hissterical

Hi WarrenB, I like their faces when they are part of the whole roach, but the empty shells? Skeeve me. They aren't so big compared to what I see online--I specifically picked juveniles when I got them so I could see them grow. Just big enough to sex, really. My biggest one (since his recent molt) is about 2.5 inches. Here's a recent pic of him:

My middle boy molted overnight--he's now the largest, by far--and again, didn't eat his old face (but everything else). So weird. For reasons I do not understand, the face scares me more than the entire hissing (he's the loud one) bug. Gives me the creeps.

My youngest hisser just molted--the first time one of my roaches has done so! I was terrified when I looked in the tank walking by. Not expecting a giant pulsing ghost roach to be sitting on top of the log in the middle of the day. Anyway, I was excited to get the old skin and pin it up, but he spun around and ate it in under five minutes, the whole thing except his old face. (I agree with him that that would be super creepy.) is this a sign that I need to add calcium or something to their options? I have an old cuttlebone around here somewhere, and also have egg shells regularly that I could throw in. Right now they get varied fruit/veg (heavy on carrots/apples/bananas with occasional other stuff), cat kibble, cricket cubes, and crushed up dog biscuits.

Oh, there will be no babies running around here. Boys only (since I read females can have kids even after months of being separated). I'm treating them more like dogs than bugs, so no real interest in having more than I can differentiate. It is very weird that all three of mine came from the same colony, spread out over half a year, but have different preferences and personalities. Rex's antennae are pretty ragged, and he has a hard time hanging onto my hand, way more than the others--I'd wondered if his little hook-paws were worn down. I also noticed when I introduced my most recent roach a few days ago, Rex didn't do the whole dominance/display parade of flexing his abs on top of the cork for days like he did before. Geriatric bug.

Hey all, I was looking for a small pet that didn't require other pets to eat, with no smell (small space), that could be handled. A couple webpages pointed me to roaches, and I'm obsessed with my guys already. I've read a pile of posts here already, and have tons of questions! Can I house an oblongonota male with my three portentosas? I want another big dude or two. I think my first roach, Rex, is pretty old. Are there signs of aging? He feels rougher, and is much slower than the others. Can roaches carry food? I always feed them in a dish on one side of the tank, but dropped in some cilantro leaves on the other side when I didn't want to pull the whole lid off. In the morning, one of the leaves was in the food dish. I also find their food cubes under the cork sometimes. Glad to be here!