The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach: A Fantastic First Pet

Looking for an unusual pet that is easy to care for, hardy and child-friendly? Well, how about the Madagascar hissing cockroach, or to be precise, the Gromphadorhina portentosa?

The Madagascar hissing cockroach is an interesting exotic insect pet and will live typically for 2-3 years and sometimes they can live up to 5 years.

This interesting pet is dark reddish brown to black in color and has a hard exoskeleton. A Madagascar Hissing Cockroach does not have wings and grows to between 1.5 inches long to 3 inches long.

Due to the fact that these cockroaches are docile and hardy they are easy to handle and are great for the beginner exotic pet owner. They are also great to introduce children to exotic pet keeping. But beware; they are fast movers....

Should you wish to keep several Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches then a 10-15 gallon tank will be more than adequate to house them in. Over the top of the tank put a secure mesh lid.

For a substrate use aspen wood shavings and never use pine or cedar. Keep the shavings 1 to 2 inches in depth. Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches like to have hiding places. These can easily be made from cardboard toilet roll innards, cork bark, driftwood, small cardboard boxes or even cardboard egg boxes.

Keep the tank a little above room temperature. Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches are tropical and tolerate temperatures between 75-90 F (24-32 C).

Madagascar hissing cockroaches are easy to feed and will eat fresh fruits and vegetables along with dried dog food. Some favorite foods tend to be: carrots, pea-pods, peas, celery, squash, tomatoes, bananas, apple and oranges. Do not feed them head lettuce or any other green leafy type of vegetable.

Keep a shallow dish in the tank for water. This dish should have some absorbent material in it such as cotton or sponge. The absorbent material will stop the cockroaches from drowning.

The hissing cockroaches came by their name by the mere fact that they have a pair of modified spiracles with which they hiss with. These spiracles are also the tubes that insects use for breathing. Madagascar hissing cockroaches will hiss if disturbed and the males hiss when they are courting females. And for reasons that cannot (as yet) be explained it has been known for whole colonies to hiss in union.

Source: http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/insectsspiders/p/hissingroach.htm