Hello, and thank you :)

[Jenn :)]

Hey guys! First things first - thanks to this forum, I was able to figure out that I had grain mites in my hisser tank due to dog food that I recently decided to feed them - thankfully, I was able to get rid of them all, so far. It was awesome to find a forum with so much information!! Thanks for all of the advice and info that you guys share here <3

So, here's my story - I became the proud (and somewhat freaked-out, at times) owner of five glorious hissers in May 2015 One of my friends had them sent to her by her brother, for her 5th grade son, which she ended up being scared of (the hissers, not her son), so, in turn, she ordered some and sent them to her brother as evil payback, and even though they were all guaranteed that as long as temps were kept under 75 degrees, they would not breed, sure enough, her sister-in-law called, freaking out because one of them had babies, and they were crawling out of their enclosure. After my friend heard that the hissers she sent had babies, she worried that her hissers might, as well, and she was going to give them to a pet store - I ended up adopting them from her because I thought my daughters might enjoy them since they are insect fanatics, and sure enough, after the first initial "OMG, they are so big and freaky, but pretty!" session, they ended up loving them I am sad to say that my youngest daughter's favorite, King Julian, recently passed away - we think that he died of old age...he was the largest out of the two males and three females...he was such a sweet boy We still have one adult male, Mort, who is a grumpy little man...he hisses anytime you touch him, but we take him out and love on him anyway My youngest daughter's second favorite hisser is Sheera, who is the largest female - I believe she was pregnant when she first arrived at my friends' house, because shortly after we adopted them, she gave birth -- and yes, I did freak out! LOL So then we owned roughly 30, or so, hissers - we kept the boys and girls separated for a while after we realized that it seemed temperature did not matter as much as we thought in the matter of them breeding We now have them all back together again, though, so they will be happier - Sheera has given birth twice now, and Ying has given birth once - we think Sheera might be pregnant again, as well as Ying. We have them all in a 10 gallon glass tank - they are so much fun to watch, but I worry about having too many, and we now have purchased two bearded dragons (just a few days ago), which my daughters have each wanted for a long time now. The plan is to periodically feed some of the baby hissers to the dragons -- this seems so sad to me because I really enjoy watching them, and the girls love them, but at the same time I do NOT want a tank half-full of hissers...I like them, but I still have an ick factor going, which I am NOT proud of, but have not been able to break due to experiencing those nasty flying cockroaches in East Texas when I was in high school...too many traumatic experiences...one day I will be totally cool with all of my hissers...it just takes time, me thinks

SO, my youngest daughter actually fed one of the baby hissers to her dragon, today...it was kind of sad...I am surprised by how sad it was to me, and that she was able to do it so easily...I think all of the discussions we had about feeding the babies to the dragons before we actually purchased the dragons must have helped her in being able to do it so easily - still, watching that poor hisser popping in and out of the dragon's mouth was terrible I hate the stinkin' crickets that we are feeding to the dragons, and the hissers would be so much easier, I know...and I know that they would devour a lot of the little colony that currently have, so we are only going to give one or two, here and there, so they do not get accustomed to the taste of them and not want the crickets. It is crazy that I feel torn about this...lol

Anyhoodle - sorry for rambling - just had to vent, I guess, while introducing myself I am attaching one of my most favorite pics of the first batch of babies we have had - they were chillin' on the aquarium wall together And the second pic is of Sheera and Mort hanging out together

[Hisserdude]

Welcome! It's sweet that you are sad when you feed off your hissers, I feel the same way with some of my roaches. However, my carnivorous pets need to eat too, and this way I know that I am feeding my inverts quality food, much better than the crickets at the pet store, (and a lot less stinky! ). Just you wait, a few years from now your house will be filled with various cages filled with different species of roaches and you will be known by your friends as the "crazy roach lady"

[Jenn :)]

Thanks for the welcome! LOL Several of them already do think I am crazy for having the hissers - I always joke with them that Christmas is right around the corner and I have a lot to give away You do make a great point that feeding them bugs that we have raised ourselves is healthier - and YES, the crickets are sooo stinky...and the constant hopping against the enclosure is pretty annoying - I am just thankful that it is not warm enough for them to make a bunch of noise...not looking forward to the warmer months! lol

Great blog, BTW! You have such a variety of insects! Very impressive

[Hisserdude]

Thanks, glad you like it! One of the things I love about this hobby is that there are so many different invertebrates to choose from, it lets me have nice amount of variation in what I keep.