My Hissers Home

a1_collection · My Hissers Home

With 10 more hissers on the way From Ken the Bug Guy I have decided to prepare an enclosure.

I keep it in the garage as there is more room there. It gets fairly cold in the garage so I have the 120 watt bulb in tin foil to keep the place at around 75-90*F at all times even when the garage gets down to the 60s.

The substrate is a coconut type mulch intended for reptiles. It doesn't have as many mold problems as the moss/coconut mix that i made so it seems like a good choice.

The standard eggs cases sor comfort.

Food is usually lettuce, tomato, cheese, ham, or any other fruits. In the picture i have ground up egg shell as I hear it is good for the roach in protein.

Celeste

Why in the garage? (Just curious).

WBurke17

It looks pretty good, but why not use an under tank heater that ytou can apply to the side and not have to use the light? the hissers dont like the light very much, or if you cant get a heat mat I would get one of the nightbulbs the blue or red ones..

a1_collection

Why in the garage?

Well my parents are not all exactly like me and they don't' like small things with the world Roach on them that much. They tolerate it but don't want it in the house so i have them in the garage.

So they don't like that much light. Would that explain why they have not eaten as much? because I see the food dish and it is relatively untouched.

WBurke17

Most likely Yes

What

a1_collection

OK now temporarily I have covered the bulb completely in aluminum to shield most of the light.

DeniseCasey

I agree with Warren, use an under the tank heater. I would use the plastic bins from Target (Sterilite) and drill a few holes in the top for ventilation. You can also get another bin the next size up and put your hisser enclosure in the larger encloser for extra warmth. To add to the warmth you can put old shirts or towels and wrap it around the hissers enclosure. Drill some holes on the larger bin for ventilation as well.

Fill the hissers enclousre with coco fiber and give them a large slab of cork bark hide under and to climb on. Keep it lightly misted.

You will create humidity along with warmth without using the lighting. They do not like the light that much and will get hissy about it.

I will post some pictures of my enclosure tonight. Its nothing fancy but it fulfills all the basic needs for my hissers to stay healthy and happy.

WBurke17

elportoed

120 watt light bulb with Al foil isn't the most efficient way to heat up the enclosure.

From looking at the picture, I can't tell if your enclosure is glass or plastic.

If it's glass, heat pad with rheostat (similar to dimmer switch) set around 70-90% probably will work best.

If it's plastic, the infrared or ceramic bulb with proper clamp lamp should work. You can add the rheostat to control the bulb intensity. Look for Jules' dubia set up pic. If you want to use the heat pad on plastic, you still need a rheostat. There may be a risk of fire, a set up with thermostat will make it safer.

Here's a site that have all the supplies for pretty cheap.

Heating: http://www.petguys.com/reptile-stuff-heating.html

Lighting stuff: http://www.petguys.com/reptile-stuff-lighting-clamp-lamps.html

Just in case you have several enclosures and do not want to spend too much money on those enclosure thermometers. There's a nifty infrared thermometer with laser sighting at Home Depot for around $30. All you have to do is point and it'll read the surface temp for you.

a1_collection

i forgot to mention I actually have a rheostat. That little thing is pretty handy.I also have an infrared thermometer so I know ho wto control the temp. It is just the efficiency part that I don't have. haha

I'll get a heating pad later but now my roaches are happy.

What

WBurke17

a1_collection

a1_collection

Just got my delivery of Hissers from Ken the Bug guy. Unfortunately one died in the case but everyone else is fine. The temperature situation is controlled and everything else is fine. i want the new roaches to adapt to the new environment before I do anything to them.

The enclosure is plastic and is actually melting directly above the bulb so I don't think I will be using a ceramic bulb yet.

Also I am planning to have cross breeding between the tiger hissers and hissers.