varnon Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Hello all, I've been lurking for a good while, but haven't gotten around to introducing myself yet. I am a behaviorist/zoologist/comparative psychologist. I do some research in invertebrate learning and behavior, and I also use them sometimes for classroom demonstrations. My advisor traditionally used honey bees, but I have grown fond of roaches. You can actually handle them without getting stung (which kills the bee) and you can use them year round. They are just more fun than bees in pretty much everyday. Expect more on roach learning and behavior stuff later. I have 100 or so Gromphadorhina portentosa from Fluker's Farms (or at least G. portensosa-like hybrids). I lost count of how many Panchlora nivea I have (from Roach Crossing). They didn't do well at first, but once I figured out a good setup, the population exploded. I've also been catching brown-banded and american roaches at school. The brown banded roaches are already all over the place in my building, so I might as well have some in a container right? When it gets warm enough to ship I might get more species of hisser and some glowspot roaches. I'm finally posting because I have something interesting to share. Check out this roach. It is a gynandromorph hisser! The first few pictures are before molt, and the last few are after molt. I'm not sure what molt it is on, but I suspect it has a few left. Notice that after the recent molt the male side has developed a horn and a feathered antennae. Unfortunately the roach's genitals now hang out. Hopefully that won't lead to any complications. I'm not sure what to expect in terms of lifespan and future molts but I'll do my best to take care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varnon Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 And pictures from the current morph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Wow! That is pretty cool, I hope that it will have a normal lifespan! Nice pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierre72 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I also prefer roaches way over bees for their gentle nature as you do. I love all species whether indigenous or exotic. Their color varieties and wavy antennae are another factor. Sounds like you really care about them and I'm impressed. I hope they live long for you as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 And pictures from the current morph. Are you willing to sell one, I've been looking to buy one and pay whoever can ship it to me. I have a 20 gallon tank set up for my pet hissers (no breeding) so this one would fit in perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitKatie329 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I would love to see a picture of the underside if possible please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varnon Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 The gynandromorph is on its way to Keith. Sorry Katie, I meant to get a picture for you, but I forgot about it until the roach was all boxed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 The gynandromorph is on its way to Keith. Sorry Katie, I meant to get a picture for you, but I forgot about it until the roach was all boxed up. Thank you! I will be sure to get a photo of the underside once he/she gets settled in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I would love to see a picture of the underside if possible please. Here's a photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonsaladsandwich Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 What's that blue stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varnon Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Glad he/she made it to you okay Keith. Since it's genitals are sort of half and half, they don't tuck into the body and get pretty dirty. I never had any luck cleaning it, but I also only saw it once every few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 What's that blue stuff? Prolapse and perhaps debris stuck to it, poop possibly? It looks blue from the lighting it's really brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Its been a while, the hisser has been doing great, the gunk stuck in its anus fell off and its fat and healthy! The pic is blurry but this is him/her recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varnon Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 Thats awesome! The giant males I had from those batches of babies are starting to die off, its sad. They were so huge and now I've got so many that I can't fatten up a batch of babies like that! But all the females are all doing good. I wonder how long this boygirl will live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpet Roaches Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 You lucked out there Keith but of course you were on your game. I wish I had had a better camera when I had one but just some old 35mm prints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenevanica Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 God, how much I'd spend to get a dead specimen like that in my pinned collection... NICE find! I hope he/she/it lives a full life. Then we can talk about deadstock I wonder if that specimen is able to reproduce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Thats awesome! The giant males I had from those batches of babies are starting to die off, its sad. They were so huge and now I've got so many that I can't fatten up a batch of babies like that! But all the females are all doing good. I wonder how long this boygirl will live. I'm not sure but it's super healthy and chewed through my cork bark decor to make a nice hideout in the cage ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 God, how much I'd spend to get a dead specimen like that in my pinned collection... NICE find! I hope he/she/it lives a full life. Then we can talk about deadstock I wonder if that specimen is able to reproduce. The male side is slightly messed up, and female side is quite narrow. It doesn't try to mate with females and males don't try to mate with it. It kinda just coexists peacefully with them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toadstar Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 I've got one in my little hisser colony as well. I'll post some pictures of it soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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