Hissing cockroach poop? Eggs?

[KimchiTN]

Hello all, I bought 5 teen (correct term?) hissing roaches about a month ago and all has been well, but recently I've noticed white pill shaped objects around the sides of the substrate and around their food dish. They are really small but not tiny. Is this poop? Some kind of parasite? Eggs??? I am still learning about them, but I followed the advice of many friends and online articles (i.e variety of food, lots of hiding spaces, temp control, etc.), but I couldn't find anything about these white pill looking things, lol. Any help is appreciated!

 

[chanda]

They would not be eggs. Hissing cockroaches retain their oothecae (egg cases) inside their bodies until they hatch, and give birth to live young. When a roach has eggs, she will partially extrude the ootheca from her body like this: https://earthshinenature.wordpress.com/tag/opossum-hissing-cockroach-ootheca-eggs-tail-marsupial/ then retract it back into her brood pouch. This is what it looks like when the eggs hatch: https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natu...ery-madagascar-hissing-cockroach-gives-birth/ Sometimes a female roach will abort her ootheca, in which case you may find the yellowish ootheca lying on the substrate. When this happens, the roaches inside will not hatch and the ootheca itself will shrivel and dry out.

It does not sound like droppings either. Cockroach poop is usually small and dark.

Can you get pictures of the white pill-shaped objects? Do they move at all? Are they soft or hard? When you say "pill shaped" do you mean flat disks, like a tablet? Oblong like a capsule? Rounded like a gel cap?

 

[KimchiTN]

They would not be eggs. Hissing cockroaches retain their oothecae (egg cases) inside their bodies until they hatch, and give birth to live young. When a roach has eggs, she will partially extrude the ootheca from her body like this: https://earthshinenature.wordpress.com/tag/opossum-hissing-cockroach-ootheca-eggs-tail-marsupial/ then retract it back into her brood pouch. This is what it looks like when the eggs hatch: https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natu...ery-madagascar-hissing-cockroach-gives-birth/ Sometimes a female roach will abort her ootheca, in which case you may find the yellowish ootheca lying on the substrate. When this happens, the roaches inside will not hatch and the ootheca itself will shrivel and dry out.

It does not sound like droppings either. Cockroach poop is usually small and dark.

Can you get pictures of the white pill-shaped objects? Do they move at all? Are they soft or hard? When you say "pill shaped" do you mean flat disks, like a tablet? Oblong like a capsule? Rounded like a gel cap?

They don't move at all, they are soft and they're rounded like a gel cap. These are new and have only appeared recently, I believe less than a week ago. Also, thanks for the info about the ootheca, I really had no idea how that happened.

 

[chanda]

They don't move at all, they are soft and they're rounded like a gel cap. These are new and have only appeared recently, I believe less than a week ago.

Hard to get a good look at them in that picture, but it looks like there's a sort of white fuzzy layer around the white objects? Could it just be mold? Bits of food, waste, shed skins, dead bugs or bug parts, or other organic debris are all susceptible to mold - particularly if the environment is fairly moist. If that's all it is, just pick it out and dispose of it.

 

[Lammi]

Hello! It sounds like you've been doing a great job taking care of your hissing roaches. The white pill-shaped objects you're seeing could potentially be roach eggs. Hissing roaches, like other cockroach species, lay eggs in egg cases called oothecae, which can sometimes resemble white or pale-colored capsules.

To confirm whether these are indeed roach eggs, you might want to examine them closely. Roach eggs can vary in appearance, but they're generally oval and have a slightly elongated shape. If they are eggs, it's a sign that your roaches are comfortable and might be reproducing.

Refer to this article to identify cockroach poops https://thecockroachfacts.com/cockroach-poop-vs-mouse-poop/

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Hello! It sounds like you've been doing a great job taking care of your hissing roaches. The white pill-shaped objects you're seeing could potentially be roach eggs. Hissing roaches, like other cockroach species, lay eggs in egg cases called oothecae, which can sometimes resemble white or pale-colored capsules.

To confirm whether these are indeed roach eggs, you might want to examine them closely. Roach eggs can vary in appearance, but they're generally oval and have a slightly elongated shape. If they are eggs, it's a sign that your roaches are comfortable and might be reproducing.

Refer to this article to identify cockroach poops https://thecockroachfacts.com/cockroach-poop-vs-mouse-poop/

No they don’t lay eggs .. old thread anyways op Is long gone . 🪄

 

[Lammi]

Female Madagascar hissing cockroaches produce an ootheca, a cocoon-like structure, in which they encase their eggs and neonatal nymphs. These oothecae are carried internally within their bodies. Eventually, the female gives birth to as many as 60 live young, known as nymphs.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Female Madagascar hissing cockroaches produce an ootheca, a cocoon-like structure, in which they encase their eggs and neonatal nymphs. These oothecae are carried internally within their bodies. Eventually, the female gives birth to as many as 60 live young, known as nymphs.

I know I just meant they don’t drop the egg cases like b lats and many species do drop oothecas especially pest species . Up to 60? Woah ..