Nhewyt

Well, I can confirm that it is not toxic to cats as I still have a cat, now 10 years old, who completely destroyed a large pothos as a kitten, but eating it and digging in it. He never got sick at all.

Aye, of that you speak true - without proper lighting most things don't come out true to color Good to know that my fellas are normal

Matt, Orin - I was being facitious in both cases - I took the most unlikely spelled version of the name I found online as a point of how screwed up the information I am finding is. Same for the 'throwing them all together' - a play on the fact that so much information I have found seems all thrown together lol. I thank you both for sharing your personal information and experience on this very confusing species. Orin - you mention how they will readily breed with the standard portentosa - is this something that has gone on (in your opinion) more than we roachers realize? Matt - your comment about mis-information becoming 'gospel' would seem to fit in with the possibility that folks have cross bred a number of the hissers and then sold them as pure - then those cross breeds end up with someone down the line who believes they have the real deal and sell them as such, through no deception of their own. Which might explain why, as Orin said, in p. vanwaerebecki some individuals show the notch and others do not as well as some having different notches in different cultures. Actually, the whole thing makes me wonder if there aren't a lot of cultures out there that are actually hybrids which have been bred to each other long enough to be somewhat stable in color? I guess that, long story short, the roach hobby collectors themselves have likely added to the taxonomy confusion through accidental and/or deliberate inter-breeding

So I have read many things about P. Vanderbeckie - I have seen at least 5 varieties (black, big black, tiger, common, giant) offered for sale. Some sources say that all the types are one and that if you keep a large colony of any of them long enough you will see all of the various morphs. Then some sources say that P. Vanderbeckie isn't even a valid genus/species. And still, others say that the various color varieties are distinct species. I have been digging and digging for information for weeks now, and everything seems to be contradictory. So I turn to my fellow roachers What do all of you think? What have you learned from your research and reading on P. Vanderbeckie? Do you all keep your colors of P. Vanderbeckie separate or are you so certain they are all the same species (just different color morphs) that you throw them all together in one big bin?

I am curious as to if the G. oblongata can be as variable as the P. Vanderbeckie? Everything that I have read and the photos that I have seen online say and show a very large hisser which is very red/mahogany in color. However, I have about a dozen of them (all from the same source) with 6 of them being either adult or near to adult and the color is nearly black with minimal red/mahogany. In fact, one absolutely HUGE adult male is very nearly solid black in color. The form of the body looks like the online pictures I have seen, just the colors seem really dark and not nearly as reddish as I would expect from what I've seen and read online. So, questions - ...are these really G. oblongata? ...are G. oblongata often blacker rather than reddish? ...could these be a color morph of G.oblongata? I will try to get a picture if necessary - but I have to find all my camera goodies first (tripod, lights, etc.) and make sure my battery is charged. I was hoping that perhaps someone would know the answer just from the description.

You know - they have names for people like you - instigator and enabler are two that come to mind right off I love bearded dragons, but just don't have the room available to properly set one up - but... if I could get a couple of the fleece that are taking up shelf space spun up into yarn....

Yes, they are big and beautiful - I picked up a wild caught female at a show back when I was breeding tarantulas. She was about 7" and even though wild caught, tame as a kitten. The only thing she ever thought to use her HUGE fangs for when being handled, was as an extra pair of legs for holding on or pulling her fat butt up - though I must admit it could be unnerving to see those fangs hooked over your thumb, even if it was just to hold on - especially since she so often used those fangs to take full size hissing roaches, and lots of 'em! One of these new 1/2" babies I got today was sassy though - I guess it wasn't happy having been rolled up in a damp paper towel for the trip and that little bugger came out standing on tip toe and swinging it's fat bum around like a mace, threatening to smack it's hairs ( all 3 of 'em) onto anyone unwary enough

Thanks for all the input and ideas folks - if the day of overpopulation comes, it's good to know I have options. And speaking of which, I was very very weak - and used the lame excuse of "I need something to help control population" - I bought a couple of tiny baby Chaco Golden Knee tarantulas...

Drool...... absolutely beautiful - thanks for sharing!

That's a good idea except for the fact that I have a saying that goes like this - "No public good deed goes unpunished" Which simply means that sooner or later, some goody two shoes, can't keep their nose out of other peoples business, have no life so they have to try to force their will on others, will notice that someone GASP has tropical roaches that could be infesting the world and attacking their children and I would get turned in to the authorities and have to go through ten kinds of heil to explain myself and avoid fines and confiscations - which conceivably, I might not actually avoid. Humm, that may have come out a little more harsh that I meant it to - it's a sore spot with me - people who do things like that. So, on another note - what IS up with the mealworm thing? How did we end up with a shortage of one of the easiest to culture grain pests?

The Pittsburgh Reptile Show and Sale is coming up on the 23rd and is only about 25 minutes from me - but I fear the place, every time I go there I come home will full bags and empty pockets

Aye, I figured some such Thought it better to let ya know so you could fix it. BTW - your Lucihormetica are some beautiful bugs!

Hello and welcome - but, FYI, for some reason the first link you have directs to a site which comes up as "DANGER" both on the WOT scanner and my security software. I closed out immediately. However, if one does a search for the name you gave the link, the link comes up as OK. So what's up, you're not trying to give us a "bug" are ya?

Just wondering if anyone regularly sells excess feeders to their local pet shops? Since I want to be sure to stay small in quanity, large in species this time into the hobby, I am looking at all possible means of moving out any population explosions I may end up with. Though my first choice would be to trade or sell to fellow collectors, I want to have a full arsenal of options If you have sold to local shops what were your experiences with the common potential "issues" such as the usual adverse reaction to anything called a roach, the common pet shop desire to get something for nothing (aka, we can take them off your hands for free but won't pay for them - which, btw would not be a super huge issue if I get desperate lol) and the possibility of flooding the market if the stores decide to start breeding them on their own?

Hello all, I've never kept the dwarf hissers, was wondering if there are any special tips on care which are different than for other hisser species that I need to be aware of?