Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If anyone in here is getting good at raising madagascar hissing roaches, I have a few questions. I first got 1 male and 4 females but when it was taking forever to do anything, I went and got 2 more males and 5 more females. Then the first male died. So anyways, now I have 2 males and 9 females. But it's still taking a while to get babies. I mean, I am getting babies, but I end up feeding all the small babies to my small chameleons and every time I get a decent sized one, I decide to let him grow up and breed. So what I need to know is, how many adults do I need to get about 3 to 5 a day average and around 1 inch long? What's a good male to female ratio? I don't really have patience or time to wait and let the colony get going. I'll just go get more adults. Does anyone know how often they will have babies and how many is an average litter? I'm about to go get more and there's a place near my house with some for $1.50 each for adults-not too bad. I've got these all in a 10 or 12 gallon bin with pine shavings, about 5 cardboard rolls and some small pieces of egg crate all with a small heat mat under half of the bin. I can get a bigger bin if I need to. Thanks in advance!
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
1.2 Nosy Be Panthers
2.2 Sambava Panthers
1.0 Tamatave Panther
1.0 Nosy Be X Unknown Cross
1.1 Veiled Chameleons
0.0.2 CBB Desert Tortoises
0.0.1 Sulcatta Tortoise

I am no expert but I beleive average is about 30 babies. I have found the warmer you keep em the more babies (min about 8o max about 90) and in my experience a little calcium powder dusted on their food seems to help. I think it may keep from eating new babies. Also the more crowded they are the more they seem to produce. When I had them really going I had about 500 in a rubbermaid about the size of a 30 gal. As far as sex ratio I never really kept track , I tried to feed off mostly males. I would GUESS I was usually around 1.6. Good luck. Craig Kade

At this point you have plenty of males I think you just need to add more females. I personally do not like the hiisers. The older they get the harder their shell becomes. I found after offering several different types of roaches my animals they preferred all the other species (lobsters, orange heads, orange spots, discoids) much more than the hissers. Lobsters are probably one of the fastest breeding roaches around and the cheapest, but like hissers they can climb. The orange heads, orange spots, discoids, death heads, 6-spots are all non-climbers and very easy to keep. The do breed a little slower than the climbers, but in the long run are much easier to manage. Most roach females have between 20-30 babies. The hotter you keep them the faster they breed and grow. Keeping plenty of good food with protien, calcium, and other good stuff will keep your roaches fat and happy, and will then pass their nutrients on to your reptiles.
James

So you think 2 males is enough to keep more than 9 females going? How many more females could I get that would be breeding with only 2 males? How old are they when they can begin breeding? I don't particularly want to get swamped with roaches, because personally I don't like them, but my chameleons do, so I'm in it for them. I still won't touch the things lol. I have nightmares of them getting loose. There's too much going on under that shell that I can't see. I just need a pretty decent supply like 5 a day of 1 inchers. If I get too many I would feed off babies to my smaller chameleons. They'll each eat 10 straight. I don't want a bin full of roaches. Maybe I'll just go pick up like 10 more females and maybe 2 or 3 males.... Would that work or is that too many males? Thanks for the responses.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
1.2 Nosy Be Panthers
2.2 Sambava Panthers
1.0 Tamatave Panther
1.0 Nosy Be X Unknown Cross
1.1 Veiled Chameleons
0.0.2 CBB Desert Tortoises
0.0.1 Sulcatta Tortoise

I am not sure of how large your herp collection is, but for what you want to do, have a constant supply of appropriate sized roaches at all times to feed to your reptiles, Madagascan Hissers is probably one of the worst candidates. Granted, they reach the largest of all the roaches available to hobbyists like ourselves, but it can take an individual four to five months to mature into a breeding adult. Not to mention, females will not throw out as many babies as some of the other, more prolific species. I personally like the lobsters, and discoids. The lobsters are hands down, the fastest procreating things I've ever seen!! I started about a month or so ago, with about 500 mixed sizes; nymphs and adults, and now I have got to have at least 2000 ranging in different sizes. Pretty soon, when the colony gets a bit larger, I can start feeding out whenever I need to, without worrying about depleting my breeding stock. You have to work out a system, as for how many you hold back to raise into breeders, and how many you are allowed to feed out. Best of luck with your roaches, but like I said, you would be better off with lobsters. Take care,

bob mendyk