Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Escaped

[DanniD]

Yesterday I noticed my beloved Hissing Cockroach, Lucifer, was not in the container I left him in on Sunday night.

I left my roaches down in the living room since I was changing their containers around, and since my female was getting a baby bump, I removed Lucifer from her container and put him with the nymphs. (I have 3 breeding females and one male. I like to keep them separate so I know who is who and who bred when and when I can expect their babies.)

The containers they are in have handle latches on the sides which were tightly secure. I've never had issues with any of the roaches getting out of them. Yet somehow Lucifer managed to escape.

Any suggestions on how to find him? I've torn apart furniture and tv stands looking for him with no luck. I live in Vermont so I doubt he would survive long, but I adore him and would like to find him alive. Is there any food or anything that would help draw him out of his hiding spot? I do have 3 cats that could have gotten to him, but they are usually amazing with the roaches and don't ever hurt them when they are crawling around. I haven't found any roach bodies either, which makes me think the cats didn't find him. I've never had to deal with escapees so any advice is helpful.

 

[Draketeeth]

An adult could live for quite a while without food if nothing hunts him down first. He's probably got plenty of stores on him to keep him going if you feed them well.

Two ideas come to mind, both from when I've had nymphs/sub-adults escape. Idea #1 is to have some kind of strong smelling fruit. A few of my sub-adults wandered into the kitchen and were interested in some nectarines ripening. Figured it was because they were hungry and because the fruit had such a powerful aroma that even we could smell it walking into the room.

Idea #2 would be to create "traps" to try and attract him. Maybe like a cereal box with a loose bit of wadded paper and a few notches he could get in through. Someplace dark, comfortable but not cramped, and safe feeling. Once in, he'd likely take up residence if it was acceptable. When my nymphs found their safe place, they would stay, as testified by the accumulation of frass. They didn't move around too much once comfortable. Place around the point of escape, and wait.

If there is any furniture around with drawers, carefully check the drawers and pull them out to check the frame if you have not already.

 

[chanda]

Well, I know when one of my dubias gets loose, it inevitably ends up in the kids' bathroom or one of their bedrooms. Just pick the most entomophobic person in your household and look underneath his/her pillow, in his/her underwear drawer, and inside his/her bath towel. Based on my experience, there is a very good chance it will be one of those places.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

I'd look in moist, dark places. If he's an adult, which is what your post seems to imply, then he should be fairly easy to spot. Unfortunately, he probably won't last too long in Vermont, even inside a house.

 

[Snail and millie lady]

Oh no did you ever find him?

 

[Chickenfeeder100]

I wonder if you know that Lucifer is the name of the fallen angel/devil in the Bible.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

I live in Massachusetts and I found a hisser who had been missing in my house for about 4 months- in winter, no less. She wasn't in particularly bad condition. I was sitting at a desk late at night when I felt a sharp pain on my foot, which she was attempting to eat.

 

[Snail and millie lady]

Hahahahaha well @Salmonsaladsandwich at least she was ok. I would have cracked up had I been there to see the look on your face when that happened.

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

Don't know about hissers - but a dub is managed to live 3 months in my pacman frog tank - I discovered her last week, and I had lost her in there 3 months ago. She had ran away and she hides inside the plastic plants before I could catch her. She is still alive and well looking. Sad though shell be eaten soon Kappa.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Don't know about hissers - but a dub is managed to live 3 months in my pacman frog tank - I discovered her last week, and I had lost her in there 3 months ago. She had ran away and she hides inside the plastic plants before I could catch her. She is still alive and well looking. Sad though shell be eaten soon Kappa.

Whoa, how in the world did she survive being in a pacman frog tank for 3 entire months?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Whoa, how in the world did she survive being in a pacman frog tank for 3 entire months?

They're pretty good at hiding. Once they have some soil to burrow down into, they rarely make visible movements aboveground. There's several dubias living in my planted gray treefrog tank. I imagine that some of them get eaten from time to time, but others have been in there long enough that they're too big for the frogs.

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

It escaped in some plastic leaves i had in his tank - removed them a while now - and i didnt find ever again, i found it one day when i was about to clean his water dish. She wqas under it, althought i clean his water dish twice a week, i never saw her before that time.

 

[MWAInverts]

When I lost a few wide horn hissers they managed to climb down one table and crawled to another table across the room to hide. For whatever reason the group stayed together and never left the spot. I accidentally came across the missing ones while cleaning and it probably had been a week or two. They’ll live for a while and I’m sure you’ll be able to find him given there are no household pets in the home. I have four cats but my big room was luckily closed off. My best advise is look under things, they like to hang.