Hard boiled egg...

[DonaldJ]

I ran out of other sources of protein for my B. Orientailis so I decided to give them a piece of the hard boiled egg i was eating (no salt).

Although there was plenty for all of them they didn't want to share; first time I've seen them fight over food. The adult females were especially enthusiastic over chowing down, which make sense because they have become ootheca factories.

For me, this is an easy solution for their protein needs, unless it kills them ;-)

 

[Taffer]

Interesting DonldJ,

I'll have to try that and see what kind of response I get.  However, as I've posted elsewhere today, the protein requirements of roaches are pretty low, and too much can be lethal or at least unhealthy. 

The quote below is from a professor that has been posting his research on roaches since 1966, so I trust him has an authority on roaches

The 4% protein diet should satisfy all stages (nymphs and adults).  You can produce some happy medium with a minimum of work by allowing them to choose their own diet but forcing them to get some of their moisture from vegetables such as carrots and potatoes that provide more filler that is low in protein and provide a restricted amount of the ~20% protein from readily available dog/rat chow.

You may find this FAQ interesting as well.

http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kunkel/cockroach_faq.html

A few questions I found interesting:
6.Why do cockroaches die on their backs?
7.Do cockroaches bite? (actually, they do...they eat about anything that doesn't fight back)
12.Are cockroaches really clean? (yes...and no. They keep themselves very clean, but still walk through poop and such)
39.How do Cockroaches Digest and what organs do they use to do so?
56.How fast are cockroaches? (roaches run away from air movement near them as a built in defensive reaction, no brain involved!)
68.Color cockroaches most attracted to?
79.Can female-only set of hissing cockroaches give birth 7 months after purchase?