African Mantis VS Madagascar Hissing Cockroach as pets

[sschind]

Where in Wisconsin are you located. I'm in Twin Lake in the SE corner of the state.

As far the the pet bugs go I think hissers are the best for a first choice. They are Large, handleable, easy to care for, and harmless. Pretty much everything you want in a pet bug. Mantids are very very cool but any adults or close to adults you get will likely only live a few months to MAYBE a year at the most. Millipedes are cool but they hide a lot and if you want to see them you usually have to dig them up. As far as the giant centipedes go I'd certainly not recommend it for a young child as they can be very aggressive and their bites can hurt like the dickens and sometime maybe worse.

If you want to spend a little more money and get something a little more exotic I would also recommend vinegaroons and tailless whip scorpions. though handling is a tiny bit more of an issue with them, especially the TL whips because they are so fast. If you've watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire you have seen a giant CGI version of the TL whip scorpion.

I do and insect show for schools and libraries and the kids love it as much as my reptile shows and to be honest I think I am more into the bugs than the reptiles myself.

I love your Avatar by the way. Quite possibly my favorite animal of all.

[LilyPad]

Thank you all so so much for the information. My daughter and I (and landlord) will definitely be discussing this all this week to try to find the best fit. I am concerned about the allergy, but would be willing to try it and see what happens. If she can handle a majority of the care herself, and I don't have to deal with much reacting, then it should be fine. I do not intend to carry it around myself. I had no idea there were so many different breeds though. I will show her the pictures tonight.

Steve, I am just north of Milwaukee, a little over an hour from twin lakes. Scorpions are not on the agenda. I cringe looking at the dead ones in her bug collection! There are certain invertebrates she will not be able to get until she's living on her own, centipedes, scorpions, and any type of spider all fall into that category.

Grey tree frogs really are awesome, and I think, quite underrated as far as tree frogs go.

[Strider18]

I would definetly go for the hissing cochroach as a pet for handling. No they won't take over the whole duplex, they need tropical temeratures to breed. And praying mantis' are definetly "look don't touch" kind of pets. I have kept praying mantis' before and they can be aggresive or calm, they are also very fast and delicate. In my opinion I would go for the cochroaches until your daughter gets older I hope this helps!

[LilyPad]

I think that's what we've decided on, although she's doing some reading on millipedes as pets now also. She had a zipper spider for a while about 2 summers ago (she was only 6 then) but I wouldn't let her bring it in the house so she let it go. So she is okay with a look but don't touch pet. Landlords are still not convinced on the hissers, will have to keep working on them. It took a while to get them okay with my tree frogs too.

[Strider18]

They need humid and tropical enviroments to reproduce unlike normal german cockroaches. I would show them this site Madagascar Hissing Roach Care and Breeding they can't even survive temps below 68 F and I know that it gets way colder than that in Wisconsin. Even if they miraculously reproduced they would most likely end up dieing very quickly. Their normal temp just has to be 85-95 F to reproduce. Anyways I hope this will help you!

[Lija]

Quite a daughter you have! If she wants a spider you should give it a try yourself, try to have it on your hand...... You know defeating your fears kinda thing Have been in the same shoes a bit over a year ago. Mine for her 8y bday wanted tarantula and i didnt exactly had a fear for them, but it wasnt something i would ever wanted to have in a house or near me. Long story short, she got her tarantula and i got mine a few month after lol.

[LilyPad]

Quite a daughter you have! If she wants a spider you should give it a try yourself, try to have it on your hand...... You know defeating your fears kinda thing Have been in the same shoes a bit over a year ago. Mine for her 8y bday wanted tarantula and i didnt exactly had a fear for them, but it wasnt something i would ever wanted to have in a house or near me. Long story short, she got her tarantula and i got mine a few month after lol.

I have an incredibly unreasonable fear, I think I'd either throw up or pass out haha. I have always tried to keep it in check around her so that I didn't pass my fear on to her, but bringing them in the house is more than crossing a line for me. She has carried around spiders and centipedes since she was about 2. She actually has boards laying around the yard and she goes and checks them to see how many milipedes, centipedes, stag beetles and woodlice has collected under them. After all these years, she's only been bitten once and said it didn't hurt "that bad." She is a pretty awesome kiddo. I was just going through her backpack the other night and found a research paper written about spiders! There is a mansion in Texas that recently converted an area to a bug museum, she has been begging me to take her there....a little far to see some bugs! LOL

Everyone told me that she'd "eventually" stop liking bugs and start being afraid. They were wrong! She loves all inverts! Unless it's an ant...

Still playing with the idea of a millipede and having discussions with the landlords.