GIANT MADAGASCAR HISSING COCKROACHES

 

In 1995 I ordered two giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches, a male and a female, from the Carolina Biological Supply Company, and they were so huge and impressive when they arrived (3" long by 1" wide) that I was across the room even before they crawled out of the container. The males really do hiss, and these critters are largely used in gross-out movie scenes like in the insect scene of "Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom."  But these critters don't bite, don't hurt people at all.

We kept them in a large terrarium (5 gal. aquarium with a wooden cover). But, in a short time, they proved to us that they "breed like cockroaches." Soon we had scores of them, growing fast, and when I cleaned their cage I was afraid to touch them and so moved them with a stick, one by one, into a temporary cage so I could clean the main one. It took forever to move them!  But necessity being the mother of invention, and me being lazy, I finally got to where I'd just reach into the pile of them and picked them up, many at once, by hand. It was neat how their little hooks gripped onto me and each other; not one ever fell. To this day I'd have no qualms about reaching my bare hand into a huge pile of crawling giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

But finally, after several months or a year or so, the terrarium was swarming with them (it's amazing watching them being born). We had several hundred of them, and the babies were small enough to crawl out the cage's air holes. I advertised them online, but no one wanted them. So finally on a nice hot Madagascar-like day, I drove south of Branson and onto the Graham Clark road, pulled off into the woods, and let them go. Within one minute, I couldn't see one of them, they hide so well. It was sad. They're not allowed in Florida, because they can survive there, but I knew they'd never survive a winter here, unless they took refuge in somebody's home.

I miss them now.  When we visited the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. after taking part in the March for Life, we found a lady on the 2nd floor who was showing people giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches and letting whoever dared to hold one.  I was so happy to see my old friends and delighted to hold one again.

If you want to buy one, or three, for your very own, you can still order them from the Carolina Biological Supply Company.  Enjoy!

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