HELP! I inadvertantly got a new pet!

Athen · #1 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 02:09 PM

ok so here is the low downabout a month or so ago i went to the pet store to get a roach to test on my CWD all they had were Madagasgar hissing roaches so i asked how big a small would be and the size sounded suitable to me so i asked for one and they bagged it up in a paper bag so i didnt get to see it and when i got home to feed it to my CWD i discovered it was more like a medium-large or a larger and was much too big for my CWD so the only lizard i had that was large enough to eat it was my blue spiny. me not being to grand of a knowledge base for roaches had no clue that madagasgar hissing roaches were very accomplished climbers... and my blue spiny tank had recently had an accident that involved a very very very large and lazy black cat and the screen top.... so needless to say there was an escape route so i put the roach in ther it wandered around a bit and i didnt think anything of it plus the blue spiny seemed quite interested in it so i went on about my standard task and when i looked in the tank later the roach was gone and i had assumed that the lizard had eaten it... boy was i wrong! so sunday night my friends my pregnant fiance and myself were going through and rearranging our house to the extent of moving everything outside cleaning and then moving it all back in in a upgraded and better fashion well there was a dresser type end table that we decided to change the useage for which required the removal of the drawers so my fiance was cleaning them out when all of a sudden i heard a shriek and stuff getting thrown and her screaming OMG THERE IS A HUGE BEATLE IN THERE!!! ( she isnt all that fond of insects) so i decided id give it a look fully expecting to se like a potato bug or something huge and ugly like one.. and low and behold there in the bottom of the drawer was a cockroach that i quickly descerned to be of the madagasgar hissing type so i scooped it up and put it in a critter keeper now i need to know since it is now much too big for any of my herps to eat what do i feed it? how do i get it water? can i give it the gel cricket food that gives both food and water? what kind of environment does it live in? does it need heat? moisture? please any and all help is much appreciated

froggsong · #2 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 02:22 PM

ROFLMAOTICS.... THAT, my friend, is hilarious!

First, check the roach area or whatever, I think there is some info on how to care for them. You might email an online supplier for the care as well. Second, if you DON'T want to keep it, take it back to the store, I'm sure they wouldn't mind adding it back in to their stock.

BTW, congrats on post 200!

Athen · #3 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 02:29 PM

yeah i figured yall would get a kick out of it i my self thought it to be quite funny i did look in the roach area and scanned all 10 threads and didnt find all that much as far as the keeping of roaches and i decided to post this in the general terrarium section because id actually get anwers to it there lol. but i do intend to keep it because after all it apparently has an incredible will to survive lol and i honestly think the madagasgars are a pretty kool bug

JohnEDove · #4 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 02:59 PM

LOL, They eat fish food quite well, give carrot shavings also which they LOVE!!
To prevent them from climbing out smear a thin strip of vasoline around the top of the enclosure about one inch wide.
My wife made me move my hisser colonies out to the reptile building and made me stop feeding them to the tarantulas because they would escape the Tarantula enclosures.

Is yours a male or female?

Athen · #5 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnEDove

Is yours a male or female?

i honestly dont even know how to tell all i know is that it is a madagasgar hissing roach lol i never intended to keep one as a "pet" i only intended for it to be lunch but im keeping it now lol as far as the food and stuff that sounds good ill try fish food and carrots how about water? do they need humidity or temp? sorry for all the questions lol but i know virtually nothing about cockroaches lol

JohnEDove · #6 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 03:17 PM

They can get most of their water from the carrot but I also add, how to explain this..
You know the old type rodent waterers that were like a test tube turned upside down with a rubber stopper and glass tube for the rodents to drink from?
Get one of those, remove the rubber stopper and glass tube, fill the test tube with water and plug it with a cotton ball. Lay that in the enclosure and the roach will drink from the cotton when needed.

Oh males have distinctively raised bumps on their heads (horns) females don't.

Athen · #7 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 03:27 PM

ok ill look for that when i get home ( im at work LOL) to see if it a male or female and ill see if i can find the little test tube thing you were talking about

Jason · #8 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 06:19 PM

Hes talking about a hampster or rabbit water bottles ment to clamp to the side of wire cages.

froggsong · #9 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 06:41 PM

Would a sponge (Like the ones meant for fish tank filters) in a small bowl work too? I use something like that in my crickets cage, and my crickets are doing even better than they were before (very few losses). It would work basically the same way as the cotton, except the roach would have to crawl into the dish.

JohnEDove · #10 (**permalink**) 07-29-2008, 09:32 PM

I tried using the sponge in a bowl and cotton balls in a bowl but the hissers dirtied it up right away. Of course it might depend on the substrate. I use a mix of peat moss, coconut fiber and dirt. I also keep it moist for humidity and to allow for easier molting. The baby hissers love to burrow down in it also.
It was friend who uses the tube method for crix that gave me the idea to try it with hissers. At first I could not believe my monsters could even get in the tube but they do it just fine.