Space in an enclosure.

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Third Instar
So is there a rule of thumb with roaches? They r all communal right? But if I have like a 5 gal tank how many say hissers can i keep together? I was wondering if there was a rule of thumb with what is over crowded. I want to set them up for display. Not with egg crates more of a natural look.

 
So is there a rule of thumb with roaches? They r all communal right? But if I have like a 5 gal tank how many say hissers can i keep together? I was wondering if there was a rule of thumb with what is over crowded. I want to set them up for display. Not with egg crates more of a natural look.
From what I understand, hissers are hard to overcrowd, if you have plenty of surface area in the cage you should be able to contain quite a few hissers in it.

Some species are more picky than others, and will cannibalize or die off if kept too crowded. For example, freshly molted Blaberus giganteus adults will die if bothered too much by nymphs, so you must give them plenty of space. Simandoa conserfarium will also nip each others antenna if kept too crowded. It all depends on the species.

 
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I am new to this as well but here is what I have discovered. Roaches take up very little space. Its just ridiculous. I have 108 eublaberus sp. pantanal in a 20 quart storage container with 3 inches of coco fiber. They only borrow in one half. I have 26 E. Javanica hissers in a 20 gallon high fish tank.....like an empty wasteland in there lol.

 
You can start off likely with however many you want. Just keep an eye on them when things seem to be getting a little crowded and if you see signs of stress or antenna biting, you may want to thin the herd a bit. But with hissers it'll probably take a while to reach that point, especially if you give them plenty of things to crawl around on/hide under.

 
Thanks guys! im trying to get something setup before i get anything. i was thinking like a large critter keeper. The ones im most interested in right now are regular hisser. halloween hissers and giant cave roaches. ...sorry i dont know the proper names for them yet.

 
Thanks guys! im trying to get something setup before i get anything. i was thinking like a large critter keeper. The ones im most interested in right now are regular hisser. halloween hissers and giant cave roaches. ...sorry i dont know the proper names for them yet.
No problem! Those Giant cave roaches, Blaberus gigateus are going to need a big enclosure, keep that in mind! :)

 
Thanks guys! im trying to get something setup before i get anything. i was thinking like a large critter keeper. The ones im most interested in right now are regular hisser. halloween hissers and giant cave roaches. ...sorry i dont know the proper names for them yet.
Good call trying to get things set up beforehand. Critter Keepers aren't the best if you want to really show off a species (in my opinion anyway) but they are very functional when it comes to hissers! You may want a tall rubbermaid bin or something if you want to try the giant cave roaches.

Gromphadorhina portentosa - regular hissing cockroach

Elliptorhina javanica - Halloween hisser

Blaberus giganteus - giant cave roach

 
Sounds good! Is there anyone who sells roaches on here? or any other inverts for that matter? i noticed there is no "for sale" section on the forum.

 
Sounds good! Is there anyone who sells roaches on here? or any other inverts for that matter? i noticed there is no "for sale" section on the forum.
It's under "ad listings". There's lots of great sellers here on the forum. Roach crossing is great to do business with as well.

 
Sounds good! Is there anyone who sells roaches on here? or any other inverts for that matter? i noticed there is no "for sale" section on the forum.
Yup, like Lemur said, ad listings. Lots of sellers here, and most of the prices here are cheaper then what you will find anywhere else.

 
Most of what you'll see is roaches, but there are very few of us on here that only keep roaches. We usually have a mix of things and with spring coming up I'm sure people will be selling (like me! ;) )

 
Good call trying to get things set up beforehand. Critter Keepers aren't the best if you want to really show off a species (in my opinion anyway) but they are very functional when it comes to hissers! You may want a tall rubbermaid bin or something if you want to try the giant cave roaches.

Gromphadorhina portentosa - regular hissing cockroach

Elliptorhina javanica - Halloween hisser

Blaberus giganteus - giant cave roach
how r the regular hissers and the halloween hissers not even in the same genus? u would think hissing cockroaches would all be in the same?
 
They are in the same family, but different genera. It makes sense, considering that the genetalia are different.

 
how r the regular hissers and the halloween hissers not even in the same genus? u would think hissing cockroaches would all be in the same?
There's also aeluropoda insignis, the flat hisser. I believe there's several other "hisser" genus' as well. My blaberus craniifer even make a hissing sound. I believe it's just a defense mechanism, not a genus-defining feature of any kind.

 
They are in the same family, but different genera. It makes sense, considering that the genetalia are different.
Well, they're in the family Blaberidae, which makes up most of the giant tropical roaches in the hobby. I think that the lowest classification that defines hissers is the tribe Gromphadorhinini. Anything in the tribe Gromphadorhinini can be considered a hissing cockroach.

 
Well, they're in the family Blaberidae, which makes up most of the giant tropical roaches in the hobby. I think that the lowest classification that defines hissers is the tribe Gromphadorhinini. Anything in the tribe Gromphadorhinini can be considered a hissing cockroach.
Yes, that's what I meant, should have said tribe instead of family. Thanks for the correction Tenevanica! :)

 
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Looking on the Cockroach species file online at other genera in the tribe Gromphadorhini, I would love to see Leozehntnera maxima in the hobby, they look cool! I would also like what the Ateloblatta look like.

Another interesting thing is how different the wild caught G.portentosa look from the captive G.portentosa. Same with the P.grandidieri.

 
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