g. oblongonota growth rate and care?

S

SteveB

Third Instar
hey folks! got some wide horn hissers coming next week. anyone have experience with them? is their care similar to other hissers? I've done searches and there isn't any specific care sheets for them that i can find. even the breeder wasn't sure. from what info. i found, the general hisser growth rate to adulthood was between 3-5 mo.? i would think if these are the biggest of the hisser species they would take longer to mature? thanks for any info.!

 
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I've only kept wide horns about a month, but they definitely seem to prefer drier conditions than other hissers. They seem to grow at the same speed as other hissers, possibly a bit faster. I feed mine mostly apples, carrots, and fish flakes.

 
thanks! i made a ground mix of oatmeal, powdered milk and some fish pellets. my dubia seem to like it so far. hopefully it works w/ the a. tesselata and the wide horns. I've read a generalized hisser growth rate to adulthood is between 3-5mo. to maturity. how big have yours grown in a month?

 
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These guys are obligate wood eaters. The only food mine eat regularly are raw, woody vegetables. Parsnips, carrots, winter squash and sweet potato. I would avoid grains and never feed milk and fish food.

 
i have crumbled dead leaves and some rotten wood as sub. is it ok to feed the fish food mix to my other roaches? the dubia have been eating it well. gave some mashed sweet potatoes left over from thanksgiving and they cleaned the plate!

 
You're on the right path with the wood and leaves, just make sure they are free of contaminants before you use them. I never use any processed feed with any of my roaches. Dubia in particular just don't need the fish food in their diet. I have outlined in another post why using cat, dog and fish food is not good, not necessary and counterproductive especially if you are trying to raise the most nutritious feeders for your reptiles and arachnids. There are two factors to consider when choosing feed for roaches, or any other organism for that matter. One is nutritional factors verses anti-nutritional factors in each ingredient. Simply put, the good verses the bad and how those factors impact your roaches in the short and long term. The second is the nutritional needs of your roaches. Roaches have, to put it in common terms, symbiotic bacteria in their gut that scavenge nitrogen from the urea in their system. Roaches are protein synthesizing machines that do not need purine proteins in their diet.

 
i didn't put much fish flakes in the chow. like 10%. rest is oatmeal , wheat bran and a pinch of dried fat free milk just for the calcium. ;) the leaves / wood came from a hardwood ridge. theres no farms nearby so no chemicals.

 
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That sounds about perfect. My biggest problem with most commercial feed is the hidden preservatives, but if you use a high quality fish flake you will be golden. Using the dried milk and fish flakes as supplements is the way to go.

 
thanks again for the advice! they're eating the chow good but really pounding the dried raisins/ cranberry and sweet potatoes! that sounds about right for what I've read about them. you guys get any snow? wicked warm up here this year!

lakes aren't even starting to lock up yet.

 
Sorry for the late response...it has been very mild here as well. I saw some garter snakes sunning the other day, it was 65 and sunny. Go figure.

It's interesting you bring up dried fruit. I get my a lot of my fruits, vegetables, rolled oats and barley at a Mennonite store nearby. The last time I was in there, I found organic dried figs and tried them with several species. They were eaten with gusto and because they are dried, the chance of mold is eliminated. Great supplemental food.

It definitely sounds like you have the diet dialed in perfectly.

 
yeah, i got some organic mixed dried fruits from the local shop n' save and been feeding it to them. no issues w / mold . i can leave it till' its eaten so i can offer fruits all the time with no waste. they love the variety! plus i offer a water dish also. ;)

 
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Don't forget other fruits and veggies like bananas, apples, carrots, mango, romaine lettuce, and watermelon they love those!

 
Make sure you do not put them in with any other hissers since they will interbreed with other Gromphadorhina and "princisia".

I don't think there are any specific care sheets for this species since it is no different from normal hissers, you'd find bigger differences between keepers and cages.

 
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