spyder79
Extreme Poster
Well for those of you that remember my thread where I received a large colony of hisser adults this is a piggy back on it. For those of you who do not remember the post here is the link http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=125843&p=1009194&hilit=+hisser#p1009194.
I am posting this as a suggestion to anyone that keeps multiple bug eaters, especially smaller ones like geckos, young beardies, and adult beardies.
My colony of hissers exploded some time ago. I had actually contemplated shutting them down cause I didn't really like them. But instead I decided to wait until after my hatchlings were born and see how they liked the nymphs. This season I hatched out 38 dragons, all of which are still living in my home as they are not old enough to start leaving yet. I have been fully sustaining all of those hatchlings on my hisser colony and have not even put a dent in the amount of babies in the colony.
Now yes with hissers there are precautions you should take. Madagascar hissing cockroaches are excellent climbers so you have to take multiple precautions to keep them in the tank. I have vaseline around the top 5 inches of their container, a locking lid, and double sided tape on the outside to catch anyone that makes it past the first 2 steps (haven't had any escape yet knock on wood). They will need a large container to be kept in as the males are territorial and will "battle" each other for territory (<<<<<very interesting to watch). The females only give birth every 2 months but they give birth to large numbers, highest count I have had from a female so far was 85 babies in one laying. They give birth in the same fashion that dubia do. The stages of life for hissers are a bit longer than they are with dubia (it takes a good bit longer to reach adulthood), but their life span has been recorded at upwards of 5 years.
I keep dubia as well and I love them but with how prolific the hissers are they have taken top dog in my opinion. For those that have "larger" collections that this "cricket scare" is really affecting, look into starting a colony of hissers. You will not be dissapointed.
I am posting this as a suggestion to anyone that keeps multiple bug eaters, especially smaller ones like geckos, young beardies, and adult beardies.
My colony of hissers exploded some time ago. I had actually contemplated shutting them down cause I didn't really like them. But instead I decided to wait until after my hatchlings were born and see how they liked the nymphs. This season I hatched out 38 dragons, all of which are still living in my home as they are not old enough to start leaving yet. I have been fully sustaining all of those hatchlings on my hisser colony and have not even put a dent in the amount of babies in the colony.
Now yes with hissers there are precautions you should take. Madagascar hissing cockroaches are excellent climbers so you have to take multiple precautions to keep them in the tank. I have vaseline around the top 5 inches of their container, a locking lid, and double sided tape on the outside to catch anyone that makes it past the first 2 steps (haven't had any escape yet knock on wood). They will need a large container to be kept in as the males are territorial and will "battle" each other for territory (<<<<<very interesting to watch). The females only give birth every 2 months but they give birth to large numbers, highest count I have had from a female so far was 85 babies in one laying. They give birth in the same fashion that dubia do. The stages of life for hissers are a bit longer than they are with dubia (it takes a good bit longer to reach adulthood), but their life span has been recorded at upwards of 5 years.
I keep dubia as well and I love them but with how prolific the hissers are they have taken top dog in my opinion. For those that have "larger" collections that this "cricket scare" is really affecting, look into starting a colony of hissers. You will not be dissapointed.
