Thank you Mammon.

I changed their food to dog pellets(do I offer them dry??). I have a water bowl in side their enclosure, filled with small fish tank rocks so that the water is just above the rocks. I'm keeping them in a glass enclosure with a peat substrate, water bowl and a large piece of bark for a hide.

I think one is definitely a mature male(its got wings), and I suspect 2 might be mature females. How will I know they are breeding? What should I look out for? And how long do they live once they are mature?

I have a small colony (scurry of roaches?) going with about 150-200 mostly 3-5mm plus a couple of adults and pick out about two egg cases per week. Housing is egg cartons. I live in the Lowveld so I am not too worried about humidity and heat.

I feed them mostly apples, oranges and carrots. I am wary of dog and cat food as I have read that a sustained high protein diet, whilst perfect for roaches is bad for the T's.

Any truth to this?

Marius wrote: I am wary of dog and cat food as I have read that a sustained high protein diet, whilst perfect for roaches is bad for the T's.
Any truth to this?

Please direct us to the publication you got this idea from
Would be interested in seeing studies done on how diff food affects our T's

Protein helps the roaches grow & breed fast.
I really dont think they become higher in protein content from their diet.

Hehe! No Papers as to the effect on T's, Just basic perception/assumption that to deviate from the natural diet might not be such a good idea based on the ability of roaches to metabolize protein into uric acid which they store, resulting in gout in reptiles. More protein means more acid.

Plus, of course, the cat food in the roach's system whilst the T is nomming.

The uric acid stored in cockroaches shouldn't be a problem as it is very insoluble in water and thus probably won't be absorbed significant amounts by a predator.

From what I read (see links attached), a carnivore should be able to cope with animal proteins. I feed dog food (lower in protein than cat food) and fresh fruit and veg to my roaches, and keep them lean rather than overfed. Thus I don't believe them to contain overmuch fat or protein, if that ever proves to be a problem with tarantulas.

Uric Acid in cockroaches 1
Uric Acid in cockroaches 2
Uric Acid in cockroaches 3
Gout in reptiles 1
Gout in reptiles 2
Gout in reptiles 3
Gout in reptiles 4

Thank you for the info everyone. They just love the dog food(Montego Classic). Now I must just get the right enclosure and some of those egg cartons.