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Hi everyone, I just joined the forum, and I'm very excited to read around ?!

So, I became interested in Madagascan Hissing Roaches after I saw them on a tiny house hunters episode ?, and then again on YouTube. I've done some research but I thought it would be better to ask people who have first hand experience! So...I'm looking to keep two same sex roaches as pets not as feeders or breeding. 

My first question is, I see all these things about heating, but not what temp to heat too. So what's the ideal temp. For them?

And my second question is, can I keep them in

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LE7XFRM/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1496945307&sr=8-17&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=house+terrarium&dpPl=1&dpID=41tIGBD11gL&ref=plSrch or anything like this ?

Thanks in Advance and I loo forward to becoming part of this community!

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Your going to need to place some type of barrier if you want to keep the Hissers contained in that particular cage... The nymphs especially are escape artists.

Blaberus species, Shelfordella lateralis, would be a better choice for that particular tank, as they cannot climb, and some people even keep them in lidless enclosures.

Pycnoscelus surinamensis may, as a stretch work in there is you have plenty of soil and the roaches are well fed and happy, but they like Hissers can climb and squeeze out through the pre-existing "cracks" in that cage.

As a barrier, petroleum jelly, rubbing alcohol mixed with baby powder, or if you want to go all out, liquid Teflon will keep them contained. Fluon is another option.

Edited by Tleilaxu
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I don't keep Hissers at this time so I cannot really answer hisser husbandry questions yet.

@Hisserdude

As for your cage, I don't have that particular one personally so I can't tell you how to seal that.

I keep my roaches in kritter keepers, plastic jugs,(bucket cage) or sterlite containers. All easy to prevent wandering roaches from escaping.

Once I'm settled I'm planning on getting huge plastic totes so I can keep thousands of roaches at once.

Edited by Tleilaxu
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Welcome to the forum! :) 

Since you aren't looking to breed them, heating won't matter.

I'm not exactly sure how tightly those exo-terra tanks seal/close, but if there are any gaps at all, your hissers would probably be able to get out(at least without some kind of barrier like Vaseline applied around them). There aren't exactly showy, but I just use Sterilite containers for almost all of my species. The ones I like the most are the Sterilite gasket box containers since they have a water-tight seal meaning that I don't have to apply any barriers. lol

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1 minute ago, lbrit17 said:

Oh, that's a big burden off me! Thank you so much!

So the regular to temperature?

And I'll look into them and see about the seal!

No problem. :) Normal room temps work fine, they can be kept anywhere from 65-84 F.

Cool, they seem to be the most useful for the money. :) 

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First of, room temperature will work just fine if you don't want to breed any. :)

Secondly, I can not stress enough how crafty roaches can be when it comes to escaping, if you are getting adults then you won't have to worry too much about little gaps here and there, but little nymphs are escape artists and need airtight lids to be contained. Kritter keeper type enclosures, most tanks and modified plastic storage bins will work just fine for adults though.

Lastly, be sure to get two males, because if you get two females and they end up being adults, there's a 99.9% chance they've mated already and are gravid, so you'll get babies for sure. Plus, males have the big horns and are more fiesty and fun to keep IMO. :D

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I have mine in an Exoterra. It had the Mayan foam background until I replaced it with cork bark. The foam was getting damaged in all of the territorial disputes and is not too durable for climbers. For the Exoterra cage, you will need to fill several gaps with silicon or rubber or else there will be several babies escaping. The front doors are secure though, no worries there.

 

P7040011.jpg

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For my three hisser girls I just use a Critter Keeper terrarium and it works well. They are pretty nice plastic tanks that I've used to keep a wide variety of creatures in since I was around ten so I know that they are fairly strong. strong enough for roaches for sure. I would however, take some fine mesh and use that to cover the lid from the inside if I was expecting nymphs. 

Here's a link to one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002APZOE/ref=asc_df_B0002APZOE5022547/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B0002APZOE&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167136460722&hvpos=1o12&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3008090957097873313&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032360&hvtargid=pla-314499104851
Side note: they don't seem to be able to climb the walls very well so I use a bit of cork bark on the back wall. And welcome to the forum =]

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11 hours ago, Psydeus565 said:

I have mine in an Exoterra. It had the Mayan foam background until I replaced it with cork bark. The foam was getting damaged in all of the territorial disputes and is not too durable for climbers. For the Exoterra cage, you will need to fill several gaps with silicon or rubber or else there will be several babies escaping. The front doors are secure though, no worries there.

 

P7040011.jpg

Oh my gosh that's so pretty! That's exactly what I was thinking of! Also, when you say gaps, how small of gaps should I worry about for adults, I've heard they're fantastic escape artists

 

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Just two males? Go for the smaller one. I don't think you'll have any issues with escapes either. Just make sure they have a couple different pieces of bark to claim as their own. 

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28 minutes ago, Psydeus565 said:

Just two males? Go for the smaller one. I don't think you'll have any issues with escapes either. Just make sure they have a couple different pieces of bark to claim as their own. 

Ok, is it necessary to have the small one? Or could I just get the bigger one for more room for them?

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It's just the two of them and most roaches love to squeeze into tight areas in most cases. I will say that my tiger hissers have no qualms about being out in the open though... With a couple pieces of bark, I see no issues. You'll likely want to breed them in the future though, so plan accordingly ;)

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