Alvin Silverstein - Hissing Cockroaches

Hissing Cockroaches Cool Pets!

Lots of people have dogs and cats for pets, but did you know that some people keep pets like iguanas and hissing cockroaches? If you have ever considered getting an unusual pet, the Far-Out and Unusual Pets series is for you! Learn the history, the science, and the care of fun and exotic pets.

"This is exactly the type of information young readers wantand need to have about cockroaches."

"Readers will enjoy all the great details about exotic pets in these fascinating, fact-filled books."

About the Authors

Dr. Alvin Silverstein is a retired professor of biology at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. Virginia Silverstein translates scientific Russian and is a professional author. Together they have written more than 200 books for young people. Laura Silverstein Nunn has coauthored more than 100 books with her parents.

Hissing cockroaches make cool and unusual pets.

Just thinking about cockroaches makes most people want to scream: Eew! Gross! They picture cockroaches scurrying across their kitchen floor. They watch in horror as hundreds of them swarm along the walls looking for a place to hide in the cracks.

Not all people think cockroaches are creepy, though. In fact, some people actually keep cockroaches as pets. The most popular cockroach pet is the hissing cockroach. These cockroaches are not the same as those annoying pests that sneak around peoples homes at night. Hissing cockroaches actually make good pets. They are also a popular animal in museums, zoos, and classrooms.

What makes the hissing cockroach so special? This cockroach is famous for the hissing noise it makes. Thats how it got its name. If it gets upset or annoyed, it will hiss, sort of like a snake. It is rather surprising when you hear it. Luckily, hissing cockroaches dont biteunlike a hissing snake!

Hissing cockroaches can grow to be about three inches (ten centimeters) long!

The hissing cockroach is one of the worlds biggest cockroaches. It may grow up to three inches (ten centimeters) long. For a cockroach, thats big! Its three times the length of an average household cockroach.

The more you learn about the hissing cockroach, the more youll realize that this is no ordinary bug. Read on to find out what makes the hissing cockroach such a far-out and unusual pet.

Are Cockroaches Dirty?

Many people think of cockroaches as dirty. But pet hissing cockroaches are actually clean animals.

Cockroach pests are a different story. They can carry germs. They often travel through sewers and other unclean places. Then they come into peoples homes and crawl on their food!

After All These Years...

Cockroaches have been around for more than 300 million years! Thats long before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. After all these years, cockroaches today look about the same as they did back then. They have hardly changed at all. Thats why people sometimes call them living fossils.

People keep all kinds of unusual petspotbellied pigs, mice, rats, lizards, snakes, and even ants. So why not cockroaches? A hissing cockroach can be just as cool as any other unusual pet. Many people dont realize this because they think that all cockroaches are dirty and gross. Actually, though, hissing cockroaches are gentle, harmless creatures.

What do you know about hissing cockroaches? Before you decide to buy one, its a good idea to find out a bit about its natural way of living. The way these animals act in the wild will give you an idea of what to expect when keeping one as a pet.

Having a hissing cockroach as a pet can be a great experience.

Name Game

Many pet stores that sell hissing cockroaches call them hissing beetles. They figure that name is less likely to gross out pet buyers.

Cockroaches usually live in warm, damp places. Hissing cockroaches are found in Madagascar, an island off the east coast of Africa. They are commonly called Madagascar hissing cockroaches. During the day, they hide in rotting logs and fallen leaves on the forest floor. At night, they come out to look for food. They eat fallen fruit and leaves, as well as rotting animals and plants.

Hissing cockroaches live in very large groups, called colonies. A large colony may number in the hundreds! Within the colony there are a number of family groups. Each family includes one male cockroach, several females, and their children. The place where the cockroaches eat, sleep, and breed is called their territory. The male is in charge of defending his familys territory. He will fight any other males that try to come into his territory. Females, on the other hand, can come and go without any trouble.

In the wild, hissing cockroaches live on the forest floors of Madagascar.

As pets, these cockroaches still keep their wild ways. So if you want a colony of cockroaches, make sure there is just one male. Otherwise, you might see a hissing fight take place.

About one hundred hissing cockroaches can live together in a colony.

Hissy Fits!

How do you know when a hissing cockroach gets upset? It hisses! It may hiss for other reasons, as well. For example, two males may hiss when they battle over territory. Males may also hiss when they want to attract females.

How do hissing cockroaches make hissing sounds? A cockroach breathes through a row of tiny holes along each side of its body. When a hissing cockroach blows air out of these holes quickly, it makes a hissing sound.

The hissing cockroach is an insect. Like any insect, it has six legs. It also has three body parts: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

The head is the smallest part, but it is very important. The two eyes at the front are very good at spotting moving things, such as other insects. The cockroachs mouth has moving parts for biting and chewing food. Two long antennae on the head act as feelers. They are covered with tiny hairs that are very sensitive to touch. The antennae can move around to feel where things are. They can also be used to smell things. A male cockroach uses his antennae to find a female cockroach by her smell.