(Gromphadorhina portentosa)

By

Rea Blossom

There’s a lot of information about the ‘hissing cockroach’ out on the web. A simple search on Google for ‘hissing cockroach’ turns up more site’s and pictures than I would have believed possible just a few years ago. I suppose that this growing fame has come about mainly as the result of the hissers appearing in movies and television shows. Even so, although Stars in the Bug Biz, no hissing cockroach has allowed his (or her) fame to swell their pride nor alter their easy-going and gentle approach to life. It’s true, even those that have been jewel encrusted, painted, and displayed on clothing as jewelry, remain humble and passively benign!

Here are a few of the hissers traits that make this insect a good, no, make that great, pet.

1. No biting! I’ve handled hundreds of thousands of hissers and only been bitten twice. Both times I was trying to force a ‘super male’, that’s a male that is 2 or 3 times the size of normal males, to drop what he was doing and do what I wanted him to do. I had it coming.
2. No wings. Wingless is a good thing when it comes to pet bugs. Especially when they are really huge bugs.
3. Hissers always impress friends and family. Everyone will notice the pet hisser perched on your shoulder. Reactions may vary wildly.
4. Although hissers are an ‘exotic species’, they are not too difficult to keep as pets. They do not need or want, large or costly accommodations. Instead, close and dark is much preferred to wide, spacious and well lit. The hissing cockroaches are not picky eaters and love some common stuff like carrots, oranges, cat or dog food and the like. We feed our colonies Topline’s Roach and Cricket Diet food that was developed expressly for hissing cockroaches.
5. Hissers will tolerate a wide range of temperatures. They need water more often than food.
6. Hissers can be handled and grow used to such contacts. Their use in classrooms as room pets or for showing to groups is greatly enhanced by their gentle acceptance of being touched and passed around from one person to another.
7. This list is getting a bit long, however, I just have to mention that the little critters have social structures and practices that are really interesting to observe.
8. Just one more thing, they hiss! They sometimes hiss as a group. They hiss when they are being bothered. They hiss during battle and courtship. Hissing can be loud or very soft, belligerent or gentle, defensive or aggressive, a warning or acknowledgement.

As pets your hissers are prone to be unobtrusive guests that require little maintenance, only a bit of attention, food, water, shelter and a moderately clean environment. The males want their own territory, something sweet and an occasional visit from the gal hisssers. Females want something with high protein content and nymphs want to have a safe haven where they won’t get stepped on.

There are various color morphs that occur within hisser colonies. Black, tan, gold, and reddish brown are the most common colors. Black hissers are fairly common in some colonies. White is not a morph but is the color of molting juvenile hissers and newly borne nymphs. Molting (shedding the outer skin / shell) is something that juvenile hissers must do to grow beyond the limits of their existing skin / shell. They accomplish this by swallowing air until the old shell splits, after that; the hisser must extricate itself from the old shell. When they emerge from the old shell, their new skin and shell is soft and white. Over the next few hours, the new shell darkens and hardens. Sorry, no white morph and nothing to be concerned about. A note here: It’s not a good idea to handle or stress a hisser that is molting or has just molted. They are exhausted by the process and can easily be bothered to death. Once they have reverted to their normal color, it will be just fine to handle them but not before.

To find out lots more about hissers and / or to get some for yourself, visit the Topline Whsle Dist Co. Hissing Cockroach website at:

http://www.topline-roaches.com

We’ll keep the light off for you!