from these Ootheken.
If you want to establish well-functioning breeding in the long term, you mainly feed males and very old females, so there are still enough females to provide further offspring. Old animals show reduced activity, become paler, and often lack limbs.
If the cockroaches multiply too much, more females are fed. Even a slight reduction in temperature can slow down the rate of reproduction. However, reptile reception stations, wildlife aids, and other reptile keepers are usually grateful buyers for excess offspring.
Why are cockroaches not suitable as complete food for bearded dragons?
Cockroaches are equally popular with bearded dragons and their owners, so you might be inclined to use them more or less as complete food. However, this is not recommended because the diet is too one-sided in the long run.
In addition, 80 to 90 percent of adult bearded dragons should be fed a plant-based diet. People who only provide their animal’s cockroaches aren’t excellent drivers because bearded dragons need a variety of foods to get all the nutrients they need.
How do we upgrade the nutritional content of cockroaches as feed animals?
When keeping bearded dragons, administering vitamins and minerals added often makes sense. For example, cockroaches are ideally suited as a means to an end.
So you can pollinate them with vitamin supplements and then feed them. Otherwise, it has also proven not to feed cockroaches directly but to feed them a particularly vitamin-rich diet for a few days. Thus, valuable vitamins and minerals can be administered indirectly.
Are cockroaches good for bearded dragons?
While Dubia roaches are an excellent choice for your bearded dragon’s live diet, you can always add some variation by offering other live foods. In addition to mealworms, your pet can benefit from eating the following insects: Roaches of the genus Dubai. Mealworms.
Can bearded dragons eat dead cockroaches?
Any bearded dragon’s diet must consist of live insects, regardless of age. Your dragon will always need to eat live bugs, as they make up 80% of a young dragon’s diet and 20% of an adult dragon’s diet. The nutritional value of dead insects is far lower than their living counterparts.
Can lizards eat House roaches?
Cockroaches are just one of several insects that many lizards like to eat. Bearded dragons, monitor lizards, and leopard geckos, among others, eat cockroaches as a natural part of their diet. Cockroaches are inexpensive for humans to buy and nutritious for pet lizards, so even geckos and iguanas get to eat them.