Too many baby MHCs!!!!

[Amblyn Reisetter]

I started a colony of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches this past summer. I got my first babies this fall and since then they are breeding prolifically. If I remove their heat pad so that they are not as warm should that reduce their reproduction rates without affecting their overall well-being? Any ideas on how to get rid of some of them? I'm not interested in selling but I would be willing to give some of them away.

 

[pannaking22]

Yes, dropping the temp should slow or stop breeding, but it won't harm the roaches. I use extras as feeders on occasion, but I don't know if you have any predacious pets.

 

[Polenth]

Based on your other posts about keeping these for education, you might be better off doing a male-only colony, so that you don't have to worry about dealing with extras. Or if you want an animal that breeds, consider woodlice, because they control their own population size.

Lower temperatures are supposed to slow down breeding, though it's not something I've tried. I use the guaranteed method of not mixing males and females, as I don't have an outlet for babies. What I can say is that my hissers live at around 20-21C (68-70F) and are active. They eat, moult, explore, and have an average lifespan of 3-4 years (a few outliers either way, but that's the general range). They do start to noticeably slow down if temperatures drop below that, which did happen with my first cockroach... I sorted the heating after that.