Care Sheet
Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
(Gromphadorhina portentosa)
Taxonomy:
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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Hexopoda (insecta)
Order: Blattaria (this classification has been changed several times over the last 30 years)
Family: Blaberidae
Genus: Gromphadorhina
Species: portentosa
When using genus and species names, they are properly written in italics or underlined.
Care:
These docile creatures are easy to care for, calm and tractable, and relatively durable
around children. Keep them in a warm spot as they prefer temperatures no colder than
72°F. The warmer they are, the more active they will be and the faster they will reproduce.
It may be beneficial to maintain them at a cooler temperature (72°F to 76°F) in order to slow
the breeding process. Once the newly hatched young appear, you may want to stretch
mosquito netting across the top to prevent escape, but once they molt a stage or two they
will not be able to escape. If one should get out, they are not capable of surviving long in our
environment and certainly will not be able to survive out of doors.
Feeding:
Easy to care for, these insects will eat fruit of almost any kind. They will thrive on bananas,
apples, or pears. It is good to keep some dog chow or rat chow in the cage as well to
provide protein and promote breeding.
References:
There are many reference materials and instructions for care to be found on the Internet. Be
aware that minor differences will occur in instructions and recommendations, but information
is abundant.
http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/G-portentosa.html
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/insectsspiders/p/hissingroach.htm
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2827/L-278web.pdf
http://www.nyworms.com/hissercare.htm