Striker eating a hisser! (and mites)

[Mojo Jojo]

I went to the exotic petstore today and bought 4 hissing cockroaches, 2 male and 2 female. I thought I would toss one in to my A. geniculata and see if he would go for it. Well, on closer inspection, after I had made the purchase, I noticed that the roaches had mites crawling on their backs. So I thought that I didn't want to toss them in like that with to my genic, as I don't want a mite infestation. So I took it upon myself to actually wash the roaches off in warm soapy water. I thought that if I did it quickly, I would be able to get the mites off and not kill them. Well, I got the mites off but...they're dead. Anyways, I still tossed one in to my genic. He was nervous about it at first, striking at it, but pulling back. He started climbing up the glass, (oh how I do need to go get some more peat for my tank)but then came back down and fanged it. I got a couple of pictures a few hours ago. I'll post them. He's polishing the first one up now. I'm thinking about putting the others into the fridge, so they don't rot on me. He didn't seem to mind taking it, even though it wasn't moving.

Big DRagonfly

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Oh yeah, and he thought that it would be a really good idea to climb the glass and eat it arborial style!

Another pic:

 

[atavuss]

I have heard it said that the mites on roaches and millipedes are symbiotic and will not survive on another host.......still makes me uneasy enough if I see mites on something it goes in a different room from the main collection.
Ed

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Positive Outlook

Well, several hours after I washed the roaches, one of them has "come back to life"! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the other two.

Big Dragonfly

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Originally posted by atavuss
I have heard it said that the mites on roaches and millipedes are symbiotic and will not survive on another host.......still makes me uneasy enough if I see mites on something it goes in a different room from the main collection.
Ed

These mites were the exact same color as the roach, which makes me believe there may be some truth to your statement.

Big Dragonfly

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Re: Positive Outlook

Originally posted by Big Dragonfly
Well, several hours after I washed the roaches, one of them has "come back to life"! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the other two.

Big Dragonfly

As of this morning, the other 2 hissers are showing signs of life!

Big Dragonfly

 

[Lasiodora]

Re: Positive Outlook

Originally posted by Big Dragonfly
Well, several hours after I washed the roaches, one of them has "come back to life"! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the other two.

Big Dragonfly

You washed your hissers =D lol.
The mites are normal. They don't harm the roaches and they won't harm your T's.
Mike

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Re: Re: Positive Outlook

Originally posted by Lasiodora
You washed your hissers =D lol.
The mites are normal. They don't harm the roaches and they won't harm your T's.
Mike

Live and Learn!

At first, I didn't realize that the hissers have a commited relationship with their mites that always faithful to them (especially after reading about so many crickets whose mites aren't so faithful). So I thought it would be a better risk to wash them and to lose the hissers, than than to contaminate my genics vivarium with mites. Well, I learned my lesson and get to keep the hissers too!

Big Dragonfly

 

[Tarantula Lover]

hey

very cool pic! I love the striping on genics!

James