Roach Jewelry

Peter Clausen

Peter Clausen

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Check out this site to see some photos of living roach jewelry. There are also numerous links from this page that are worth checking out. Some of the links from that site are risque. So be advised.

Live Cockroach Jewelry

 
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Peter Clausen said:
Check out this site to see some photos of living roach jewelry. There are also numerous links from this page that are worth checking out. Some of the links from that site are risque. So be advised.Live Cockroach Jewelry
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Pretty stupid, and i'd even daresay rather cruel to the roach. Although i find the entire interest in shiny rocks or assigning them such values is stupid, to stick it to a roach isn't right.. i mean a roach is a living thing that deserves at least some respect, especially if its not a pest species. This kind of fad is unsurprising in a sick society though, that's my two cents.

 
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People would have a fit if you did that to any other animal. What if you decided to make some designer turtles and glued gems to their shells? I recently saw a show where they put a hisser in the microwave and took bets on how long it would take to explode. Kinda sad really even if they are just bugs...

Actually, my mom pointed out that in the 60's they used to sell turtles with painted shells and they were pretty popular pets till someone figured out that painting a turtle can be harmful to them. Hermit crabs on the other hand are kinda cool with their sparkly and googly eye shells. I saw a spider man shell at Petco and almost bought a crab for it. lol.

 
I wonder whether the jewelry thing really has an overall negative affect. I'm not convinced the roaches care much. And I'm not sure a captive "decorated" roach doesn't end up getting more attention than the average hisser out there, and thus end up leading a "better" captive life. Nor would I guess that most hobbyists provide perfectly "humane" conditions for their colony pets. Again, not that the roaches really know or "care".

I also tend to believe that the more people are exposed to our pet bugs, the more aware they become that they're are not icky and dangerous. Consequently they are less repulsed by them. The less they are repulsed by them, the less other people (including their children) join in on the bandwagon of fear. The less people "practice" fearing bugs, the more open they become to being curious about them. The more curious they are about them, the more open they are to being more deeply interested in them. If live roach jewelry actually became more common, I'm convinced the average person would be less afraid of roaches and other bugs in general, since to most people a bug is a bug is a bug. Of course, it would probably cause the most fearful to become more fearful, but I'd guess the roach hate-o-meter would actually fall a bit, on average, and every bit helps!

When I think of bugs, I think of the most successful and diverse lifeforms on our planet. I can focus in on one species, its behaviors and associations with other parts of the ecosystem, or we can zoom way out and see the overall impact that bugs have on the planet. It's strange to think that there are more organisms living on and in your body than cells making up your body, but I heard it's true!

Peter

 
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The real roach brooches certainly look a lot happier than the one on the upper left cover of the Allpet Roaches book!

 
Looks like a bad idea, and too much work for someone who feels like wearing it for a day. I dont support it.

 
It depends, obviously I haven't researched, but if they're pinned or otherwise implanted in the roach (which doesn't make a great deal of sense) then I don't support it..

If it's simply Glued.. then it's likely that the Hissers are probably the best ones to wear it being without wings and as full adults, have especially hard carapaces..

I don't see it as a problem, if it exposes people to them as pets (and jewelry) then all the more to it so long as it's not ill treated, I don't believe the roach cares, while they do show an amount of intelligence, their sensory input is the driving factor behind their decisions.. and so what if the scenery is moving about while they stand still? I've held my hissers in handfulls before and they've never showed a care.

Now as for other creatures.. like the popular studding of Turtles and Tortoises (even attaching a loop to hold it) is just sickening.. the only time I see a bolt behind bored into a chelonian's shell is when it's being affixed after being hit by a car or some other shattering incident..

 
Roachsmith said:
Hermit crabs on the other hand are kinda cool with their sparkly and googly eye shells. I saw a spider man shell at Petco and almost bought a crab for it. lol.
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Research now shows that painted shells on hermit crabs are a bad thing. The shells end up chipping and the paint flakes can be ingested by the crab. Also the shell cannot "breath" as a natural shell can. And the way the distributors get the crabs into the paited shells themselves is pretty disgusting. Out of thirty five hemit crabs I have, all but one changed into the natural shells within minutes of them being offered a choice.

 
As far as the hermit crabs I wouldnt even offer the painted shells just give natural shells. They also have "paint a shell" kits to. I've had 2 hermit crabs with painted shells and both died within months of purchase.

 
I think the real scheme here would be to sell hissers in the second to last molt with the jewelry on them, then in a few weeks you'll get your customer back to buy another because their jewelry outgrew itself. XD

 
Orin McMonigle, the poor roach may be dead but at least the tortoise is happy! :lol: As for Hermit crabs, poor things have to go through enough. Why make them suffer more by painting their shells? :(

 
I make jewelry out of cockroaches, and they certainly die in the process, but I dispatch them by freezing before I cast them in molten hot silver, meh. Honestly though, I prefer to use ones that die naturally, but I don't really have a problem killing them either.

Jared Gold is the one who started to use the hisser as a fashion design method, from what I've read he didn't plan on it being so popular, but now they sell them fairly regularly at jacked up prices.....something like $60-$80 per roach but because it has fake gems glued to it. Then again, I charge $45 for my casted roach pins, so I guess I can't complain about a little mark-up right?

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