...Lazy or Dying Hisser...? :(

[CrunchyMommy]

Hello!
I’m new to the boards here. I am a hisser mom and currently have only one male at the moment. He is in a 5lb glass terrarium and has plenty to crawl on and places to hide....which brings me to my question...

Can hissers be lazy or is it something underlying?

Bruiser (his name) never really moves around in his cage much....I never see him drinking water but he sure does gobble down some bananas/apples. Can it be that he is lazy from it being too cold? I have a heating mat and the substrate isn’t too deep. I also have a small nano light above the tank but it doesn’t seem to do anything. I’m quite fond of this little bugger and want home to thrive

 

[SolFeliz]

I'd recommend getting more hissers. I had two hissers once, and when one of them died, the other went into a state of deep, deep depression. I got another hisser and he brightened right up. Do you mist the terrarium? If you do he'll lick the water off the sides etc, and if not, I'd say start misting. It keeps the food from drying up, so it lasts for longer and provides extra hydration for the little guy.

Really, the best thing to do is get more, though watch out for those females. They only need to mate once and can reproduce for the rest of their lives.
Hissers aren't really lazy, if he's been like that since you got him, I'd diagnose loneliness! If he's only just started this behaviour, there could be something worse. I'd suggest buying a few more hissers, two minimum, and seeing if he gets better. If he doesn't you can dm if you like. I've had experience with sick hissers and I make a sugar water mixture and hand feed it to them, by rubbing the wet cotton bud on his/her mouthparts, also mashed up fruit works.
I hope your little guy gets better, hissers are awesome little creatures. There are not many people on these forums who keep hissers as pets, but there's a few!

 

[CrunchyMommy]

That would make sense! He is perfectly fine when we handle him and is zooms around in his own little way, antenna flying and overall happy....but once in his cage, he’s pretty down.

I do want to get a female but I’m totally not wanting a zillion little nyphms. I’ve read it has to be extra warm for that to happen. Guess I’ll have to take my chance

We do really enjoy him! Can’t wait to meet more bug lovers on this forum!

 

[MWAInverts]

I have a dominant male wide horn who sits on top the highest part of a cork flat. That’s his spot and he’s surrounded by females and immatures. The other males roam around but they all get along fine. The big male never moves much but will leave to feed and then return to his spot.

I agree he would do better and be happier with more of his kind. Don’t worry, even if you get 5-6 nymphs for him they’ll take forever to breed to unmanageable numbers.

He’s about 3.5” and ancient! Got him about 2 years ago and he’s was already an adult. Here he is at my wife’s kindergarten class. He’s my go to guy for introducing the kids to inverts.

 

[SolFeliz]

That would make sense! He is perfectly fine when we handle him and is zooms around in his own little way, antenna flying and overall happy....but once in his cage, he’s pretty down.

I do want to get a female but I’m totally not wanting a zillion little nyphms. I’ve read it has to be extra warm for that to happen. Guess I’ll have to take my chance

We do really enjoy him! Can’t wait to meet more bug lovers on this forum!

Even if you do get a female, they won't necessarily breed. I have one big female and three males, and they've never mated. They do need warmth to breed, probably why mine never had (I live in Scotland and in the winter it's so cold in my house I need a sleeping bag and a hot water bottle, not kidding). He sounds like an awesome roach! I had a few like that, they would come and sit on my hands and be really happy, but the ones I have now are constantly zooming around and plotting new ways to escape!