Madagascar Hissers

[demon amphibians]

oranges may also help speed up breeding. a dark private environment is also very important. good luck!

[Jerah Teoh Yong Qiang]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Also, just curious but are they inactive animals sorta like scorpions and frogs or are they more like dubias and blata latteris, more scuttle about? Mine seem very content to just hide the whole day and not come out even to feed. It's actually rather... disappointing? for lack of a better term

[JeffreH]

I use a 5-gallon aquarium to keep a small group of Malagasy and Javan Hissing roaches in our lab. It seems that they are almost always hiding during the day around their wood structures. I think this reclusive behavior is the result of two things: 1) they are primarily nocturnal and 2) the glass does not offer enough privacy for the roaches to feel comfortable moving about within the well-lit, open environment. They certainly do not have the same amount of energy as Blatta lateralis, however.

Its more exciting as the colony proliferates. As my colony at work grows, new nymphs become adults, and new broods are created, there gets to be more and more activity and interesting opportunities for observation. If you really want a colony at maximum production, you'll want to use a dark, opaque bin (or at least cover all of the sides of the aquarium). But if you don't mind slightly lower reproduction so that you can keep a nice display enclosure, what you have should be fine.

[Jerah Teoh Yong Qiang]

I so wish Malaysia had more herp enthusiasts. It's difficult to find the more exotic stuff around here. Malagasy and Javan roaches, omg, I'd murder to get my hands on them!