Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today in Psychology we discussed different types of learning, including Classical Conditioning. That reminded me of something that has been happening with one of my hissers lately (Hamlet). I mist the tank several times a day so it stays humid and they can get water. When I would mist and Hamlet was out of the small house I have in the tank, he would hear/sense the noise and hide (out of fear). But lately when I mist, especially at night, he has become less fearfull of the mister and even appears to want to come out (like he has learned that mister noise = water). I talked to the Zoology teacher at my school about it later, and he said pretty much all animals with nervous systems can exibit Classical Conditoning. I wanted to do somesort of experiment with it, and he suggested I use different types of roaches and see which species learns faster. I've been wanted to get a female hisser anyway, and I'm pretty sure I have a fairly sizable population of wood roaches in the garage. I figure that when I get my female hisser (I'll need a separate tank for her anyway) I could also catch a wood roach and try to see if one of the science teachers will lend me a tank for it. Then I'll keep notebooks near each cage and record the time/date when I mist and the roach's reactions. Though I do need to know what I could do with the data, as well as info on wood roaches (such as how long they live). And also, after the experiment is over, would it be safe to let the wood roach go? Any thoughts/comments/ideas?

CORRECTION: The ones that live wild in the garage probably aren't wood roaches. I'll try to take a picture of one and see if anyone can identify the species.

Great project idea! I'm impressed by your curiosity, and I like the way you're approaching the experiment.

A couple of things to consider though would be how consistent your misting is. Even with the nozzle staying in position, the strength and fineness of the mist can change according to how hard you press on the handle. The difference might not seem like much, but it will cause variables in water dispersal throughout the cage which will determine how quickly the roaches detect the water.

Another thing to think about is that your roaches may just be coming out because they can sense the water vapor and are comfortable enough with their surroundings to come out for the water. A roach that has just been introduced to a new cage is going to be more skittish and probably more interested in a good hiding spot than in water.

If your question has to do with learned behavior, you may want to try something that'll be easier to control, such as whether or not they can associate sounds with food rather than water. I also think using different ages and sexes of hissers will provide you with enough on your plate, so you may want to concentrate on just the one species. But it would be interesting to see how the other roaches do in comparison.

Good luck!
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chickabowwow

I keep B. Giganteus and they are inactive until I mist the tank once a day at night, thats also when I feed them so they learn a misting = food and all quickly come out of hiding to search for the food.