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Tiny litter? Oddly coloured nymphs?


Wolfie

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Makes sense, presumably to give them room to grow.

Yep, here's a photo.

I decided to take a photo of it every time it moults, because I've found a lack of photographs of nymphs at any stage other than newly born or almost adult, useful to have as a reference! :)

1509206_10202805185191216_699433514_n.jpg

Looks very healthy!

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  • 5 weeks later...

Growth is speeding up that's great!

I'm thankful for that! I was concerned there was going to be months between moults, and that is way too long for me! :P

Might be something to do with the fact we just acquired 87 giant African land snails for the boyfriend's dissertation study, so all the inverts have been moved into the bathroom to save space until their room at uni is ready, and the bathroom is super hot all the time, haha!

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  • 1 month later...

I'm sorry to hear about your parent roaches and the nymphs that died. I know how it is to lose insect pets. It's been 2 months since your last post. Are the two nymphs still alive? Did the "odd" one mate yet? The healthy one is pretty. Is the roach in your emblem on your arm one of the parents? He/she is beautiful.

Keith's nutritional tips sound good. When you give them fruits and vegetables, rinse them good in case they have pesticides on them. You might also try Tropical Fish Flakes. A pet shop boy told me they have everything crickets need. At any rate, you obviously take really good care of them. I applaud you for that.

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I'm curious too. I just had this same issue. I was given a female and three males by a friend who didn't want to deal with them anymore. Female was obviously gravid. I set her up on a substrate, the same one I use for my millipedes, with lots of oak leaves both dry and moist and decaying wood. I separated her from the males except for one, fed her bananas and fish food and dog food periodically, misted the enclosure every couple of days....and she only had five nymphs. Later on, one died and I can't find another, assuming that's dead too because the enclosure's 100% escape proof. There are three left. Two are healthy and eating, and one is deformed. Looks like it was damaged during the birth. Its bumbly and looks like its carapace is slightly peeled back. I don't have high hopes for that little guy. He might become a feeder but I'm kinda tempted to see if I can get him through this stage to a molt and hope he bounces back.

Anyway I hear you on being attached to the survivors. I was really nervous about her exploding with 30+ babies, but now I'm kind of disappointed there's only two and a half.

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The same thing happened with the very first female hisser I had, and the only roaches I had at the time were her and her mate. It was her first litter as well, and it was almost like there was a membrane back there that needed to be torn before she could get the ootheca and the hatching nymphs out. In her case it took two full days of 'labor' to get them out, and by the time she did only one managed to survive which we named Junior. She went on to have two more litters of around 30 nymphs each before she died. Junior did not grow very quickly - his siblings were born about 90 days after he was and a few months after that they caught up to him in size even though they all were only half-grown. I was never able to tell him apart after that so I don't know what happened to him.

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My only Hisser first birth had a quick birth with over 50 babies all normal and all survived, her pregnancy lasted 9 months and the babies were huge mabye that is why there were no complications?

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  • 3 months later...

Woah, didn't know this had been commented on again.

Yes, my little roach is still fighting like the trooper it is, considering that all my other roaches died I shouldn't tempt fate, but I nicknamed it Panic.

It's growing extremely slowly, it's only on its fourth moult but it is active and healthy and eats and drinks regularly, and it does shed. To all intents and purposes it's a normal roach, just slowed down! I am hoping to wait until it's sub-adult/adult and then get some more to keep it company, but at the moment I don't want to risk other roaches injuring it until it's a bit bigger.

It just turned a year old, so you can see how wee it is compared to how big a normal hisser is at a year old. The best I can fathom is that because the mother died the litter were born weak or immunocompromised or in some way lacking, which was why there were only six in the litter, and why the other five died soon after. 'Panic' was simply the lucky one that was undamaged enough to survive, but was stunted or lacking in some way that slowed its growth down somewhat.

10609661_10204371371024883_7451035345433027731_n.jpg?oh=756265ce4c9b607d0d49e7e71f74e831&oe=547CBD9F&__gda__=1417803122_01449f6369d0ceb7a551f8147f93d239

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Woah, didn't know this had been commented on again.

Yes, my little roach is still fighting like the trooper it is, considering that all my other roaches died I shouldn't tempt fate, but I nicknamed it Panic.

It's growing extremely slowly, it's only on its fourth moult but it is active and healthy and eats and drinks regularly, and it does shed. To all intents and purposes it's a normal roach, just slowed down! I am hoping to wait until it's sub-adult/adult and then get some more to keep it company, but at the moment I don't want to risk other roaches injuring it until it's a bit bigger.

It just turned a year old, so you can see how wee it is compared to how big a normal hisser is at a year old. The best I can fathom is that because the mother died the litter were born weak or immunocompromised or in some way lacking, which was why there were only six in the litter, and why the other five died soon after. 'Panic' was simply the lucky one that was undamaged enough to survive, but was stunted or lacking in some way that slowed its growth down somewhat.

10609661_10204371371024883_7451035345433027731_n.jpg?oh=756265ce4c9b607d0d49e7e71f74e831&oe=547CBD9F&__gda__=1417803122_01449f6369d0ceb7a551f8147f93d239

Glad to see a survivor, that's a special roach!

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