Portentosa

Hi everyone! Has anyone seen or do you know if a Madagascar hissing cockroach can become "pregnant" before their final molt? An adult of mine just had her nymphs some days ago (so cute!) and now I notice that my juvenile female looks very round, like my adult did for so long. I've been assuming she was getting ready for a last molt (since she is all black and doesn't have adult hisser coloration yet), but now I'm wondering if another 30 or so nymphs could be on their way... Thank you! -Katie

Thank you, I'll try that!

Hello everyone! I am a new insect-owner from Minnesota, USA. I was surprised on my last birthday with some Madagascar hissing cockroaches! I love insects and hope that these guys might be the first of many insects I own. My dream is to have a bunch of terrariums someday with all sorts of six-legged inhabitants - and it's possible I might have many more roaches on my hands at some point soon as I've got one male and three females. Was planning to stick to just females, but it was hard to tell their sex when I got them as they are sold as feeder insects in little containers with labels all over. I really appreciate this forum as a resource, I've been looking through it for ideas on roach care and on what other insects are popular to keep as pets! Katie

Hello all! I'm a new roach owner - I have 4 Madagascar hissers, two adults and two juveniles. I've had them about 3 weeks now, and they never eat a noticeable amount of food before I change it out. I've been going through posts on here and am feeling a bit better about that, as it seems fairly common? I give them lettuce, carrots, grapes, and cat/dog food pellets. The vegetables wilt pretty rapidly, so I was giving them new food every night at first but they don't touch it. It almost seems like one of them hasn't eaten at all - that or he is very good at being in the same exact spot every time I look for them. I am also wondering how everyone monitors moisture level? I got a hygrometer to measure the percent humidity, and through some research it seems like I should try to have their tank at 60% humidity at a minimum. So usually I've been doing a daily routine of misting the tank, soaking their peat moss until it's lightly saturated and then putting it back, and filling their water dish. With all this, the hygrometer would read only about 50% at the most (we have cold and dry winters here) so now I am also keeping a humidifier running right next to their tank. With this I can get the humidity up to 80%. Is this too much moisture/over-doing it? A long first post - but I want my new little pets to be happy and am so excited to be an invertebrate owner!