Does it have little spiders on it? ._.

Those are actually beneficial mites that exist only on the hissing cockroach :3 They clean debris and mold from the roach's mouth and breathing holes and can actually help reduce cockroach allergens. Their latin name is pretty epic; gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi.

i was just about to ask the same question! thats pretty awesome, i had no idea^^

That's what makes Hissing Cockroaches much more cleaner then their common cousins we all hate. They only eat dead leaves and other types of dead plants and no leftover food or other disgusting things roaches eat. So if you see a hisser, don't turn away in disgust, but have him be loved and respected as he is more docile and cleaner then his gross cousin.

I respect all critters :3 The cute and cuddly ones just a tiny bit more 😅
Also, my previous comment is so old it's from the time when I didn't care about capitalization! :P

Ewwwwwww AAAAAAAAAAA ITS ON MY FRONT PAGE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

These are my pets, have some respect/maturity please.

Are things like this hard to keep as pets? I've only had fuzzies and fishies, but I know my boyfriend would jump at the chance to own something like this. x3

Super easy. I get asked this so frequently though, I should write up a caresheet x3 They're easy to find online though.

Interesting.

Are those Mites?

See my response to the first comment :3

lol I was the first comment when I clicked add reply :p slow typist is slow

what are those things on its back

See my response to the first comment :3

The first thing that caught my eye was the mites.

aw he's got buggies :(
but he's very pretty :3 I've been wanting one for a long time now

They're helpful mites! See my response to the first comment :3

ohhhh lol yeah, as you see I don't have one so I didnt know XD

Is fine, I enjoy having any opportunity to inform people about bugs :)

ohh yeah! i think I read about those when I was researching them :3

Gosh, they just look so gorgeous after a molt.

Thank you for posting!

The first time I saw an insect's heart I wondered why *ours* weren't built like that :)

Your descirptions about the roaches are so educating! Please continue that!

Love these photos. It looks like there are little mites on him.

And I just looked up and saw what they were. :P

First thing that caught my eye was the mites/ticks. I'd love to have this species but I keep a LOT of livestock and I can't afford any cross-contamination even if there's no outward problems with the cockroaches themselves; I can't guarantee other species having an issue.

Personally I don't care what species of mite it is, I get airmail to send the predatory mites, and set it loose. Destroys all other mites, and then dies from lack of food source. I honestly couldn't and do not tolerate them, but that's of course your own choice if it IS beneficial to them and cockroaches are all you keep. Nice for aesthetics purposes, but I couldn't live with them myself.

I keep tons of other pets. These particular mites are specific to hissing cockroaches; they don't live on any other species much like MAAAANY types of mites. Up to you if you don't believe me but it's a fact, so I'm not worried.

Have you ever found them on other species or animals you own? And by that I mean anything. Reptiles, other inverts, other species of cockroach? I'd be interested to know, I dont come across specialized mites very often in the trade, especially beneficial ones. I've had a tough time once or twice with my feeder colonies, but that's 99% ALWAYS flour or oat mite and they get on eeeevvverything. I keep white springtails in my planted terrariums and paludariums, but only to really break down the rotted leaves of plants and suchlike to keep the whole cycle going. They'll also help feed my Velvetworms if I can get ahold of them! They literally wouldn't survive long at all out of a moist environment, that's probably the only reason I'm okay with springtails, haha.

If the mites in question are completely endemic to hissers and are only beneficial I'd consider leaving them be, but I think I'd keep them elsewhere, that's all.

Wait... there are bugs crawling on the bug?
This is like Insect Inception!