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(Im not sure where to put this post so Im sorry if it is in the wrong place)

All of my male Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches are seperated into individual enclosures. They have never spent more than a day together (and thats just two at a time during shipping) but their enclosures take up a lot of space in my room (not like a lot but two shelves could have a lot more use) and I want to see if I could put them into the 15 gallon tank I have.

I have notes on each individual in terms of behaviors and things like that since I like to learn about them and theyre primarily observational pets for me. I was wondering if there was a way for me to mark them to know who is who after i put all three of them in the enclosure (the fourth seems very old and I dont want them to beat him up lol) I was thinking something like a sticker between their little horns would be the easiest but I don't want to do anything that would harm them so I was just wondering if that would work or if there is something else I could do.

Also are there any suggestions to try and limit any fighting that might happen between three males? 

 

Thanks!

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I wasn't able to find a good link for you, but honey bee queens are frequently marked in this manner. You can purchase numbered stickers to glue to them, or you can mark them with a tiny dab of paint. It is relatively easy to do, and does not seem to be harmful in anyway. I would look into something like this.

As for limiting fighting, good luck. They are territorial, so if you have enough space, they each might eventually settle on their own territory. With only a few individuals, this should be possible. You will have to experiment with adding hides, rocks, and branches until they each have a territory they hang out in, but don't mess with the others. They also may be less aggressive if there are no females to fight over.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use a UV marker pen to mark individual roaches. With a cheap uv light led lamp (also used to check money) I can see who is who. 
That way one does not see the marks unless you use uv light. 

I also used that to count woodlice in the garden.... 

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I regularly mark my male hissers for the same reason. I have used acrylic craft paint in the past, but it seems to wear off quickly. So far, my best solution has been a metallic paint marker. I use a series of dots (on the horns, between the horns and lower on the pronotum) to distinguish between males. It does wear off, but it takes a really long time so I can mark again as needed. So far, I haven't seen any ill effects from using the markers.

On 3/7/2018 at 9:40 AM, stanislas said:

I use a UV marker pen to mark individual roaches. With a cheap uv light led lamp (also used to check money) I can see who is who. 
That way one does not see the marks unless you use uv light. 

I love this idea! Going to go find myself one of those right now. :)

On 3/7/2018 at 9:40 AM, stanislas said:

I also used that to count woodlice in the garden.... 

That's insane... :blink: But strangely that sounds very relaxing. I usually use mine to scope out biofluorescent millipedes in the yard ... or adult B. giganteus escapees.

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thank you all! right now I have small dots of acrylic paint on each of their horns but the UV marker sounds great! I also have metalic paint markers that I might try out once the acrylic paint come off. 

 

this is a bad picture but look! lol I love these guys

20180307_220422_resized.jpg

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