hissing cockroaches advice needed!

[Spiderface]

i just got seven hissers and the females are laying what i believe is an ootheca. what i have researched so far seems to imply that the females should retract these things back into their body until they give birth to live young. the problem is mine are not retracting them. can anyone tell me if the nymphs will be okay or is there something i should be doing?

 

[Natco]

Bad news

I hate to tell you this, but every time mine have done this they have also eaten the egg case. Sorry.

 

[Spiderface]

if i remove it will they live?

 

[aggie08]

They all do that, I haven't had any problems with them being eaten... who knows though roaches can be wierd.

 

[Spiderface]

was just lookin at some sites that are saying that when they leave behing the ootheca they are aborting it altogether. they should be retracting it until they give birth to live young. i'm bummed out now cuz i was hoping to have more hissers.

 

[Stylopidae]

Yup...if you see an ooth, it's dead. They'll abort it if environmental conditions are wildly wrong (they're a tough species, so this most likely isn't the culprit).

High protien causes abortions

Stress is another cause.

So if you check them every day, cut back on it. Feed more friuts and veggies instead of cat food or fish food.

I may be missing something, but there's a few tips to get you started.

 

[aggie08]

Hmm, high protein you say. I have 14 adults and a number of nymphs and they eat fish food like no tomorrow. Are they in any harm, do I need to take the fish food out for a while? They eat a big capful (1.5 inches across) every day and a half or so.

 

[Spiderface]

okay i'll make some adjustments to their diet. thanks.

 

[Stylopidae]

I don't know. I have six adults and around 40 younguns and I have dried bread and some carrots in with them. At the end of the year when I have triple the number of young, then I'm switching to fish food.

I've heard dog food works perfect.

As for if the roaches are in any danger of protien poisoning, I do not know.

 

[Peter_Parker]

lol, it's really ironic, one of my females just did that, too. I guess it's time to add even more veggies to their diet!

 

[JohnxII]

If the ooth is in good shape, in some rare cases if you keep it moist and separated a small portion can hatch. But if they decided to eat it... well let them you'll have your babies in no time.