# Stinky Roaches



## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

So I've had my turks for just over a month now and they seem to be chucking out loads of babies but they bloody stink! They're in a 50l RUB with a 10"x10" piece of aluminium mesh in the lid for ventilation.
They have tons of egg crate in there and three bowls, one for dry cat/ferret food, one with water gel in and one for veg a few times a week.
Any ideas why they smell so bad? The mrs isn't happy about it but I don't want to have to get rid of them


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

Mine smell but nothing major, infact it smells a bit like a farm yard. Maybe its the cat food or something that your feeding them or maybe they've dragged off some of the veg n its rotting somewhere.


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## pete-gsxr (Jul 19, 2010)

my old turkistan colonies stunk aswell, i got rid in the end


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## ricardo1 (Jan 16, 2010)

its prob to humid do you have the water crystals sitting on the heat mat? and move in the way of vents will help to


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## NRG (Dec 15, 2009)

Get rid of the cat and ferret food and replace it with dog food = smell gone.


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

I have a huge colony of roaches turks/dubias and they don't smell at all. What are you feeding them?
I always feed mine chicken mash and veg/fruit. If you use chicken mash it doesn't contain meat so it wont smell bad like cat food.
Also if you are over feeding them the extra food is going to smell.
I keep buffalo worms in with my roaches and they keep every thing clean and smelling nice.
Plus you need to clean them out roughly every 2 months.
Giny : victory:


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## Juzza12 (Jun 12, 2008)

imginy said:


> I have a huge colony of roaches turks/dubias and they don't smell at all. What are you feeding them?
> I always feed mine chicken mash and veg/fruit. If you use chicken mash it doesn't contain meat so it wont smell bad like cat food.
> Also if you are over feeding them the extra food is going to smell.
> I keep buffalo worms in with my roaches and they keep every thing clean and smelling nice.
> ...


Is the chicken mash fed for protein? If so might give it a go and see if that reduces the smell of my lobsters a bit.


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

Juzza12 said:


> Is the chicken mash fed for protein? If so might give it a go and see if that reduces the smell of my lobsters a bit.


Yes chicken mash is very good protein for roaches as its all vegetable proteins which is more natural for them.


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## Juzza12 (Jun 12, 2008)

imginy said:


> Yes chicken mash is very good protein for roaches as its all vegetable proteins which is more natural for them.


Cheers, it's half the protein of what i'm feeding now (kitten biscuits 35%) but if it's more natural and reduces the smell then i'll give it a go.

Is layers mash the same thing?


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

where do you get chicken mash from n how much is it?


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## Juzza12 (Jun 12, 2008)

Loads of pet shops, feed stores sell it online. You could find a feed store local to you and collect. Delivery isn't cheap from a lot of the online shops though. Cheapest i found was ebay, £3.69 for a kilo delivered. 20kg for £12.49 delivered although i doubt anyone would need that much for roaches lol and they do have BB dates.


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

Juzza12 said:


> Loads of pet shops, feed stores sell it online. You could find a feed store local to you and collect. Delivery isn't cheap from a lot of the online shops though. Cheapest i found was ebay, £3.69 for a kilo delivered. 20kg for £12.49 delivered although i doubt anyone would need that much for roaches lol and they do have BB dates.


 
i might have a look on ebay mine are going through about 1kg of cat biscuits every week or 2 along with loads of fruit n veg n salad :lol2:


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## Juzza12 (Jun 12, 2008)

toad650 said:


> i might have a look on ebay mine are going through about 1kg of cat biscuits every week or 2 along with loads of fruit n veg n salad :lol2:


Jeez that's a lot, might well be worth getting a 20kg bag then lol


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

Juzza12 said:


> Jeez that's a lot, might well be worth getting a 20kg bag then lol


My thoughts exactly :lol2:


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

Layers mash is what I am using at the moment it costs £7 for a 20kg bag from pet suppliers or farm shops


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## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

ricardo1 said:


> its prob to humid do you have the water crystals sitting on the heat mat? and move in the way of vents will help to


Nope, water crystals are at the other side.



imginy said:


> I have a huge colony of roaches turks/dubias and they don't smell at all. What are you feeding them?
> I always feed mine chicken mash and veg/fruit. If you use chicken mash it doesn't contain meat so it wont smell bad like cat food.
> Also if you are over feeding them the extra food is going to smell.
> I keep buffalo worms in with my roaches and they keep every thing clean and smelling nice.
> ...


Buffalo worms as in dermastids or buffalo worms as in mini mealworms? I wouldn't want the dermastid larvae in with my roaches given that they can and will eat the live roach nymphs.
I'll look into the chicken feed, they really don't like the cat food. They were eating a bowl of ferret food every couple of days, the cat food has been in there nearly a week and there's still loads left. Just to clarify, it is all dry biscuits.


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## madavies65 (Jan 21, 2009)

Juzza12 said:


> Jeez that's a lot, might well be worth getting a 20kg bag then lol


Just roughly worked it out, mine go through 8.5 KG of roach food and fresh veg a week!


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

Buffalo worms as in the really really small meal worms. I have had them in with my dubs and turks for ages and I don't see any sign of them being eaten. My friend on here was the one who recommended them too me and he bring millions of roaches.

I will post a before and after pic later of me putting a bowl of wet chicken mash in my colony and you can see how much the roaches love it.



madavies65 said:


> Just roughly worked it out, mine go through 8.5 KG of roach food and fresh veg a week!


Wow thats a lot of food, what does your roach food contain?


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