Price for Hissers

[Crocodylidae]

Hello,

So I really want since a few months some Hissers, either Elliptorhina javanica or Gromphadorhina. The problem is that I can't find them. There is nothing in petstore, and when I do find Gromphadorhina on Internet the price is about 7€ for 4, or 3€ for one, it really depends, but at the end of the day the price doesn't seem extreme. The problem is that the shipping then is 10 € more like I said in another post. So that would make, for example, like 4 roaches (Gromphadorhnia, I can't find Halloween Hissers now) for 18€. Or I pay the original price but have to move to one to two hours to find a store who sells them which I also don't want to.
So my question is; is 18€ a nice price for just four or it's pretty bad? It sounds pretty expensive to me. And the roaches would be all adult, I don't know how old.

Gromphadorhina grandidieri would be: 16€ in all for five of them, not sure what age (the website said 'medium'?)
Gromphadorhina portentosa would be: Four for 18€, adults.
I want the 'biggest' species, the one who lives the longest (I've heard that for some it can live up to five years but not sure which one or if it's the same for both species) and that I can handle well. I don't know if the grandidieri would be better or portentosa for it.

I also wonder how to know if a website is safe, the website I'm looking at sells a lot of insects, millipedes etc and there is a lot of animals and the price looks great (without the shipping at least) but I don't find any reviews, I don't know if this is because the name is generic or if this is because there is no reviews. How to know if a website is safe without looking at the reviews?
Not only this but apparently, if for example the insects end up dead while being shipped, there is no refund (if that's the correct word), and if I pay 16-17€ and end up losing money and the insects that would be bad. I don't know how much accidents can happen in January with a heater in the package and in 48h.
I don't know if I should be patient and wait summer if there is too much risk in winter, but I really want some the sooner possible (but if waiting is better for the safety of the insects then I can wait).

Thanks.

 

[AuroraLights]

That price sounds very reasonable to me, at least compared to what I would pay here in the UK. However, I would personally would not buy from somewhere without a live arrival guarantee unless I had no other option, particularly if I couldn't find any reviews. Do you know if the website has a Facebook page or other social media? You could try looking for reviews there. Also, if you are a member of any invertebrate related Facebook groups that would be a good place to ask if anyone else has experience with that shop.

 

[Taysha]

I got my first 6 hissers for $18, the price included shipping, so I would say thats not bad especially if your getting a 50/50 male female ratio

 

[Crocodylidae]

Thanks! I will try to see in maybe Facebook related groups, the website does not have any Facebook page or anything else, only a mail thing.
If I do get only five or four hissers, I was wondering between the two species I talked about who would be the best (lives long, great handling, big, temp room would be the best but I'm not sure if this is fine for both), but not only this but I thought that maybe if I only get five hissers, the best would be to breed some of them to have more but I don't know how many eggs this could be- and how much I would have to increase the temperature. I will try to see online but if anyone have any personal experiences about breeding them (not a colony, just a few), I would appreciate it!
I'm going to a expo soon and there will maybe be hissers (Halloween hissers, or Gromphadorhina portentosa), I'm not sure but I really hope so. So I'll see!

The only other website I know who sells them here, apart from the one I talked about first who don't have a live arrival guarentee would be, for four portentosa, about
27.00, and for just one..18.00 €, so hopefully I'll be able to see them in real life for less. It's weird because I've seen people talk about seeing them in petstore, trade, online shops, everywhere but I have such a hard time finding them. (But I don't live in America so that might be it.)
So far I will be honest, I didn't do a ton of research on them, just the basics, it's because I decided to go first into searching where to buy them so that I don't be deceived if I learn first and then can't buy them. But I will make sure to learn the most so that they can have a good life (if I can get them) and about this, I found a lot of sheets and posts online about them, any would work? I know that sometimes caresheets are not the best so I was just wondering, I don't want to make errors based on false sheets. I hope it's not annoying to have a lot of questions!

 

[Crocodylidae]

Oh and I had a quick question, not about the price nor is it about Hissers but I don't want to make a whole post just for a tiny question, hope it's okay to ask it there:
I bought dried raisins and I was wondering, can insects (beetles, roaches, millipedes, whatever animal) can eat it or that's bad?

 

[pannaking22]

I could see some Tenebrionidae and maybe some roaches eating raisins, but I think most things won't show much interest because they're kind of tough to eat.

 

[Crocodylidae]

And if those are dried, would it attract grain mites or rot or something if I kept it in their enclosure for a few days?

 

[pannaking22]

They should be relatively safe from mites since they aren't grain based.

 

[Smotzer]

If you were in the states Id just send you some from my colony for just the shipping cost

 

[Crocodylidae]

Yeah, too bad. :/ I heard about people finding them in pet store in the states but it looks so rare to me.
I had hope that I was gonna be able to see them at the expo but I actually got notified that the people selling them usually are not going at the expo, so probably not. However at this expo, there will be a lot of reptiles and so I'm thinking, maybe reptile food as well. But I tend to just find crickets, worms, Dubia roaches at most, I don't know if I could see someone at the expo (I repeated expo way too much) selling Hissing Cockroaches for reptiles or if it's not really common (for them to be used as feeder).
Then my last plan, if I don't find them at the expo would be to ask a petstore if they can ever get some (as they already have Blaberus Craniifer, crickets, worms and that's pretty much it), but I don't know if we can ask this in a petstore?

 

[Smotzer]

Yeah, too bad. :/ I heard about people finding them in pet store in the states but it looks so rare to me.
I had hope that I was gonna be able to see them at the expo but I actually got notified that the people selling them usually are not going at the expo, so probably not. However at this expo, there will be a lot of reptiles and so I'm thinking, maybe reptile food as well. But I tend to just find crickets, worms, Dubia roaches at most, I don't know if I could see someone at the expo (I repeated expo way too much) selling Hissing Cockroaches for reptiles or if it's not really common (for them to be used as feeder).
Then my last plan, if I don't find them at the expo would be to ask a petstore if they can ever get some (as they already have Blaberus Craniifer, crickets, worms and that's pretty much it), but I don't know if we can ask this in a petstore?

Yeah you can find them at petco in my town, and I don’t think it would hurt to ask your local store to see if they would order them. No harm in asking!

 

[Crocodylidae]

Okay, I will try this, thanks!
And if one day I got some hissing cockroach, I've heard that females can still get babies even if she is not with males anymore, I don't know how much chance there is to happen if I keep them but if it does and there is too much babies, I'm thinking to either give it away to people on websites similar to Craiglist, or giving it to a local petstore. But I don't know if pet stores accept 'giveaway' from random people or if it's only from professionals?
Quick question as well: are Hissing Cockroaches fast or slow? I've seen videos of them being very slow, described as being slow but a few other videos where they were super fast. Maybe that they are only fast when stressed but I'm not sure.
I also made another post about Death Head cockroach where I was afraid of them causing allergy, but after research apparently Hissers cause more problems when it comes to allergy than Blaberus. So I was wondering: if I do a 'natural' enclosure (fiber coco as a substrate, leaves, hides, rocks etc instead of no substrate and cartons eggs), this means that I would clean it less, so would it be worse when it comes to allergy? Or if there is a substrate, it's alright? Does that also mean I should only handle them with gloves, especially if I show them to kids?

And do they tend to hiss at night or are they quiet?

They should be relatively safe from mites since they aren't grain based.

Okay, thank you! I've had problems with fresh fruits which is why I tend to not let them in enclosure more than like ten hours, so hopefully it will be better with dried.

 

[Smotzer]

Okay, I will try this, thanks!
And if one day I got some hissing cockroach, I've heard that females can still get babies even if she is not with males anymore, I don't know how much chance there is to happen if I keep them but if it does and there is too much babies, I'm thinking to either give it away to people on websites similar to Craiglist, or giving it to a local petstore. But I don't know if pet stores accept 'giveaway' from random people or if it's only from professionals?
Quick question as well: are Hissing Cockroaches fast or slow? I've seen videos of them being very slow, described as being slow but a few other videos where they were super fast. Maybe that they are only fast when stressed but I'm not sure.
I also made another post about Death Head cockroach where I was afraid of them causing allergy, but after research apparently Hissers cause more problems when it comes to allergy than Blaberus. So I was wondering: if I do a 'natural' enclosure (fiber coco as a substrate, leaves, hides, rocks etc instead of no substrate and cartons eggs), this means that I would clean it less, so would it be worse when it comes to allergy? Or if there is a substrate, it's alright? Does that also mean I should only handle them with gloves, especially if I show them to kids?

And do they tend to hiss at night or are they quiet?

Okay, thank you! I've had problems with fresh fruits which is why I tend to not let them in enclosure more than like ten hours, so hopefully it will be better with dried.

Well they don’t have that many litters a year and if you only have a few to begin with I don’t see the population getting out of control quick, and if you don’t want them to breed keep at room temp, they generally need much higher temps to breed.

IMO As far as speed they are generally more slow and docile than other roaches but if you are rehousing or feeding remember they can climb the walls of the enclosure so they sometimes like trying to explore outside of their home.
and your last question mine are completely silent unless I try and pick them up and then they hiss. It’s only when they are disturbed.
They won’t be keeping you up at night!

 

[sschind]

It sometime astounds me what vendors charge for common hissers (portentosa) at some shows here in the midwest. I've seen them for 10 bucks each at one show I attend and 5 at others. These things breed like ... well they breed like cockroaches for crying out loud. They are not some rare difficult to breed species that are hard to come by.

Some of the other species I can see a bit of a premium but I'm sorry I'm not spending more than 5 bucks for any hissers.

 

[Guysak]

There £3 each in my local in West Sussex