# Another hisser problem... HELP!



## SolFeliz (Aug 26, 2017)

_So this is another cockroach incident. I have a total of six Madagascar hissing cockroaches, who live together in a hollow log. There are females and males together, and this afternoon I went to feed them and found one on her back. I picked her up and put her near some peach I'd cut up. She was completely alive but moving strangely, sort of shaking and then sat still and didn't move till I touched her to make sure she was alive. She was, but I'm not sure how long she will be. Is there anything I can do, and what is wrong with her? Is it just from being on her back? I don't think she was like it for very long and she was moving on her back and trying to get up. I only got these six this year so they are still pretty young and they are very healthy, quite plump and energetic, so this has surprised me a lot that she's not moving. Thanks in advance for any replies._


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## SolFeliz (Aug 26, 2017)

*Update: she has moved, but fell down the side of the log. She did move quite a lot, even if she ended up down the side of the log. I've given her some sugar water on a cotton bud and hoped for the best. 
16 people now have viewed this, and I've not had one reply. Please if you see this reply, it will help me, my girl and maybe some other hisser owners in the same situation.*


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## keks (Aug 26, 2017)

I would help if I could, like others here. But not everybody here is familiar with roaches .

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Draketeeth (Aug 27, 2017)

Does she have any deformities? New foods introduced recently? New substrate? Have they always lived in this log since your received them? What is the log made of/did it have moss pieces or anything on it that maybe she nibbled and the others didn't? Has she molted recently? If she has molted, has this behavior started since the molt? Is she an adult or still growing? Pictures?

Don't know if any of these will help you potentially pick out the problem, but those are the first things that came to mind. I have no immediate answer for what may be causing this. It's possible she may just be weak.

PS: the true blue font and that pink font are eye seering in the darker layouts, they just don't agree with the grey. The cornflower font is better.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Redmont (Aug 27, 2017)

Most likely she just is weak from being flipped over, or she could of been a old breeder they gave you, in all honesty it doesn't matter if the soil was changed recently or if new foods were introduced, if it was a food that made get her weak and the other roaches would be acting the same, same thing goes for the enclosure, roaches are fairly resilient for the most part

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Hisserdude (Aug 28, 2017)

Sounds like an old female to me, she may just not have a lot of life left in her.  As hissers age, they lose bits of their tibiae, which makes it hard for them to hold onto things and right themselves when they fall over.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## SolFeliz (Aug 28, 2017)

Update: she is still alive, moving her head, antennas and twitching her legs, but her legs and curled in a little and she can't stand properly so I have to lean her against a piece of the substrate. As far as I know, they were all babies when I got them and I've not yet had them for a year. If she is recovering, how long will that take? As for the tibiae, I can see see them all...  She's not old, no deformities; she's been completely healthy until now, she hasn't had a single molt while I've had her, unless she did it while we were on holiday. I honestly don't know what's up with her, as I've had roaches fall over before and recover within a day or less, and I've ever had one who behaved like this and he was an old boy. Any other ideas help! ​Should I separate her and put her in a smaller box where she can recover or is there no point?





If this worked, than that's a terrible picture of her beside my finger (just take just now).
​


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## Redmont (Aug 28, 2017)

Just make sure she has access to moisture, and you could even feed her honey on a q-tip or toothpick to help her gain some strength


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## Hisserdude (Aug 29, 2017)

SolFeliz said:


> Update: she is still alive, moving her head, antennas and twitching her legs, but her legs and curled in a little and she can't stand properly so I have to lean her against a piece of the substrate. As far as I know, they were all babies when I got them and I've not yet had them for a year. If she is recovering, how long will that take? As for the tibiae, I can see see them all...  She's not old, no deformities; she's been completely healthy until now, she hasn't had a single molt while I've had her, unless she did it while we were on holiday. I honestly don't know what's up with her, as I've had roaches fall over before and recover within a day or less, and I've ever had one who behaved like this and he was an old boy. Any other ideas help! ​Should I separate her and put her in a smaller box where she can recover or is there no point?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


OK, so old age my not be the problem then, perhaps pesticide poisoning? But that would likely be affecting the other hissers too, hmm... I honestly don't know what could be causing this! 

I'd go ahead and separate her from the others into a smaller container with lots of hides positioned so that she'll be able to grab onto something if she falls over. The image didn't pop up BTW.


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## SolFeliz (Aug 29, 2017)

Yet another update: Still l alive, moving slightly, but she is slowing down again and barely moving at all. I have no idea what it could be, as roaches are hardy and I'd have expected her to be up and moving by now.


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## WeightedAbyss75 (Aug 29, 2017)

SolFeliz said:


> Yet another update: Still l alive, moving slightly, but she is slowing down again and barely moving at all. I have no idea what it could be, as roaches are hardy and I'd have expected her to be up and moving by now.


Again, I would say that she is just old. Usually, insects IME tend to slow way down and eat less and less with age. She may just be at the end of her lifespan. Probably nothing wrong on your end, just some unfortunate timing  Have any pics of your enclosure? If it _isn't_ age, we could help a lot more with some real pics


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## SolFeliz (Aug 29, 2017)

WeightedAbyss75 said:


> Again, I would say that she is just old. Usually, insects IME tend to slow way down and eat less and less with age. She may just be at the end of her lifespan. Probably nothing wrong on your end, just some unfortunate timing  Have any pics of your enclosure? If it _isn't_ age, we could help a lot more with some real pics


Again, I don't think it is old age as she is barely 4 centimeters long, and she has grown about 2 centimeters since we got her. It may well be that she is older than the others but she has always been the smallest.


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## SolFeliz (Aug 29, 2017)

Has anyone ever had a pregnant Mad. Hissing Cockroach? Because I think she was pregnant when she fell over and that has complicated things. She is quite a plump little thing and every day I check to see she is still alive and I blow on her gently and her abdomen pulsates for a time afterwards. This is very gently btw.


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## Galapoheros (Aug 30, 2017)

They have a number of molts and then don't molt anymore.  They can only have babies when they've molted their last time.  When they are babies, they are the size of your little fingernail so WeightedAbyss might be correct, she may be old.  When I was a kid, I used to think a thing's life started right after I paid for it haha, but no, if it's a roach, big scorpion, tarantula, they may have been born a looooong time ago.  Maybe one will have babies and you can watch those grow up.

Reactions: Sad 1


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## PidderPeets (Aug 31, 2017)

Has she made any progress?

I know it's probably unlikely, but is there any possibility she fell and injured herself? Or got in the middle of some fighting males and got injured? It could be an internal injury.


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## SolFeliz (Sep 2, 2017)

Yeah she is still alive, I've been feeding her honey and banana and she is staying alive.


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## PidderPeets (Sep 3, 2017)

SolFeliz said:


> Yeah she is still alive, I've been feeding her honey and banana and she is staying alive.


It's good to hear that she's still alive. Hopefully she pulls through for you


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## mattlikesbirds (Oct 21, 2017)

Hoping to get more info on this condition! 

I had an old female pass away after about 3 weeks of the slow turned over curled legs behavior. She dropped her egg case about 5 days before she died. We tried adding a wet sponge and fruit, which she spent lots of time on, but all to no avail. We added a young male two weeks ago to the terrarium, thinking she was just old, but now he's showing the same symptoms.


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## Chickenfeeder100 (Oct 21, 2017)

I used to own hisses for a while but I had to do something an left them to my brother, he said one died and then a few minutes after, it's head fell off...fun fun fun


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## KingKarma (Jan 8, 2018)

MY Only guess is that she is old, I currently have 2 hissers male and female. And like someone said earlier they lose tibias as they get old, and my female is really slow and lost a tibia and is showing the same symptoms, but she is not using 2 of her other legs and is unable to grab ANYTHING, she fell over last night and was unable to grab the egg carton next to her, no major changes, still giving fruits and dog food, make isn’t perfectly fine, may be reaching his end as well, but hopefully I can breed him and her before they both pass. I’m going to go out in an order for a few MGH today to get a couple younger ones to replace her


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## KellyManelly (Apr 9, 2020)

I have a problem too, I have two large females and three babies, two of the babies are growing bigger but the one just isnt getting bigger, what's going on? I've separated her from the others and given her the same food as the others which is a daily mix of ripened fruits, a mixed chow for them and some kitty kibble and I've given her a few places to hide  will she grow???


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## Carthropod (Apr 9, 2020)

Hisserdude said:


> OK, so old age my not be the problem then, perhaps pesticide poisoning? But that would likely be affecting the other hissers too, hmm... I honestly don't know what could be causing this!
> 
> I'd go ahead and separate her from the others into a smaller container with lots of hides positioned so that she'll be able to grab onto something if she falls over. The image didn't pop up BTW.


Yes, i dont own roaches but with my other insects if you give them pesticids they start twitching and then will die, if she is still alive it is a wonder


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## Dntlastnt (Sep 16, 2022)

_I know this post is old however, my hisser came spry and very active. Only yesterday, she she slow down, walk odd and flipp over plus her back end was going up and down and I could see white. I don’t know if she is pregnant or sick but I have kept the area clean, clean water, etc… this happened in a day. Any help would be amazing!_


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