Thought I'd share a recent adventure. I love animals - not just the cute, furry ones, but the vicious, spiky ones too!
My most recent pet adventure involved a batch of Madagascan Hissing Roaches. I bought them off ebay. They grow to about 2-3 inches long and they blow air through little spiracles (tubes) in their bodies when they are distressed - hence the "hissing".
I put my new family members in the viv with my baby stick insects (I'll fill you in on their adventures another time). Unfortunately, I had not realised that a couple of the females were heavily pregnant.
Hissers develop their eggs internally, eventually dropping lots of little babies in one go. On the first night in their new home, the ladies dropped theirs.
I got the hissers before Christmas. I am still finding little cockroaches all over my house, as the viv was not set up for holding in baby roaches!
Most of the family have been relocated to the invertebrate section of the animal unit where I teach. I have the remaining escapees in a different viv now!
You wouldn't believe where the little blighters have been!
- my shoes
- my bed
- wandering across the bedroom ceiling (the viv is in my bedroom)
- bunking with my chinchillas
- woke with one in my hair once too!
They are fascinating little creatures, but boy, do they smell. Their viv has this really sickly sweet smell - not pleasant. I'll look after the babies I have, then they're off to join the rest of the family at work!!!
My most recent pet adventure involved a batch of Madagascan Hissing Roaches. I bought them off ebay. They grow to about 2-3 inches long and they blow air through little spiracles (tubes) in their bodies when they are distressed - hence the "hissing".
I put my new family members in the viv with my baby stick insects (I'll fill you in on their adventures another time). Unfortunately, I had not realised that a couple of the females were heavily pregnant.
Hissers develop their eggs internally, eventually dropping lots of little babies in one go. On the first night in their new home, the ladies dropped theirs.
I got the hissers before Christmas. I am still finding little cockroaches all over my house, as the viv was not set up for holding in baby roaches!
Most of the family have been relocated to the invertebrate section of the animal unit where I teach. I have the remaining escapees in a different viv now!
You wouldn't believe where the little blighters have been!
- my shoes
- my bed
- wandering across the bedroom ceiling (the viv is in my bedroom)
- bunking with my chinchillas
- woke with one in my hair once too!
They are fascinating little creatures, but boy, do they smell. Their viv has this really sickly sweet smell - not pleasant. I'll look after the babies I have, then they're off to join the rest of the family at work!!!
