Female madagascar hisser laying eggs?

T

Twilightroach

Second Instar
Hello, so I have a female Madagascar hissing cockroach that has laid a bunch of eggs that is about 1 inch long. I know it is not a true ootheca since Madagascar hissers don't lay ootheca on the outside but have the nymphs hatch inside. But this is the second time I have seen a bunch of whitish tan eggs stuck in a bunch together. What is wrong with my female? why is she laying the eggs outside and not having them hatch inside? Will the eggs hatch even though they are outside? is there something wrong with my female?

 
Twilightroach said:
Hello, so I have a female Madagascar hissing cockroach that has laid a bunch of eggs that is about 1 inch long. I know it is not a true ootheca since Madagascar hissers don't lay ootheca on the outside but have the nymphs hatch inside. But this is the second time I have seen a bunch of whitish tan eggs stuck in a bunch together. What is wrong with my female? why is she laying the eggs outside and not having them hatch inside? Will the eggs hatch even though they are outside? is there something wrong with my female?
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Sounds like she's aborting the eggs, has she been with a male?

 
Why would she abort the eggs? yes she has always been with males. There are a total of 7 Madagascar hissers in the cage. Would removing her to a separate container help?  Is there anything I can do for the eggs? Can I incubate them? or are they not viable?

 
Twilightroach said:
Why would she abort the eggs? yes she has always been with males. There are a total of 7 Madagascar hissers in the cage. Would removing her to a separate container help?  Is there anything I can do for the eggs? Can I incubate them? or are they not viable?
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The only things that I've heard cause them to do this are stress and/or low temps. How large is your cage? Hissers are one of the least crowding-sensitive roaches out there, so as long as their cage isn't TINY and/or without hides, I wouldn't really think stress is causing it. However, if you're keeping them pretty warm (at least the mid 70s), I would isolate her and see if that helps. :)  

They are likely goners; hatching aborted eggs seems to be incredibly difficult as they are supposedly very prone to bacterial/fungal infections. :(  

 
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Ya, what are the temps of your cage and are they steady temps? Temps could be hi which allows her to mate but if the temps drop she may abort it. Out of the 7 roaches what is the male to female ratio there should only be one or males for the females, if there's more males then take them out 

 
If she actually dropped the ooth on the ground, then there's no saving the eggs, just throw them out before they start rotting, otherwise they'll stink up the cage REAL bad! She could be aborting them because of low temps, little to no fruit in her diet, (though there is a bit of a debate going on as to whether fruit is really needed for reproduction in live bearers), or stress. 

 
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Hisserdude said:
If she actually dropped the ooth on the ground, then there's no saving the eggs, just throw them out before they start rotting, otherwise they'll stink up the cage REAL bad! She could be aborting them because of low temps, little to no fruit in her diet, (though there is a bit of a debate going on as to whether fruit is really needed for reproduction in live bearers), or stress. 
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I've bred javen hissers so far with out fruit, and I know Orin says that  B. giganteus needs fruit, rotting wood and leaves to breed, but I breed them fairly successfully with only leaves and carrots ( I bet they don't even need leaves in order to breed) I'm kind of wondering why Orin stated that, I bet it makes them breed faster but they don't need any of it to breed. It's strange that so many keepers find it difficult to breed them. All they need is a spacious enclosure and hi humidity and mine enjoy basking under a heat lamp 

 
Redmont said:
Ya, what are the temps of your cage and are they steady temps? Temps could be hi which allows her to mate but if the temps drop she may abort it. Out of the 7 roaches what is the male to female ratio there should only be one or males for the females, if there's more males then take them out 
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They are living in a 5 gallon class cage. So they have plenty of space with egg cartons for hiding places. I got them as nymphs and they have been growing up together, but it looks like I have 3 females and 4 males. Lots of males... perhaps that is the problem?

Or it could have been a temperature drop, since it has recently gotten colder where I live. They have had pretty steady 70s temperatures for the most part. In the summer there was no need for a heater since the room has been mid to high 70s. I can try turning on their heater to see if that helps.

 
Twilightroach said:
They are living in a 5 gallon class cage. So they have plenty of space with egg cartons for hiding places. I got them as nymphs and they have been growing up together, but it looks like I have 3 females and 4 males. Lots of males... perhaps that is the problem?

Or it could have been a temperature drop, since it has recently gotten colder where I live. They have had pretty steady 70s temperatures for the most part. In the summer there was no need for a heater since the room has been mid to high 70s. I can try turning on their heater to see if that helps.
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The temp drop and the extra male combined could have led to her aborting the ooth. I'd suggest removing 3 of the males to a  separate cage. and only add a male to the cage if a male dies.

 
Redmont said:
The temp drop and the extra male combined could have led to her aborting the ooth. I'd suggest removing 3 of the males to a  separate cage. and only add a male to the cage if a male dies.
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Ok so I did what you suggested, removed the 3 extra males, and gave the cage heat. But last night I found another aborted egg case. And this time, there was a single baby madagascar hisser that hatched out of it. But the little guy has messed up legs. :( I also could tell that a few of the other eggs were about to hatch.

Why did a single nymph hatch out? And any suggestions as to why she is still aborting her eggs? Also why aren't any of the other females having babies? Does only the most dominant female have eggs?

 
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One nymph is a plus, I'd give them time and feed fruits and veggies and try not to disturb them to much, that's all I can think of, maybe @Hisserdude can help

 
I'm honestly not sure why your females keep aborting, they have plenty of fruits in their diet right? 

 
Hisserdude said:
I'm honestly not sure why your females keep aborting, they have plenty of fruits in their diet right? 
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Yes, I feed them apple, carrots, and potato. So they get plenty of fruits. I even feed them orange on occasion. Maybe the next ootheca she carries will be good. Hoping!

 
Twilightroach said:
Yes, I feed them apple, carrots, and potato. So they get plenty of fruits. I even feed them orange on occasion. Maybe the next ootheca she carries will be good. Hoping!
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Hmm, what weird, all of their conditions sound optimal for good reproduction, I really don't know why they are aborting ooths still. :( Hope they start producing more nymphs soon!

 
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