Additions to our insect zoo

[Brad Ramsey]

I just think this is funny:

Wednesday I took our nephews (9 and 11 yrs old) to the Butterfly Pavilion, which is an insect zoo close to where we live.
They got to hold Tarantulas and giant millipedes and Madagascan hissing roaches.
We decided afterward that I should have some hissers (maybe I decided )
We went to a reptile store where I had seen them recently and picked out a big male and three fat females.
At home we set up a small tank with forest floor environment ( not unlike a pygmy tank) and gave them apples, squash, collard greens and some catfood (not planning to feed them off).
We spent some time Thursday holding and observing them.
Well, by Thursday night they were breeding! I saw the male and one of his wives connect about 10:00 p.m. last night 24 hrs after coming home!
I should have such luck with my Dubias.
Maybe I am, but haven't seen it yet and they've been around for 2 months.
Anyway, it was amusing to me.

-Brad

 

[titan501x]

wow, i really like hissers, are they easy to breed and keep?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Apparently.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Here's a good link:

http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/CT/roach.html

-Brad

 

[titan501x]

cool. i am gonna pick some up at the next reptile show. do u think they would be good for practical jokes? lol

 

[Brad Ramsey]

You can get rubber ones.
It would be funny to show your pet roaches off and then
at some point strategically place the fake one....
I wouldn't do it with a real one ... it could get away or be
squashed.
Maybe you'll win $10,000 on America's funniest home videos.

-Brad

 

[titan501x]

lol, yea, that would be great! i would probably just place the roach in bathroom sink. get a nasty surprise when you look into the sink. lol.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Again, do it with a fake one.
These guys can pretty much climb any surface, a real one would be out of the sink and gone before anyone would see it.

-Brad

 

[titan501x]

Again, do it with a fake one.
These guys can pretty much climb any surface, a real one would be out of the sink and gone before anyone would see it.

-Brad

wow, really? i thought that they couldn't climb on slippery surfaces.

 

[kinyonga]

Brad...did you know that hissers can learn to recognize their keepers and will stop hissing at you eventually?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I didn't know that, but it has already happened.
They have become quite used to being handled (the boys have been here all week) and I moved them into a deli cup today while I did some enclosure enhancing and changed out food and replaced the wet paper towel wad I use for water source...no hissing at all. Actually seemed quite content sitting on my hand.
I think this is interesting:
The 3 females are almost always buried in the substrate but the male stands guard on a piece of bark above them and never buries himself. I know they are territorial and the males will fight for territory and females. It's fascinating watching him, trunk lifted, surveying his tiny domain and defending his harem.

-Brad

 

[kinyonga]

I enjoyed having the (male) hissers as pets.

I enjoyed the giant millipedes too! Just in case anyone has any and they get/have mites...a lady bug will get rid of them without causing them any harm. Didn't know whether to get rid of the mites of not....some sites say that they are necessary/useful to the millipede.

 

[Heika]

I enjoyed having the (male) hissers as pets.

I enjoyed the giant millipedes too! Just in case anyone has any and they get/have mites...a lady bug will get rid of them without causing them any harm. Didn't know whether to get rid of the mites of not....some sites say that they are necessary/useful to the millipede.

Hey, that is interesting. Will lady bugs eat grain mites?

Heika

 

[kinyonga]

I've never tried to see if lady bugs will eat grain mites or not. Its worth a try!

When I used one with the millipede, I had read all the methods that had been suggested and worried that they might be harmful to the millipede....the lady bug seemed to be a rather harmless choice compared to the rest.

 

[lele]

Hissers are about the vest pet roach. They don'tgive off defensive odor (well, very mild unlike orangehead, discoids and cave). They are shy, but tend to be slow and are quite communal, but I guess most species are.

Speaking of roaches....I think I may be selling off a few of my adult giant cave roaches, (Blaberus giganteus in the near future. I have a decent colony and they are in a very large tank (spoiled rotten! lol!) with a great little setup. They live with some Darkling beetles (meal worm) that came in with some substrate but they all co-exist nicely and I have a small ongoing supply of mealies. I'll post here in the classifieds when I'm ready to sell; will prbably sell in adult pairs. They are relatively quick breeders and I have found the nymphs to grow well as youngsters, but that last molt to adult is long!

Enjoy your hissers!