Getting Hissers for the first time

[Texas Blonde]

Well, I am about to order 125 hisser nymphs, and want a little advice. I have read that the mature males are territorial, and that they need to live on eggcrate so that they can establish one cup as their territory. Is this true? If so, thats so fascinating. Also, I have read caresheets on them, but would like to hear from peoples personal experience the best ways to raise them. I am getting a large rubbermaid container, how much ventilation do I need to add? Also, besides a constant supply of dogfood, what vegetables do they like? I really cant wait to get these guys!

 

[jbrd]

Mine seem to like carrots and lettuce the best, i also give them cat food and high protien fish flakes. Seems to work good so far but i have only had them a 2 to 3 months.

 

[JohnxII]

Mine go bananas on bananas. No skin get left over. However, just looking at the numbers you have, you might want to bear in mind that these are pretty fast growers for a large bug. So after a few months if things are too crowded you'll hear constant chasing, horn bashing and of course, hissing...

 

[jbrd]

john, do you throw throw the banana peel and all in with the roaches?

 

[xelda]

They like Cheerios.

 

[Buspirone]

I havn't kept hissers but have considered it and done some investigating into the matter. I have kept other roaches though. The presence of tight/close hiding places seem to be of great importance to how well they breed/thrive. Males won't breed if they don't have an established territory so if breeding seems to take a down swing it might be time to split up the colony or move to a larger enclosure. Due to the territorial nature of the males it might also be a good idea to either set up smaller multiple feeding areas or one that is more at the center of the colony with hiding places around it so individual male roaches don't have to pass through too many other roaches' established territories to get food/water. They compete for real estate and mates so why make things tougher by making them fight for their food as well. I've read statements claiming that a weekly offering of some type of citrus is helpful, trying to add yellow/orange colored veggies regularly and a monthly or twice monthly offering of dog food soaked in extra virgin olive oil allegedly increased breeding/decreased mortality rates while also increasing overall vigor.

I know that Sky indicated she read some caresheets but I thought I'd add some links that I thought were of interest on the topic for anyone else that might be reading this thread for good measure.

http://www.geocities.com/lflank/roaches.html

http://www.key-net.net/users/swb/pet_arthropod/hiss.htm

http://www.biosci.missouri.edu:16080/carrel/publication/pdf-article/madagascar-cockroach-2002.pdf

 

[JohnxII]

john, do you throw throw the banana peel and all in with the roaches?

Yep, I split them sideways and chop each side into 3-4 portions, then lay the peel side down. They then clean it up nicely!

 

[Michael Jacobi]

Sky,

My question would be: Why are you buying hissers? If you wish to raise roaches as feeders there are plenty of other species that breed more readily, have softer exoskeletons, cannot climb smooth vertical surfaces, and don't have as strong an odor as hissers. One of the only benefits of hissers is that they are longer-lived than many of the other popular species.

Of course, if you are just interested in these heavy-bodied, horned, hissing beasts than go for it! They're cool roaches, indeed; but I quit raising them a long time ago. My Blaberus colonies are ideal for raising tarantula and gecko food.

Cheers, Michael

 

[Texas Blonde]

Thanks for the information everyone. I have a large rubbermaid thats going to be set up with verticle eggcrates, and 4 different feeding "stations". I also have some bugstop coming with them, so hopefully there will be no prison breaks. I only own 4 tarantulas (two of which are under 1/2") so they arent for feeders. Im just interested in them. I also have:

Eublaberus prosticus
Blaberus discoidalis

Coming this week:
Blaberus fusca
Blaberus craniifer
Byrsotria fumigata


Roaches have always fascinated me, and I have wanted to get so many different species for so long. And now that I have the space and time, Im kind of going nuts, lol.

 

[OldHag]

Roaches have always fascinated me, and I have wanted to get so many different species for so long. And now that I have the space and time, Im kind of going nuts, lol.

OoooH I hear ya!! I love roaches!! I have about 12 different kinds.. shhhhh dont tell my husband. What he doesnt know wont hurt me ;P

 

[aggie08]

I think hissers are awesome. I love watching the guys duke it out. Scuttlescuttlescuttlesmack!

 

[Texas Blonde]

Just got my roaches unpacked, and man do they look awesome. I literally squealed when I heard one hiss for the first time! There was a little mishap with the rubbermaid; it was sitting empty on my bed, and my mom took a fancy to it, and oddly it wasnt there when I got home. So they had to wait in their box for awhile longer while I got them unpacked. I am really impressed with the guy I got them from. I really expected to get nothing but nymphs, but about 70 of the 120 are mature adults, and not just males either. The adults and nymphs were in seperate containers, but I found about 30 tiny tiny nymphs in with the adults. Could a female have dropped in transit? None of them have been doing any climbing, I havent even seen one up more than half its body up on the side of the plastic. Anyway, I just wanted to gush a little bit because I am so excited!



Oh, btw, here is the link to where I ordered them from:
http://home.earthlink.net/~bruce1143/id2.html

 

[aggie08]

Sound is such a cool defense, you know they're not going to do anything but it makes you jump anyways.

 

[dtknow]

Once they get settled in they will start looking around for escapes. I may have to make some adjustments to my container as I noticed that a few nymphs are getting out(luckily for me most of them stay around where it is warm and don't move far).