Hisser cannibalization?!?

[TheNothing]

noticing my hisser population rapidly declining, rather than growing... only started with a dozen of various sizes, now i've got half that...

setup is in a sterolite, good hides, good heat, food and water...
what gives?

 

[cacoseraph]

noticing my hisser population rapidly declining, rather than growing... only started with a dozen of various sizes, now i've got half that...

setup is in a sterolite, good hides, good heat, food and water...
what gives?

i don't heat mine

... although i've read about lots of ppl who have

what kind of food?

i staple them with catfood (not the cheap stuff) and supplement with random veggies and fluker's cricket cubes and gutload dust
stupid roaches eat better than i do sometimes =P

 

[TheNothing]

they're kept in the same room as the rest of the inverts, which is heated to 80F
also feeding cat food that i steal from my cat, and veggies that would normally go to the Beardies... gave them the cricket cubes once, but they didn't seem all that interested...

 

[cacoseraph]

they're kept in the same room as the rest of the inverts, which is heated to 80F
also feeding cat food that i steal from my cat, and veggies that would normally go to the Beardies... gave them the cricket cubes once, but they didn't seem all that interested...

dang
i think your setup sounds better than mine

mine climb on old pizza boxes =P

i think you need a roach-head to solve this one

edit:
AND i have three species and maybe a morph or two all in the same container (hissers (maybe 2 morphs, soon to be one =P), lobsers, and discoids)
i used to keep orange heads in there too, but the er, jerks ate all the babies

 

[finman31]

Hissers chomping each other,eh? Yeah, mine did that,But i started out with 6 three years ago,and have had probably over a thousand by now.Anyway,mine did that until I switched their diet to nothing but bannanas,carrots, HIGH protein DOG food,and Tetra rich mix fish flakes. The cat food i dont believe has enough protein,which is what drives them to eat each other. They absolutely LOVE the fish food,(rich mix by tetra) and will about fight over it.The same with bannanas.But that is how I went from losing to over run,the same with my false deathdeathshead,and bannana roaches.They all love the fish food.And honestly,they are more active,vibrant,and just seem overall healthier.Hope it works.

 

[TheMystical]

Had the same problem in the past not only with hissers, I add fish flakes in the mix and the problem went away.

...Tetra rich mix fish flakes...They absolutely LOVE the fish food,(rich mix by tetra) and will about fight over it...And honestly,they are more active,vibrant,and just seem overall healthier...

 

[TheNothing]

cool
fish food it is...
i know i've got some of that around the house with the freebie tanks that come in...

 

[OldHag]

Maybe they're escaping and thats why the numbers are dwindling

I concur..Fish food all the way! They love the stuff!

 

[TheNothing]

haha
that'd be too easy

 

[finman31]

Just whatever brand of fish food you use,be sure it is for tropical fish and not a goldfish formula...the tropical fish formula is higher in "meat protein" than goldfish formula,which tends to be more veggie style.They will eat either or,its just with the veggie formula they aint getting the meaty protein that their systems is craving. Trust me...it never fails to quickly be devoured! I have some females that almost solely eat fish flakes,and they are pushing 4 1/2 inches,and my males have outstanding "horns".And all of them shine very nicely due to the oils in the fish foods. I dont heat mine,they are kept with eggcrate,and no substrate.The room they are in is around 80 degrees.Fresh water is available at all times. Good luck!!

 

[jojobear]

also feeding cat food that i steal from my cat,

Your cat is eating them to get back at you for stealing it's food :evil:

The cat food i dont believe has enough protein,which is what drives them to eat each other.

Cat food is almost always higher in protein than dog food. I am using Purina One Growth formula which has 40% protein min. the best I could find in a dog/puppy food was 28% min. (I looked at everything from "El Cheapo" to "Le Ritz" at 5 different stores) It doesn't have the odor of fish food flakes and you can buy it right at the grocery store (no special trip to pet shop).

 

[roach dude]

FISH FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TheNothing]

yep, picked some up yesterday... 48% min. protein... impressive...

 

[Aquanut]

Go for variety. I keep one each of fish, cat, dog and chicken food availible at all time and change brands or types often. The cat and fish food are high in protien the dog is medium and the chicken is kind of low. But this way they have a good selection.