tina g Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Hi All! I was wondering if anyone could help me. I recently took over the care of some hissers. I am hoping to breed them. I currently have 3 females and one male. They are used for teaching. I have them in a 15 gallon glass fish tank with vaseline on the top 3" and a wire-mesh top. I have 2-20W red lights on the cage. It is about 26C in the cage. There is no substrate on the floor. I am feeding beneful dog food and supplementing with veggies. I have a dish with a sponge for water. Since I have taken over I have had one litter but they were all dead. I am hoping to breed regular litters for feeding reptiles. Any suggestions on what I may do to try to improve the breeding? Is my colony to small? Do I need better living quarters? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!! Tina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpet Roaches Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Hi Tina, It's really strange for all the babies to die unless it is extremely dry in the cage but your set-up sounds like it could kill small nymphs easily. The 20-watt bulbs are unnecessary and may dry out the cage too much with no substrate. I would recommend using normal colored bulbs or none, 1" of potting soil as substrate, a water dish filled with gravel or sponge in one corner and a food dish in the other corner (or under the lights to keep the food dry and prevent mold). A larger colony would produce more babies more quickly but without adequate surroundings they'd die too. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina g Posted August 8, 2007 Author Share Posted August 8, 2007 Thanks Orin! I will give it a shot. Got nothing to lose really by trying it. Tina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 i bought a doz adult hissers an put them a large sterlite storage box.used 1-2in of peatmoss fed them oatmeal an bran mixed.there were kept in a back room at room temp.about 2 months i had 100-200 babies.also the only water supply was water crystals an greens from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina g Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 i bought a doz adult hissers an put them a large sterlite storage box.used 1-2in of peatmoss fed them oatmeal an bran mixed.there were kept in a back room at room temp.about 2 months i had 100-200 babies.also the only water supply was water crystals an greens from time to time. I only have three roaches left right now. I have a feeling they are older. I do need to get a few more though. I think that would help. Any suggestions on heating? With my red lights the temp is only at 74-76 F. I am on a limited budget (aren't we all)! I have about a 1-2 inch layer of topsoil with leaf humus in the bottom. I periodically (1-2x per week) mist it to try to keep the humidity up. I put a tomato in their last Thursday and it took all weekend to dry it out. I also have a half of a regular sized sponge in there that I keep wet for moisture and water. I think I need to get them the crystals though. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 i don't mist or use a heating device.room temp does well enough for me seems like water crystals handle the humity well enough.you can use the crystals from a home an garden center.heck of alot cheaper than ordering from a dealer.as of right now i have a new cluch of babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina g Posted September 24, 2007 Author Share Posted September 24, 2007 HI everyone!!!! Thought you would all be happy to know that I had a clutch of little hissers. So far they are doing great. They are about 2 weeks old. How long does it take for them to reach full grown? I can't remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Hissers produce alot of offspring fast, I would get an even bigger tank, like a 20 or 30 gallon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpet Roaches Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 HI everyone!!!! Thought you would all be happy to know that I had a clutch of little hissers. So far they are doing great. They are about 2 weeks old. How long does it take for them to reach full grown? I can't remember. Congratulations! They take about six months to reach adulthood. They can mature more quickly with high temperatures and quality food and more slowly with lower temperatures and/or deficient food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyc123 Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 I know this forum is pretty old, but the mention of the wire mesh made me remember to let all of you guys know, I just found a great new source for this wire cloth material: http://www.bwire.com/ They have all of the fine stuff that we need for a really good price. Easy to deal with and they had my large quantity shipped to me within 24 hours. -J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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