Is this hisser gravid?

[CutThroat Kid]

I picked up a mischievous B. Emilia for Black Friday and talked the guy into giving me two freebie hissers thrown in for who knows why.. I guess these ones are usually sold as reptile food. They were active for a day then took to hiding away mostly since then.

The one pictured and in question is also very territorial, I observed. I watched it beat the absolute goofy out of its smaller tank mate for a bit. lol.

I read that they usually only get stretched out showing their “white cockroach skin” in maturity when they are gravid so I just wanted to get an expert opinion?

 

[jbooth]

That hisser looks male to me, notice how prominent the horns are? Female horns are small, almost flat to the head. The one behind it is hard to tell. They seem to grow and shrink sometimes. I have a female I know for a fact is gravid because I saw her protrude and rotate a GIANT ootheca, then bring it back inside, but from one day to the next she seems to grow and shrink.

 

[kadupul]

I also think that it's a very well-fed boy. The most accurate way to sex them is by flipping them over and looking at the scales near the rump. I had some pretty feminine males who ended up mixed with the females by mistake once.

 

[jbooth]

Hissers... M & assumed still gravid F

 

[CutThroat Kid]

Well fed boy is likely then, as his horns are very pronounced. Hard to tell in the photo tho, thats my bad. I tried to pick some that weren’t the biggest in the lot, but I suppose if one has babies I could always just feed them to tarantulas, lol. Have any inobvious tips? I read their care is similar to ivory millipedes, so I just threw them in with a non-breeding pair I have.

I was going for an aesthetically please mini communal enclosure, but will the roaches just over eat and become lethargic being kept with milis that have constant access to food?

 

[jbooth]

The males will keep fighting over whatever object they are "king of", but can never hurt each other at all lol. They'll let females and nymphs on there with them, but not other males. I keep mine bioactive with springtails, and that bark to climb on, feed them primarily chicken food but they get bug burger, and whatever veggie is around, carrots lately too. Shooting for 70ish percent humidity and moist substrate is the only way I can get there with ambient 15%. The nymphs can climb, so if you do get some females they need greased up top couple inches with vaseline or a sealed lid they can't fit out of. I keep these more as pets, but yeah the nymphs if i ever get any will be fair game for spiders for sure. Allegedly the live off mostly fruit in the wild but besides a bannana once I have slacked on that. Under about 75 degrees the start getting slow and lethargic.. probably won't breed under higher 70's and that's about it lol. Mine always have access to the chicken food, they won't overeat.

Also, I don't think springtails can climb vaseline either, which was good to learn, because somehow I've managed to grow a massive colony, maybe 10,000 in here in a couple months, and so far they keep up with the mold bc frass is literally dropping right into moisture..

 

[jbooth]

I'm trying to get my enclosures dialed in for them, so I thought I'd see what it's like over there in Madagascar right now...
Thought maybe I was getting them too hot or humid. NOPE.
I would stick with not having any surfaces they touch over 90 like dubia though just to be safe...

 

[Hisserdude]

I'm trying to get my enclosures dialed in for them, so I thought I'd see what it's like over there in Madagascar right now...
Thought maybe I was getting them too hot or humid. NOPE.
I would stick with not having any surfaces they touch over 90 like dubia though just to be safe...
View attachment 433662

Well I'd only keep a third of the setup humid if I were you, Gromphadorhina come from pretty dry areas in Madagascar. But yeah they love heat.

 

[jbooth]

Well I'd only keep a third of the setup humid if I were you, Gromphadorhina come from pretty dry areas in Madagascar. But yeah they love heat.

Yeah it's full screen top, so they can move where they want to. Seems ok. The small one is temporary, pretty sure the female in the big one is ready to pop, so I wanted to get the other male away and he needed a mate anyhow.. They looked like they or he at least was trying to breed as soon as the heat hit like 80... Probably will cut the top of small one out before I go to bed and put a screen on it, it's too stuffy no matter how many holes I drill. Oh, how big exactly are the newborn nymphs? and will they eat nylon screen? I don't expect any to be born soon in there, but she could already be gravid.