Hisserdude

Nah, many breeders feed their Macropanesthia a staple diet of dog food, supplemented by the dead leaves, too much protein isn't the issue here. It would have to be one heck of a mold to affect them, most of the grey or white mold growth on food and on enclosure decor isn't harmful to them, unless they are tiny and get tangled up in the strands. If anything moldy leaves and such would add some nutrients to their diet, not kill them. Do you wash your produce and leaves well before offering them to your Macropanesthia? Because there's always a chance of poisoning them via pesticides through unwashed fruits and dead leaves.

Hmm, temps seem to be good, I know anything above 82F° has been reported as fatal for this species. Soil seems a bit deep, but they died on the surface so that rules out death by mismolts under loose substrate... Does the cork bark provide them adequate cover? You say you only occasionally feed them protein based foods like fish food? I'd personally up that to a couple times a week, feed them like you would any other roach, just in smaller amounts and make sure they always have leaf litter available as well. Really not sure why those two died so suddenly, nothing in your husbandry sounds particularly harmful. I'd shrug the first death off as a fluke, but two deaths within such a short period of time is definitely not normal for this species... It's quite a head scratcher for sure. The substrate didn't dry out or anything did it?

Thanks man, hopefully I will!

How warm are you keeping them? Are they dying up on the surface of the substrate or are they buried when you find them? A full setup description would be helpful.

That is true, and with a collection as big as mine was, it felt like there was always at least one species undergoing a crisis of some sort, so it never felt like I had a real break from troubleshooting. Thanks man, I'll be back I'm sure, so see you around!

Thanks, glad I was able to be of help to you! ☺️ Sorry to hear that, it is quite an awful condition. ? I'm hoping cutting my collection down to 10 species at most will really help me out, I've already gotten rid of most of my invertebrates now and I do feel a lot better already. Haha thanks man, will do! ? (I'm watching season 8 myself, it's been a really good one already IMO! ?). Exactly, I've been getting more excited about buying new species and saying I have them, than I have about actually keeping them. ? Now that I only have a few species left I'm already starting to appreciate them each way more. ?

Thanks man, I hope so too! Yes, this is exactly what happened to me I think, I'm really hoping once I cut my collection down my love for my bugs will be restored, and that I'll appreciate each species more. Thanks, I hope so too! I'm glad I was able to help you in some way, I wish you all the best with your hissers and stick insects! Thanks, hopefully I won't be gone for too long, I'll be back one day!

Hey guys, it's been a little while since I posted here, I have some somber news to share. I have been dealing with some severe anxiety and depression issues for the past few months, and I kinda broke down a couple weeks ago. This hobby has unfortunately been causing me a lot more stress than happiness lately, possibly because I have too many species. It's also taken up almost all of my available time, and has prevented me from participating in any of my other hobbies or spending quality time with my family. So, after some soul-searching, I have decided to all but leave the hobby. I have gotten rid of almost all my invertebrates, and only plan to keep half a dozen species for now, (might even get rid of those though, time will tell). I will also be very minimally active here on the forums, so this is probably the last you will hear of me for a while. I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who's helped me along the way by supplying me with invertebrates, giving me husbandry info and advice, and those who just gave encouraging words. I will forever be grateful to all of you, and this forum in particular will always hold a very special place in my heart! Sincerely, -Tristan

I hope so too, they are so beautiful! Glad to hear it, hopefully they will continue to do well in your care!

Haha I wish, unfortunately the oxygen levels on this planet are way too low to support terrestrial invertebrates that large.

Females usually only need to mate once in their lives to produce many viable oothecae, so oftentimes the males go rejected for a while in between matings.

This species has been known to attack and feed on other roaches/soft bodied insects from time to time, and they are very well known for cannibalising oothecae. They are just really protein hungry.

I mean it's possible there are certain strains of certain species that may get larger than others, but for the most part size has been related to space in all isopod species I've kept, not genes. Roaches can also be stunted in size once colonies get bigger, however I think there's more proof that genes have an effect on size with them. Not really, I don't know all that much about isopod genes myself TBH.

I hope so too! There was another breeder here who had a much larger amount of P.magnifica, sadly his colony crashed. Pseudoglomeris, and really just Perisphaerinae in general aren't the easiest of roaches to culture unfortunately.

Congrats man, they are really pretty!