# hissers



## poison (Aug 20, 2012)

any of you guys know how to breed hissing roaches? i picked up a male and 2 females but im going to get some more adults. and i got very little info on it.


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## Tom (Aug 20, 2012)

I've got a colony that I started from three imports in 1992.

Put them in a small opaque tub. Cut out a section or two from the lid or sides with a razor knife and instal some aluminum window screening with hot glue. Put in some egg flats with cardboard dividers. Run some vasesline in a two inch band around the top. Put the tub somewhere warm, like on top of a reptile cage. Put in a few pieces of dog or cat kibble and small amounts of produce or leftover food. Always keep something fresh and "wet" in there for water. Carrots, oranges, potato, apple, grapes, etc...

In a about a year or so, you will be able to drop a whole apple in there and watch it disappear before your eyes. They start very slowly and mature slowly, so be patient.


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## poison (Aug 20, 2012)

Tom said:


> I've got a colony that I started from three imports in 1992.
> 
> Put them in a small opaque tub. Cut out a section or two from the lid or sides with a razor knife and instal some aluminum window screening with hot glue. Put in some egg flats with cardboard dividers. Run some vasesline in a two inch band around the top. Put the tub somewhere warm, like on top of a reptile cage. Put in a few pieces of dog or cat kibble and small amounts of produce or leftover food. Always keep something fresh and "wet" in there for water. Carrots, oranges, potato, apple, grapes, etc...
> 
> In a about a year or so, you will be able to drop a whole apple in there and watch it disappear before your eyes. They start very slowly and mature slowly, so be patient.



cool thanks for the info from what other people are telling me these guys breed very slow do you find that tru? and if so should i switch to dubia?


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## Jacqui (Aug 20, 2012)

Tom said:


> In a about a year or so, you will be able to drop a whole apple in there and watch it disappear before your eyes. T



Now that would be neat to see.


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## Tom (Aug 20, 2012)

If you are breeding them for food, then yes. Dubia will reproduce much faster. Hissers are one of the slowest reproducers, but they do live a long time. When you get into dubia and some of the other very tropical roaches, temps become much more important. They need to be kept 80-85 all the time.

If a colony of feeders is what you are after, then I'd go with dubia, Blaberus discoidalis, or Eublaberus posticus. I also had pretty good luck with Blaberus fusca, but they get pretty big. Overall, I'd say the dubia is the best and easiest feeder roach. What are you feeding though? Might be nice to have more than one species. For feeder colonies I like to use an 18 or 40 gallon size tub.


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## poison (Aug 20, 2012)

Tom said:


> If you are breeding them for food, then yes. Dubia will reproduce much faster. Hissers are one of the slowest reproducers, but they do live a long time. When you get into dubia and some of the other very tropical roaches, temps become much more important. They need to be kept 80-85 all the time.
> 
> If a colony of feeders is what you are after, then I'd go with dubia, Blaberus discoidalis, or Eublaberus posticus. I also had pretty good luck with Blaberus fusca, but they get pretty big. Overall, I'd say the dubia is the best and easiest feeder roach. What are you feeding though? Might be nice to have more than one species. For feeder colonies I like to use an 18 or 40 gallon size tub.



ok ill just pic up some dubias today. and im feeding very very very very fat frogs lol. and who knows when ill be getting any more reptiles so its nice to have a colony all ready to go. i mite be picking up a cham soon


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## poison (Aug 20, 2012)

ok i just ordered 50 dubia for $14


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## poison (Aug 21, 2012)

i just saw the male and females hooked up but i lifted up the food bowl and they fell off and separated hopefully it didnt ruin any thing


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## Momof4 (Aug 21, 2012)

I loved the Dubai roaches I raised. So easy. No smell & breed quickly. 

Before I had 1000's.
http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll4/1happymommy/roaches/


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## poison (Sep 19, 2012)

female just laid some babies


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## Tom (Sep 19, 2012)

Cool! Do you normally have hiding areas in there for them?

In about 9-12 months those babies will start making their own babies. In about 4-6 weeks, that female will give you another litter. Its when you hit generation three that things just explode.

You started with three. Each female will give you about 20 babies a month. Say half are female. When those hit maturity you'll get 20 from each of them for a total of 200 a month. Say half are female. That will be 100 females producing 20 babies every month, for a total of 2000 babies every month, but just from THAT generation. Don't forget that the generation that came a month after this one will also be producing 2000 a month. So three months into your third generation you will have 6000 from group one, 4000 from group two, plus 2000 from group three. And don't forget that generation two is still producing a couple hundred a month, and generation one is still going too... The numbers can be staggering. I find it fun to try and compute it all mentally. Dubia colonies are much faster than this. I've gone from 100 juvenile dubia to literally thousands in the space of six months. At one time I had four 40 gallon tubs that were heavy with the weigh of the roaches. The bottoms would sag under their weight.

Once things get up and running you can feed off most of your males and leave the females behind for breeding. I would have 18 gallon tubs with 6 egg flats just FULL of males. I couldn't feed them out fast enough.

Hee hee... fun stuff.


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## poison (Sep 19, 2012)

yeah i have egg flats and toilet paper rolls in there for them. 

i actually counted over 50 and thats from 1 female is that normal? 
and is all what you said about dubias or hissers or for both? 

and if i start getting things going i think craigs list will be a great option to make some quick bucks off feeders. do you sell yours?


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