A flashback to 2012.... and how we ended up with a thriving colony of cockroaches for over 4 years. : (
Lucky us ...when a science teacher retired at the end of May last year we volunteered to take ONE Madagascar Hissing Cockroach home, temporarily - we thought....
Boy were we surprised when we found out that our androgenous, six-legged curiosity turned out to be a she.... a she who gave birth to about 30 babies! Yes, birth. Apparently this species' eggs hatch while still inside the mother and develop into miniature versions of the adults while still inside... then when the time is right, out they come...
After the shock wore off we researched this critter on the internet and found that after mating only once, she was capable (under good conditions) of giving birth every two months for the rest of her life.
Yikes!
So far, so good - no more litters, until... today... when I received an excited text while at work - "OMG the mama
cockroach just had more babies and I saw it!"
Yep. sShe had a second litter while on our watch. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be), most of the litter did not live - maybe our cold temperatures? It looks like only about three to four will survive this litter.
For now, we are safe until another litter emerges.... unless, that is, we have to worry about those first generation babies growing up and.....
Oh no! I don't even want to think about it!
Any volunteers out there to take one cockroach? . . . seriously, just
one . . .
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