Marking Hissing Cockroaches

[Sylva Ansuz]

Hello all! I'm a new member on this forum, and while I know this may sound like a ridiculous question to some of you, I would like to know what products are safe to use on hissing cockroaches, in order to give them them very small identifying marks so I can tell one from the other. I'm thinking of using a very small identifying dot. I've thought of using a Sharpie marker as it says upon the marker that it's nontoxic. Still, I don't know whether that means it certainly wouldn't harm an insect. I only have a couple of roaches and they're new to me... After one molted, I can no longer distinguish them from one another. Thanks for any help you're able to provide!!

 

[makoygaara]

I think the markings would be useless because they will eventually molt and shed their exoskeleton as they grow old, not unless they are already adults based on your avatar.

Let's wait for the others and maybe they have some ideas in mind.

 

[Ozymandias]

ya not going to work on anything but adults, even so i would probably use a paint pen to mark them

 

[Zephyr]

If they are adults, you can put a tiny dot of nail polish on the pronotum.

 

[Sylva Ansuz]

Even if they're not fully adult and continue to go through molts (which they might, as one just recently molted), I should still be able to tell which one molted unless of course they both molted at the same time. I have only 2. If one has a small dot on the left side and one has a dot on the right side, and one molts, I'll be able to tell which is which even if I don't get to observe the molt. I hope that makes sense.

What's a paint pen and where can you get them? I think that's what a dog groomer friend of mine recommended to me. She said they're used in dog grooming. Frankly I have no idea what they are.

 

[Ozymandias]

paint pains are made by sharpie now a days and you can usually find them at craft stores