strange frass

T

Twilightroach

Second Instar
Ok, so this may be a bit of a weird topic/question, but I noticed some strange things in my madagascar hissing cockroach frass. Several of the feces in my hissers cage have these strange opaque ovalish shaped things in them. They look like tiny eggs. They don't look like they belong in the feces, and I am not feeding the roaches anything that I think would turn out to look like this.. To me, they look like parasite eggs, or at least that is what they make me think of. What are their feces supposed to look like? The things in question are in several of the frass pellets in varying degrees, like some have a few, others seem to be nothing but these odd shaped things. Is this normal? or might there be something wrong with my hissers? They are on a normal diet of apple, potato, dog food, and fish pellets. Nothing out of the ordinary.

They all seem to be healthy too so maybe this is just normal? maybe they don't process food well for some reason? I am probably worrying over nothing but they seem strange to me.

Any help would be appreciated!

 
Hisser turds generally look like mouse poop, it may almost look slightly ovalish, but it seams like your describing something different pics would help.

 
Hmm, that sounds strange, not quite sure what those are. There aren't many internal parasites that would infect your hisser, and those types of things tend to kill and eat their hosts from the inside out, not just reproduce in them and lay eggs that end up in their poop like tapeworms. Pictures of the frass would be helpful.

 
Yeah, it is strange. But here is a picture of their frass. The circled section is the most clear and you can see the oval things I was talking about.

DSCN4044 hisser frass.jpg

 
Twilightroach said:
Yeah, it is strange. But here is a picture of their frass. The circled section is the most clear and you can see the oval things I was talking about.
Click to expand...
Wow... That is VERY strange, I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. They are too small to be hisser eggs that the females could be aborting, I really don't know what those round objects are. @Cariblatta lutea @CodeWilster have either of you seen something like this?

 
Hisserdude said:
Wow... That is VERY strange, I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. They are too small to be hisser eggs that the females could be aborting, I really don't know what those round objects are. @Cariblatta lutea @CodeWilster have either of you seen something like this?
Click to expand...
Hmm I can't say I have though I haven't been sifting through their poop lately! They look like they're full of air? I bet it's something in the dog food that is just passing through the digestive tract abnormally. What type of dog food kibble do you feed?

 
The dog food I have been feeding them is made of duck and potato.

Do you think they could be some kind of mold or fungi things? I looked at some on the bottom of their cage, and it appears that the little white things are popping? or opening? and then around some of them there is this very thin white fuzzy stuff, almost like it exploded? Or maybe they are tiny parasitic worms? and I can see the remains of an empty shell but the contents are gone. Very very strange I must say. But I am worried for my hissers especially if it is a worm. Or they could be air bubbles which are popping and becoming moldy?

Here is a different site that appears to have the same problem mine do, at least I think, although no resolution was found.. but at least I am not the only one with this weird thing.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/madagascar-hissing-cockroach-poop.281337/

 
What happens if you crush it? What sort of consistency do you get?

Is there a water source available for your roaches? Maybe add some water crystals.

 
toadstar said:
What happens if you crush it? What sort of consistency do you get?

Is there a water source available for your roaches? Maybe add some water crystals.
Click to expand...
When I crush the little round things its like you are popping an egg. Also when I squished one, clear liquid came out, (I used a dissecting microscope to see this since they are so small). Also to me, it seems the larger round things dry out and open, and then inside is another small oval thing like an egg? I observed this under the microscope. So it is a mystery as to what these things are, or if they are harmful or not at all. But there doesn't appear to be anything living in the 'eggs' if that is what they are.

Its just kinda freaky, I know they aren't normal. But looking on the internet I haven't found any answers. I did get some pictures with my dissecting microscope camera at 10x if you want to see them.

Water crystals added.

 
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