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I have 10 females and 1 male hissing cockroaches. I have this one cockroach (female) that always stays as close as possible to the light, reacts weird to the touch with a nervous fast movement almost like shaking as it walks. I noticed she’s missing part of one of her mid legs and she has a lot of trouble climbing objects, for that reason I find her laying on her back most of the time not being able to turn back to her feet. Is there a chance she could be sick? Or else? 62252309353__4D59AC99-4ED3-4347-842E-2354970550D8.MOV

My 4 year old daughter thinks bugs are the best, and after talking about it for months, we started a simple tank with Madagascar hissing cockroaches. It's really simple: cocosoft bedding, a heater that sticks to the outside bottom of the tank, multiple egg cartons to climb and hide under, mesh lid. We just had our fourth mysterious death today, and I need help! The first death was soon after we got our first cockroaches, and I attributed it to being dropped too often onto the kitchen floor, so we changed the rules about holding cockroaches (only on the carpet, only sitting down) and no one else has been dropped. The second death happened about a week after the first, and I didn't know what to make of it. The third death happened a week after that, and I removed the bark we had in the tank. My daughter had pulled thick, long strips of bark from a log the landlord left in our yard, maybe an oak tree, almost definitely some kind of hardwood. I thought that maybe, because the cockroaches didn't evolve around that kind of tree, they couldn't recognize it as poisonous even though it was really bad for them (although those trees are usually riddled with bugs around here, so it's not poisonous to all bugs). Then we didn't have any deaths for a week and a half after that, and I thought I'd solved the problem until just now, when we discovered one of the really big males, dead in his usual hiding spot. They don't show any signs of poisoning or illness. I just find them dead in the morning. They aren't wobbly or weak. The only thing that stands out behavior-wise is that I remember them being more active when I had a colony as a kid, but they run pretty fast when they are set down on the carpet, and climb around when they're not in their tank and at night. They are not dying of old age. The first three deaths were juveniles, each about 1 to 1.5 inches. They are eating "taste of the wild" dog food, and organic fruit and veg--grapes, tomatoes, spinach, carrots, apples, bananas and banana peels. They have plenty of water, and the tank is usually 70-80 degrees and 70-80% humidity. I'm going to relocate the survivors to a box and clean out the entire thing and start fresh tonight, soaking the interior walls with white vinegar to kill any mold or spores before I put them back in. Here are my ideas about what could be causing the deaths--I would so much welcome other suggestions, or advice from someone who has seen this before. - I got their 20-gallon tank from someone who used to keep fish in there. It looked clean, and the gravel that was in it was clean, so I dumped the gravel, wiped out the bit of dust that was in the gravel, and set it up for bugs. Could there be something left from the fishies that's making them sick? - Maybe something is wrong with the dog food (I mean, it's clearly fine for the dogs, but maybe hissers shouldn't eat it). When I had hissers when I was a kid, I remember feeding them only fruit and vegetables, but the care guides I looked at this time around all said they need a protein source and suggested dog or cat kibble. - We've had a full week of non-stop rain and 95-100 percent humidity, and now there's a little bit of stringy white mold growing in the cage. It only appeared today or yesterday, so I don't see how it could be related to the earlier deaths, but it made me wonder. Thoughts? What else can I do, besides rebooting the tank?

Edited to remove inaccurate information/reporting due to lack of education at beginner stage!

since all the pet stores are having huge black friday sales i was thinking about getting some cool stuff for my roach son before he comes. does anyone have experience with their roaches living in an enclosure with fake aquarium plants? im under the impression that as long as they dont eat it that they'll be fine but i dont know if theres any other kinds of problems... im getting a male gromphadorhina portentosa (ive been told that this will be a better fit for me since i dont want any babies, although im not sure if ill get one or two males) and i think that some big leaves might be nice for him to 'play' in and hide in but if they put something on the fake plants thatd hurt him I dont want to do it.

I apologize if this is posted incorrectly I was literally just approved to use this website(and roach keeping in general) I am planning on getting two female gromphadorhina portentosas and maybe a male as well. Assuming that the female(s) will be...with child...upon arrival (I've read that that's common) then what do I do? I don't want to breed. I am not ready for that yet. I also dont want them in the normal enclosure. If they do give birth I have a friend with a medium sized bearded dragon and I would give the nymphs to them as food. If the females appear to be pregnant could I move them to one of those cricket bins that they sell for live crickets at the pet store? I dont want a storage tub or anything just a temporary holding area. Like a baby room. If I see them actively giving birth would it be okay to lift them up and put them in a cricket bin? Should I get some kind of scooping utensil and take her and the bedding into the new container? Is it even safe for the nymphs to be seperated from their mother right after birth? Even if they are going to be for food I don't want them to be mistreated if that makes any sense. Depending on the possibility/functionality of this system I would get a male. Not any time soon but one day. I've been in love with Madagascar Hissing Roaches since I was a small child and I saw them at an educational insect fair and I've been doing research on having them as pets for a long time. I have many more questions but this is my biggest concern. please note that I have not purchased any hissers yet, I want everything set up and all questions answered before I do. I want to make sure I'm as prepared as possible to give these lovely creatures the best life possible.