Advice needed. I don’t know if my female hisser aborted an ootheca?

[mv7878]

Hi, hopefully someone can help. I’ve had one female hisser since May. Long story short, I requested a male and got a female. She has been alone in the tank without any other mates. Diet is good, etc.

This photo I attached is what came out of her earlier. Is it an aborted ootheca? It appears to be a cluster of small whitish-pale yellow eggs. Do I throw it away? Are the eggs not viable? Does this mean she is going to have more babies? I’m a first timer at owning hissers so I don’t know what to do !

 

[chanda]

Yes, that does look suspiciously like an ootheca. See, for example, this: http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/B0/B03...can-hissing-cockroach-close-up-of-ootheca.jpg

Hissing cockroaches are ovoviviparous - they retain the ootheca inside their bodies until the young hatch, then "give birth" to live young. A gravid hissing cockroach will extrude the ootheca most of the way out of her body like this: https://earthshinenature.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/roach1.jpg to "air dry" the eggs and position the egg case for insertion into her brood pouch, then she will retract it into her body where it will remain for a couple of months, until the nymphs hatch, at which point she will expel them from her body. She will also expel the empty ootheca, but it is usually eaten by the hatchlings or their cage mates.

If the ootheca is infertile - or if the mother is stressed, malnourished, or in an environment that is not conducive to bearing young - such as too crowded, too cold, etc. - then she will abort the ootheca and just leave it lying on the ground rather than retracting it into her brood pouch. These oothecae are no longer viable once she has discarded them and will quickly dry out. You can discard it - or just leave it there where it will eventually be eaten. It is a good source of protein.

 

[mv7878]

Thank you so much for your help! I cleaned her cage and threw out the discarded ootheca.