Hisser (Madagascar Hissing Cockroach)

[ChileanTaco]

This is one of my largest Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.

Disclaimer: This is not my dragon's food! Wayyyyyys to large. I keep them as pets.

 

[NickAVD]

I've never seen hissing cockroaches before. They are beautiful. By the way, in my colony of Dubia cockroaches, females reach approximately this size and I have never used them as food either.

 

[ChileanTaco]

I saw them a few times in zoos, or other exhibitions with terrariums.

I love keeping insects and other invertebrates, and first I had looked into getting a train millipede (saw them while living in the US, but never got one as we were constantly moving between states and it always looked like we might move internationally soon which we finally did). Then here in Chile, I looked again into getting a train millipede - not available. (I don't know if not allowed, or simply not available.)
Once when I ordered dubias, there was an offer to get hissing cockroaches for just a few bucks extra. I ordered them and kept the big ones (were half of the size shown here when bought) as pets, and fed the small ones (size like feeder dubias) to my dragon. The next time I again ordered the "dubia and hissing cockroach combo" and again kept the larger ones, fed the small ones to my dragon.

(Some say they are aggressive and a choking hazard. Never observed for tiny/ small ones: they are like dubias. What I fed was even just at the size of isopods. I have seen online there were some claims that a bearded dragon died after having fed a hissing cockroach; here I strongly suspect a much too large one was given. Overestimated, or some people even find it funny to offer giant prey. For sure I will not do that.)

One big, big caution when keeping hissing cockroaches: They climb glass and other smooth surfaces very well and they are very strong. So, they open lids. A typical terrarium or aquarium lid won't hold them in. A lid like from a tote or tupperware container also not. We tried a few "but this will hold for sure!", and then had escapers. Remember one as fat as in the picture hiding behind a dresser - my husband removed the dresser, I grabbed the roach. Number 2 was stomped dead in front of the elevator, so escaped the apartment.
Number 3 was found 2 months after when my husband, wanting to grab something from the bedroom after dinner, saw some "dry leaf" on the floor in front of the bed, and then he recognized, no dry leaf as it run off - was a hissing cockroach. After it run off, he took half the bedroom apart (mattresses out, emptied closet...) to find it. He was successful.

I finally got a large airtight "lock and lock" food box for them as a terrarium (drilled fine holes in the lid). That's impossible for them to open.

The hissing cockroach on this image is actually a bit larger, means, here it has "compressed" itself a bit. When it's in the bin, you could add approx. 25 % to that size.

 

[Chris.]

So am I the only one looking, searching and picking out the biggest, juiciest roaches to feed to my dragon?!
Females that get this big, I don't feed but because I hope they are breeding machines

 

[NickAVD]

So am I the only one looking, searching and picking out the biggest, juiciest roaches to feed to my dragon?!
Females that get this big, I don't feed but because I hope they are breeding machines

I try not to feed adult roaches, I read somewhere that they have more uric acid than young roaches, it seemed to me that this makes sense.
I'd rather give more roaches, but small ones.

 

[ChileanTaco]

@Chris.
I also pick out the fattest ones - of the dubias. (I also fatten them up after buying; usually for one month.) My Taco is quite large and I won't feed isopod-sized anymore.
But these here are really enormous and they will even get bigger. These can for sure not be eaten safely by a bearded dragon. This one is as big as half a large (!) walnut with shell, and stretched much larger. I felt the weight of that roach very much on my finger while trying to take a good photo. They also feel extremely hard, differently to a dubia.

 

[Chris.]

I try not to feed adult roaches, I read somewhere that they have more uric acid than young roaches, it seemed to me that this makes sense.
I'd rather give more roaches, but small ones.

Yes that makes sense. I usually pick out the biggest nymphs that are prior to their last molt because I want the adults to breed.

@Chris.
I also pick out the fattest ones - of the dubias. (I also fatten them up after buying; usually for one month.) My Taco is quite large and I won't feed isopod-sized anymore.
But these here are really enormous and they will even get bigger. These can for sure not be eaten safely by a bearded dragon. This one is as big as half a large (!) walnut with shell, and stretched much larger. I felt the weight of that roach very much on my finger while trying to take a good photo. They also feel extremely hard, differently to a dubia.

That is way to big, you are right. They are probably also very strong. Just today I had a roach that was holding on so tight to the cloth (I use as kind of a feeding carped to not mess up my real carped) that my dragon could not break her loose. She ended up decaptitating it. Which was grose....and messy....but I eventually got her to eat the body as well (initially she lost interest)...

 

[ChileanTaco]

They are very strong. I could not remove them from my fingers - I have to nudge them to walk off and wait. If I would try I for sure I would damage their feet/ legs.
They are hard, heavy and very much "like a tank". When they walk, I hear the carapace...

She ended up decaptitating it. Which was grose....and messy....but I eventually got her to eat the body as well (initially she lost interest)...

Once Taco bit a superworm into two halves. He immediately lost interest in the part that fell down - took me a bit to get him eat that, too. (Taco is very much into "prey must move!".)

 

[Chris.]

They are very strong. I could not remove them from my fingers - I have to nudge them to walk off and wait. If I would try I for sure I would damage their feet/ legs.
They are hard, heavy and very much "like a tank". When they walk, I hear the carapace...

Once Taco bit a superworm into two halves. He immediately lost interest in the part that fell down - took me a bit to get him eat that, too. (Taco is very much into "prey must move!".)

Also I found mine will always look for and aim at the head of their prey. They never attack a roach or locust from behind, always the head. No head, no prey. Except for worms, they both eat worms always and in any way they want....

 

[ChileanTaco]

@Chris.
My dragon also does so, at least for what I have seen. (Also for superworms. Mealworms, I can't say and at his current size, they're gone so fast when he licks them up.) I however don't see him eating all the times; he's not fed outside of the enclosure (I would not have a problem with doing so in addition, but usually I'm just not at home during the day), and he also doesn't eat immediately when I put food in the bowls, even not when it's during the day. (On most days I put in his food 6am, then I leave, and until I come back in the evening, he usually has eaten. He then might get a few extras.)

I really love observing animals, in the wild and as pets.