Anything from a 2 gallon to a 5 gallon bin works well for a starter colony, with larger enclosures being preferable for larger species obviously. A 5-10 gallon setup would work well as a permanent setup for most species. A tight fitting lid (preferably a gasket) is HIGHLY recommended, since all life stages climb well and nymphs are escape artists. The last thing you want is for nymphs of one hisser species to find their way into a different hisser species' enclosure, and then you end up with hybrids...
A high amount of ventilation is recommended for optimal breeding, and most species only like half to a third of their enclosure kept humid, the rest quite dry. Drying them out periodically between waterings usually isn't a huge problem for most species.
A lot of the more common, hardy hissers can be bred without a substrate, however the finicky species prefer having a substrate, and it's much easier to maintain proper humidity levels for all hisser species when you have a substrate for humidity retention.
Lots of hides in the form of eggcrates, bark, cardboard tubes, plywood roach-huts, etc. should be provided, the more surface area the better. Males of some species can be quite territorial and will beat each other up if there's not enough hides, and without a lot of surface area hissers can get crowded and mature into very small adults.
Diet:
Dog/cat/fish/chick food, fruits and veggies work well as the staple diet. Adult female hissers especially are fond of fruits, and having fresh fruits available helps get them to give birth more consistently (this is especially true for the more finicky hisser spp.). Elliptorhina and Princisia seem to love feeding on leaf litter as well, Gromphadorhina will ignore it for the most part.
Temperature:
Temps in the 75-90F° range are recommended for optimal breeding.
Breeding/Life Cycle:
Adults live 1-3 years on average, though there are records of some adults (usually males) pushing the 4-5 year mark. The larger species typically live longer than the smaller ones do, and a few pet hissers in a non-breeding colony are always gonna live longer than adults in breeding colonies (since the stress of breeding, fighting over mates and food can really shorten the lifespan of adult roaches).
Females gestate their broods for 3-5 months depending on the species, temperature and ventilation levels. Nymphs of most species mature in 6 or so months under optimal conditions.
Hissers are quite hardy and generally don't mind the occasional lapse in care, filth buildups or most pests infestations. Crowding generally isn't a huge issue other than causing adults to mature at a relatively small size. Some of the more finicky species may prefer substrate being replaced every now and then as it becomes covered in frass, and if you're not careful, phorid fly infestations can also cause problems for hissers if dead bodies start piling up. But other than that, these are pretty sturdy roaches, great for beginners.
Hissers of basically all genera CAN AND WILL hybridize with each other, regardless of being different species/genera from each other. Sadly many hybrids have been created accidentally in the pet/feeder hobby, almost always mislabeled and sold under pure species names, and it's gotten to the point where hybrids are far more common than pure stock of many hisser species... Be careful where you source your hissers, since hybrids often look less pretty than their pure bred counterparts and lack the unique morphology features each species has. And never, NEVER keep males and females of different hisser species together, the only acceptable way of keeping multiple hisser species together is keeping only males together, no females.
Species Notes:
Aeluropoda insignis (Flat Horn Hisser):
A species with uniquely flat morphology. They are hardy and prolific, and do well with standard hisser care.
Elliptorhina chopardi (Dwarf Hisser):
Most species in this genus are considered "Dwarf Hissers" due to their small size, though these are the OG Dwarves. Oddly can be somewhat finicky and slow to breed, ensuring they have good ventilation levels, a quarter to half the enclosure kept humid, and a varied diet helps keep them happy.
Elliptorhina coquereliana (Dark Dwarf Hisser):
Not much info is available on this species yet, but it appears they like conditions similar to chopardi, are similarly slow breeding, and at times finicky.
Elliptorhina davidi (Bumpy Hisser):
Perhaps THE most difficult to breed hisser species, with large, inexplicable die offs being relatively common. There's a lot of debate as to the specific conditions this species likes, some say they like it very dry with only a corner of the enclosure kept humid, others say high humidity is the way to go with half or more of the enclosure kept moist... But everyone seems to agree that high ventilation, consistent heat, and a clean, non-crowded setup are key to keeping populations healthy and avoiding large die offs.
Elliptorhina javanica (Halloween Hisser):
This species is a hobby classic, and is pretty widespread in culture. Can be a little finicky at times, but when given high heat and lots of fruits, breeds pretty prolifically.
Elliptorhina laevigata (V-horn Hisser):
The largest of the hobby Elliptorhina, this species almost went extinct in the hobby a decade or so ago. Thankfully they've stabilized in culture now, and seem to do best when kept on a 50/50 humidity gradient, with lots of ventilation and a varied diet.
Gromphadorhina portentosa (Common Madagascar Hisser):
Once the most commonly cultured hisser species, sadly MOST "portentosa" on the market are now hybrids... Pure stock still exists though and isn't too hard to get a hold of if you know where to look, in the US hobby alone we have the "1972 Cleveland Aquarium" stock, the "LLE Mahogany" morph isolated from the Cleveland stock, the more recently imported and strikingly colored "Masoala, Madagascar" strain, and the probably pure "UCR" strain that's recently entered the pet trade.
Very hardy and easy to care for, breeds readily under a variety of conditions and can be prolific enough to use as feeders.
Gromphadorhina oblongonota (Wide Horn Hisser):
This species is enormous and relatively slow growing/breeding compared to other hissers. Getting females to give birth can be challenging at times, super high ventilation, consistent heat and a varied diet are key to breeding these consistently. They also seem to prefer at least a third to half the setup kept humid, they don't love it super dry. Since this species is so big, they need a ton of room and surface area, males are very territorial and in addition to beating each other up, can also stress females out too if there's not enough surface area.
Gromphadorhina sp. "Unidentified" (Sidestripe Hisser):
This strain has yet to be formally unidentified, but according to taxonomist and hisser experts George Beccaloni may simply be a locale or new subspecies of G.portentosa. Compared to standard portentosa, these are quite slow breeding and not very prolific, it seems they prefer dry conditions and high heat. Major males, while rare, can rival those of oblongonota in bulk.
Princisia vanwaerebeki "Androhamana" & "Big/Black" (Vibrant Hisser):
These are large hissers with unique pronotum morphology, mature males of pure stock will always have an anterior notch in their pronotums, with this being most noticeable on major males. This species is slow breeding, but they give birth to very large litters of nymphs that grow relatively fast. Large males can be quite territorial, so lots of space and hides are recommended. This species seems to prefer higher humidity, with at least half the enclosure kept humid, but also likes very high airflow. Curiously, I've noticed adding leaf litter to their enclosure seems to sometimes get females to give birth, if fruits aren't doing it for them.
Princisia vanwaerebeki "Tiger" (Tiger Hisser):
ex. "Gromphadorhina grandidieri" (which actually look nothing like the hobby "Tigers". This smaller strain of Princisia is a fan of high heat, lots of fruits and good airflow. Again, like the other Princisia strains these prefer higher humidity than other hissers, about a 50/50 humidity gradient (maybe even 70-30 erring on the humid side, if your ambient air humidity is low and they have a lot of ventilation).
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