Malformed hisser ootheca? Infection?

[PinkPimpernel]

Hey folks. I've got a hissing cockroach that seems to have a malformed ootheca. It's soft and jelly-like, not firm and segmented. I keep the males and females separated, so none of them have viable eggs. This is the second roach this has happened with in about 6 months, and the previous one died. I'm not sure what it is or what has caused this. Any insight or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[theDHill]

Some species of ovoviviparous roaches will occasionally force the ootheca out into the air and allow it to harden up a bit and then bring it back inside of them I've seen some of my females doing this behavior before and it's relatively normal. Occasionally if they are spooked or very stressed, they will force out the ootheca entirely and drop it.

 

[mantisfan101]

I’ve heard that for livebearers they douch better with anlot of fruit int heir diet like apples.

 

[PinkPimpernel]

I've been wildly roaming through the internet & I found this page http://invertebratedude.blogspot.com/2016/07/click-beetles-roaches-kinda-picture.html with a cockroach with a prolapse. It looks a lot like our girl. Have you ever heard of that or what might cause it?

 

[theDHill]

I personally have never seen that before in any of my hisser species.

What is their diet?
&
Are there live plants in the enclosure, and what species?

 

[PinkPimpernel]

What is their diet?
&
Are there live plants in the enclosure, and what species?

We feed them dry cricket food, dry dog food, leafy greens and fruit. Oh, and there is a potted philodendron in there.

 

[theDHill]

Diet sounds good. But you may want to remove the plant. It could potentially be toxic to them if they eat it, which could cause GI issues or miscarriages, potentially leading to a prolapse.

I originally set my colony's up with bio-active setups with moss and spring tails and live plants.

They completely ate the schefflera plants that's were in there and nibbled on some spider plants and moss which I think made them sick and I did have a few deaths and an aborted ootheca.

I've since removed all plants and moss, changed substrates. Just straight coco-coir and cork bark hides. I've also opted for a diet consisting of more fresh fruit, pangea crested gecko fruit mix paste, and a homemade nutritional roach dry food mix (Nutritional yeast, fish flakes, spirulina, pollen, and artificial pollen)

I've found with the hissers that the simpler setup the better IMO

 

[Arthroverts]

I don't believe philodendron's are poisonous. Maybe @Hisserdude and @All About Arthropods can shed some more light on this issue?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Hisserdude]

Not an aborted ooth, this is a prolapse... Happens occasionally with live bearing roaches, I doubt the plant was to blame.
Usually it's fatal, but sometimes the roaches can survive it, they almost never breed again though.

 

[PinkPimpernel]

Thanks, folks. She hasn't gotten better, and she's at the later end of life. I'm going to say my goodbyes to her so she doesn't get any worse, poor girl. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Hisserdude]

Thanks, folks. She hasn't gotten better, and she's at the later end of life. I'm going to say my goodbyes to her so she doesn't get any worse, poor girl. Thanks for the advice.

Sorry to hear it, may she rest in peace.

Just so you know, we don't really know what causes these prolapses, might be something genetic, usually only a very small percentage of females get them, it's more of a fluke then anything.

 

[RoachCoach]

When I see any of my roaches suffering, I put them in a deli cup with a bit of fruit then into the freezer. I remember a BBC docu? saying it's one of the most humane ways of euthanizing them. They don't feel cold pain the way we do, go into diapause, then die.