Do cockroaches bite?

[Jesse607]

Because he works in a lab that uses or experiments on pestiferous species of roaches? I know that is why I rear them at work.

 

[Valael]

He works for an exterminator and releases them in peoples' houses. They come to the rescue and kill off the roaches and end up making money off of it.

 

[Code Monkey]

Ed, go with Jezzy's explanation. I'm working for the Entomology department at Virginia Tech. One of the two profs who owns me is in urban pest management - cultures of American cockroaches, German cockroaches, subterranean termites, etc. live in the lab with me.

 

[dangerprone69]

Everything Depends on Temp! Keep it close to the 90's and feed them some Orange slices and you'll have babies in a week or so! I promiss, these roachs are so easy to take care of I love my Hissers.... Oddly I only started with females! There was not 1 male in there But since the Females have Sperm Retainers, they gave birth to like 40 babies in a few weeks!

I don't keep mine that warm and they breed like crazy. Mine are typically 70 to 80 degrees. I feed mine cat food and various fruits and vegetables. I use cucumbers, oranges, apples, romaine lettuce, corn and carrots. I find them fascinating to watch and I recommend them to anybody!!

I've kept giganteas and dubias, but I've had problems breeding them. I used to have lobsters, but I couldn't stand them so I fed them all off to my tarantulas. My H. minax loves to munch on roaches.

 

[james]

One of these days!!!

One of these days when I actually have a free day I'm going to get pictures up of all my roaches. I have the true giant hissers that are massive, dwarfs(which are very cute), tigers, v-horns, and more. I'm trying to get some other new never been seen before hisser species as well. Not to mention my other super cool roaches like Hormetica subcincta, Therea petiveriana, and Neostylopyga Rhombifolia.
James
www.blaberus.com

 

[xelda]

I've never had any roaches bite me. We had some massive roaches in the dorms when I stayed in China, and they were always found in the girls' rooms, probably because of their fruity lotions and creams. The "tough" boys were total pansies but they still tried to save the day. I was the weirdo who caught the roaches with my bare hands and put 'em outside. The roaches probably just ended up coming back into the building, but at least it offered a temporary solution. I hated seeing them get squashed. Suffice it to say, I scared a lot of my dorm mates.

Anyway, if anything, it just feels like having a butterfly in your hands, but sometimes their legs do jab you.

 

[reptillian]

i got hissers

i ogtt hissers there great pets and have never bitten me

 

[reptillian]

by da way

by the way i htink hissers r the best cockorachers to have coz they have never bitten me and they dont have wings so they cant fly away and there very slow!so thus there r easr to handle

 

[MikeHammelton]

I have heard that only very large individuals can bite a person, since small ones simply can not bite the human skin. Is it true?

 

[TownesVanZandt]

I have heard that only very large individuals can bite a person, since small ones simply can not bite the human skin. Is it true?

Cockroaches of all sizes have mouthparts, so of course they can bite a person regardless of their size.

 

[coniontises]

(I apologize in advance if thread revival is frowned upon)

Can bite and will bite are different things.

I have been bitten by a Zophobas adult beetle while handling. It is quite uncomfortable, but the insect will stop if you poke it. Roaches and adult tenebrionids (incl. Zophobas) obviously can bite, because they have chewing-jaws and can rasp carrots/wood. But in my experience they only do so when the human hand is mistaken for a carrot; they use other mechanisms to deal with predators and perceived threats.

 

[Hisserdude]

Roaches NEVER bite in defense, I've grabbed many roaches, and not one species has ever bitten as an act of defense or aggression. However, some roaches will CHEW on you if you hold them long enough, just to see if your skin is edible, (and it is).