Hisser Female in Distress

wodesorel

wodesorel

Seventh Instar
I found her this way last night having contractions. (I'm not sure if that's what it's called, but she was obviously having muscle contractions that made it look like she was trying to force something out.) By the time I got back with the camera she had moved under the logs so I didn't want to disturb her. I woke up thinking that I would be finding babies, but she's still stuck like this!

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She looks so uncomfortable, but I don't know if this is a normal part of birthing or not. (First hisser birth.) Her and her man are young hybrids and this may be her first brood if that makes any difference. Is there anything I can do to help her? Do I just sit and wait? It's been at least 12 hours with her like this so far.

 

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Nevermind - she gave birth to about 50 stillborn babies just a few minutes ago. :( I checked them over to see if any had made it, and then left her to eat them. So bummed right now. :(

 
That has happened in my colony several times. It sounds like at least she was able to push the whole egg case out, right? Mine had hers stuck that way for 2 days and it started drying up. I soaked her hind area in a bowl of warm water and was able to gently pry it loose and remove it with a q-tip. I don't know why it happens but more experienced people will probably chime in... :(

 
There's one that's alive!!!! *happy dance*

When I went to turn out the lights for the night I also pulled out the dead babies that they hadn't touched. (I didn't want them to start smelling and I knew my hermits would enjoy the meal so I didn't want them to go to waste.) When I moved a branch to get to all of them, there was this little grey baby right next to mom! And boy, did he move quick!

I'm not sure if this means there could be more, but there is one live little baby. :) I just hope that he/she makes it! I'm sure it couldn't have had a good start to life if it's siblings didn't make it.

 
Just two (well, three now :D ), so I've been looking forward to her having a brood. They're in a planted 30 gallon as "display" roaches so it's rather empty in there right now!

 
:D I wanted to get the new draceana planted before I took photos as the alternanthera I had hoped would overwinter died last week and that corner was looking sadly empty.

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The happy couple last night. (They are ALWAYS together! It's so cute. :wub: )

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But as you can see - big open empty spaces. Need babies! :lol:

 
Oh my! Your tank is absolutely stunning! What lights do you use to keep the plants so healthy? Also could you list the plants you have in there. I have a horribly brown thumb but it makes me want to try this - with one plant at least. I currently have *zero* plants in my house :rolleyes:

 
I normally have very bad luck with houseplants, but the ones in the tanks are thriving! I think it's the heat and humidity along with having peat moss for substrate. :) The structure that the tanks are on is one that I actually built for raising seedlings, so each tank has a 4 foot florescent shop light that's about 6-8 inches above a screen lid (that are covered in plastic wrap). I use natural white daylight bulbs (for home/work use) from the hardware store.

In the hisser tank the two low groundcovers in the front are ivy - 'Gold Baby' on the left and 'Francis' on the right. The tall dark green thing in the left corner is dracaena 'Janet Craig Compacta', next to that is a small pothos 'Golden' that gets trimmed weekly, in the middle there is nepthytis 'Berry Allusion' (my absolute favorite!), and the right corner is filled with more pothos 'Golden'.

I also have a planted Emperor Scorpion tank that I set up a few months before the hisser tank:

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The two ivys in the front are more 'Francis' on the left and 'Mint Kolibri' on the right. In the left corner is some sort of small fern, but I have no idea what type as I bought the poor thing for a dollar as it was mostly dead and I felt sorry for it. (And oh my has it grown! I'm hoping it's not a Boston Fern.) The spider plant in the middle was my splurge - it's 'Gold Nugget' and I paid nearly $10 for it. And then even more Golden Pothos in the back right corner.

I haven't had trouble with any of these plants, though the dracaena is brand new so that remains to be seen. Pothos is the probably the easiest for a low-light tank as it grows like a weed under any condition. I started with a 4 inch pot of it in September and I'm cutting that much off nearly every month just to keep it under control! (It's also in my fiddler crab tank and I've used it for my hermit crabs though they keep destroying it.) The nephthytis has also grown a lot and still looks perfect although I'm not sure how large it'll end up getting in a year or two.

I bought the spider plant and the nephthytis at Lowes and got everything else at Walmart. (Washed extremely well for 15 minutes under running water to remove any residue and remove all the soil - I have a garbage disposal though!) I think they were all Exotic Angel Plants as that's what those stores carry, and they have a website that allows you to search by lighting conditions. :) Although the information isn't perfect, it's still a start.

 
She gave birth sometime between last night and this afternoon to a full litter (is that what it's called?) of healthy babies! :D So nearly three months to the day since her last one. Mom is doing great! I was actually in there last night and redid their tank and they seemed fine. I thought she was pregnant again but didn't think much of it when her rear was exposed as I thought she was just airing out her ootheca again. Nope, she was in labor and I didn't even realize it! It was dad that alerted me to something being off - he kept making the weirdest little hisses last night and again today. Got me worried so I checked and there was an explosion of little ones when I lifted the log. :) I'm not sure if he's comforting them, is ticked off that they're touching him, or if he's trying to put mom in the mood again, but I am loving the soft little sounds he's making. :)

But yay! Babies! :D

 
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