# Housing a hissing cockroach with crickets?



## Tarantuloid (Jun 29, 2012)

This is truly a weird question, but I was just kinda curious. A family owned petstore I always go to started selling hissing cockroaches, which I thought were awesome. I do have several terrariums at home, including this terrarium where I keep a colony of crickets.

It occurred to me that both species are harmless, but can you house a hissing cockroach with crickets? Or will the crickets attempt do bite his legs or something like that?


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## Tenodera (Jun 29, 2012)

You could probably house an adult without trouble, but crickets would be bad if you had breeding in mind.

Reactions: Like 1


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## SpidaFly (Jun 29, 2012)

I've seen crickets chew on superworms... you know, I wouldn't risk it if I were you.

Reactions: Like 1


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## MrCrackerpants (Jun 30, 2012)

Tarantuloid said:


> It occurred to me that both species are harmless, but can you house a hissing cockroach with crickets?


Yes, you can. 



Tarantuloid said:


> Or will the crickets attempt do bite his legs or something like that?


Yes. They will also eat a roach while it is molting (i.e., shedding its exoskeleton).


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## Tarantuloid (Jun 30, 2012)

I wondered, the hissing cockroach I had min mind of getting is already an adult male (they have two adult males for sale) and I wasn't really planning on breeding them like I do the crickets. I just thought about it and I heard crickets will sometimes even try to nip at tarantulas while they molt but I didn't know if a hissing cockroach might have the same problem.


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## ZephAmp (Jun 30, 2012)

I pity the cricket that messes with an adult male hissing cockroach.

Reactions: Like 1


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## wesker12 (Jun 30, 2012)

ZephAmp said:


> I pity the cricket that messes with an adult male hissing cockroach.


Hahaha, true have you ever seen male hissers fight?  (directed at op)
Hissers are built like tanks while crickets....are soft


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## Dark (Jul 1, 2012)

Cricket's aren't too harmless, I've heard some horror stories where crickets have killed and eaten reptiles in their sleep at night. Crickets will kill and eat each-other in less then a day if food isn't available and will kill and eat any any invert while it's molting. An adult male hisser should be strong enough to survive with a colony of crickets but he will definitely not be too happy. Hissers are very hardy creatures and are tolerant of many things but being bitten or bothered by a dozen or so crickets constantly won't be the nicest living condition. On the other hand you can keep a hisser in a Tupperware or any other container that opens and closes with a few holes in it and as long as you feed it and give it something to hide under, it'll be very happy. So yea, he could probably survive a while in a colony cage but they will try and bite him when he's trying to rest which will require him to constantly fend himself off from them. Crickets don't really get intimidated, the hisser can hiss and ram as many of them as he wants but they'll just come back for more. Good luck in whatever you decide.

Eric

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tarantuloid (Jul 1, 2012)

I think I will simply get a separate container to keep the cockroach in for his own safety, I definitely don't want crickets attacking and stressing him out. I originally wanted a hissing cockroach because I heard they were extremely low maintenance and eat pretty much anything you give him, and I'd definitely like to have an animal that would some of the decaying lettuce or old fruit I would otherwise throw away. 

Just a question, although I've hard their easy, I watched a tutorial video on care for them and they look even higher maintenance than tarantulas, saying you have to mist them and they actually require controlled heating much like scorpions. Is this true?


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## Dark (Jul 1, 2012)

Glad to hear you're going to keep it in a separate container, I don't know about feeding them decaying food. They will eat just about anything within reason, I use to feed mine bread, fruits and vegetables (rinse the fruits and vegetables first so all pesticides are removed). Most people feed them dog food but recently people have had their roaches get sick because of low regulations on some of the cheaper brands being offered so you might want to avoid that. 

As for the tutorial videos, some people go overboard when it comes down to what is necessary. I've kept hissers in critter keepers with a rag, a food dish and a water dish both made out of cut down plastic cups and paper towel roles for them to hide in. I've also kept hissers in coconut fiber soil with a cork bark hide and a heat lamp. I also once just kept a colony in a plastic critter keeper where it was literally just the roaches and a piece of bread for them to sit on and eat, I'd mist the cage once every day or so for water and would change the bread every day or every other day and they multiplied and thrived. So basically, you can keep them however you want as long as they have a source of food and water and the temperatures aren't ridiculously hot or cold. I once found one that had escaped and survived by hiding on the side of a carpet cleaning vacuum and had somehow been able to drink the moisture residue that came off the side (the roach had been missing for months and was found once we decided to clean the floors). I also met a guy who had kept two of them in a shoe box and occasionally tossed something in there for them to eat. I don't think you should stick them in a shoe box and occasionally feed them but basically you can keep them as simply or sophisticated as you desire. Heat is only necessary if you want them to breed and even then they get around to breeding in room temperature if all other components are correct. As long as you put them in a sealed container with food and water and some air holes, they'll do fine without special lighting at room temperature.


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## Tarantuloid (Jul 1, 2012)

I keep a lot of fruit in the house not for animals, but actually myself. I have apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, and I also have bread if that makes good food. I have cats so I have cat food, would that make a decent substitute as well? 

I was planning on keeping the roach in a simple critter carrier, but I wasn't sure if that was acceptable. I guess cockroaches are pretty hardy when it comes to living off what their given or what they can find, I just wanted to see if they are on the same maintenance level as tarantulas or less?


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## Dark (Jul 2, 2012)

I've never fed my roaches cat or dog food so I can't really vouch for it. I'd just stick with fresh fruits and vegetables that are rinsed prior to being offered. Just switch between bread and fruits every once in a while and the varied diet should keep them happy and healthy. Since you're only getting one male, filling the food dish with anymore then half his body size a day should be more then plenty. As for difficulty compared to a tarantula, depends on the species of tarantula. You can keep a Grammostola Rosea (Chilean Rose Hair) in a large deli cup with dirt and a water dish and it'll last for a few months without crickets and still seem perfectly okay (although offering crickets once a week is ideal). You could do the same thing with a hisser but it'll not be as healthy because unlike Rose hairs, hissers aren't known for going on several month long hungry strikes. If you had a Avicularia Versicolor, I'd say the veriscolor would be much more difficult to care for then the hisser. In my opinion, both Rose Hairs and Hissers are extremely easy to keep and very forgiving. I truly doubt you'll have any issues. I'm a paranoid guy so I make sure all my bugs have fresh food and water and have a relatively clean tank at all times, I know people who only look at their bugs maybe once a week and they do fine in those conditions as well. Although you shouldn't offer a tarantula food everyday, once a week is plenty. 

Point is, just use common sense and even if you screw up or try giving them dog food or cat food or rotten fruit, they'll probably be okay because they are very hardy and resilient. I personally think rotten fruit might attract undesirable pests and might upset their stomachs but generally speaking they are very tough and prob could tolerate it but not necessarily enjoy it. 

Eric


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## Tarantuloid (Jul 2, 2012)

I already own a G. Rosea and a an unknown subspecies of pinktoe (don't know the scientific name, but it was labeled Wooly Guyana Pinktoe). I guess rotten fruit may not be a good option then,I originally said "rotting fruit" because I kept hearing they were great decomposers and like to eat decaying animal and plant matter. However, I guess hissing cockroaches would definately like fresh food any day, so I would most likely cut off some of the fruit I eat myself and give it to him.


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## catfishrod69 (Jul 2, 2012)

Crickets will do a little more than nip. If you have the right sized cricket, and right sized molting sling, it will shred the sling to peices. Has happened to me.


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## Dark (Jul 2, 2012)

Tarantuloid, I honestly think you'll be fine. And as Catfishrod69 has reiterated, crickets are monsters and should only be kept with their own kind when not being fed to something else. If the thing you are feeding the crickets to doesn't eat them immediately or within a few hours, it is best to remove the crickets and try again a week later unless it molts in which cause give it a minimum of a week to harden. 

Like I said, you'll be fine. 

Eric


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## SosoBlackfeather13 (Mar 14, 2021)

Tarantuloid said:


> This is truly a weird question, but I was just kinda curious. A family owned petstore I always go to started selling hissing cockroaches, which I thought were awesome. I do have several terrariums at home, including this terrarium where I keep a colony of crickets.
> 
> It occurred to me that both species are harmless, but can you house a hissing cockroach with crickets? Or will the crickets attempt do bite his legs or something like that?


I raised a female cricket named Scarlet with my colony. She’s been with them since she hatched  and her parents were feeder crickets. Though she thinks she’s one of them and tries to climb the tank side, plus she doesn’t make any chirping noises.


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## goliathusdavid (Mar 14, 2021)

Very old thread


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