Madagascan Hissing Cockroach Care Sheet

Madagascan Hissing Cockroach Care Sheet

As many as 200 adult roaches may be kept in a ten gallon aquarium. Use cardboard egg cartons to provide hiding places and multiple living levels.

A heat stripe or pad should be kept under one end of the tank. Temperature range on the heated end of the tank should be between 80-90 degrees F. At the other end of the tank place an inverted water bottle.

Foods that may be fed are baby chicken starter mash, grains, high protein baby cereal, fish flakes, etc.

A screen top is not enough to keep the roaches from escaping the tank as they can climb glass. Take a paint brush and a jar of Vaseline and paint the top two inches of the inside of the tank on all four sides with Vaseline. The roaches will not go past the Vaseline.

The Madagascan roaches have a life span of two to three years. They also produce live young. Each female is capable of bearing twenty to thirty babies at one time.

The roaches do not bite. The hissing sound they make is actually air that is being pushed in and out of their sides. Males hiss loudly when fighting but hiss softly when mating.

In sexing these insects the male has horns on the top of his head. The female is lacking these horns and the top of her head is smooth.

The Madagascan offspring are a perfect feeder insect for all reptiles and amphibians. The Madagascan roach can be bred with ease for a steady supply of food for any insect eating reptile or amphibian. The cost of maintaining a colony is minimal, which makes breeding them as a food source very cost effective.