Hello from Atlanta~

Tikimambo

Tikimambo

Ootheca
I guess the main thing to know about me is I'm a very new hisser keeper! It's been about a week since I've had them and I still haven't worked up the courage to handle them. I know this sounds silly to y'all but I actually have a bit of a fear of bugs. As a kid I was the bug QUEEN. Anytime I was outside I was collecting anything I could get my hands on. That included; ants, caterpillars,  praying mantises, and weaver spiders. I caught any and everything. Around 11 tho, I gravitated towards indoor activities like video games and such and before I knew it, I grew a bit of a fear of bugs. Anytime they touch me, I have a knee-jerk reaction and my heart races. I still have a deep respect for insects and refuse to kill any tho! I let house spiders easily coexist with me and will gladly share my area with insects. I've just lost my boldness in handling them, something I strongly wish to gain back. 
I see hisser keeping as my first step into my new found bug endeavors. Every other day I take out my smallest hisser and try to get them onto my hand, I always chicken out last second tho... I hope you all will not think I'm too silly. I really am trying! 

 
First off welcome to the roach keeping hobby! Hissers are definitely a good step into overcoming your fear of roaches. While the adults seem huge and intimidating, they tend to be fairly docile. Like you said smaller nymphs are a perfect size to try to get used to handling.  

I can relate, since I was in a similar situation to you I'd like to believe. At younger ages I loved digging up worms and finding ants, mantids, butterflies, and all types of other invertebrates. As I got older, I strayed away from bug catching as well. I later in my early teens encountered German roaches at a friend's house, and I found i was terrified of them. I then got into reptiles, but became tired of feeding crickets, so I decided to try dubia roaches as feeders. It was one small step, but it took me a long way. 

Long story short, I kept them as strictly feeders, but then obtained more and more "feeder" species until I had a small collection, than years later i have many many more bugs than reptiles lol! I've overcome my fear of roaches and other inverts that way, and I'm sure the longer you keep and interact with your hissers, the more you will come to tolerate handling them, and may want to even try keeping another species or two down the line!

 
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