Pure stock of this particular species is quite rare nowadays in the US, (in fact I'd worried pure stock had died out completely), with most stock sold being hybrids. This is likely due to the fact that while the hybrids are easy to breed, pure stock is very finicky, so while the amount of pure colonies has stayed small, the amount of hybrids being sold unawares, even by reputable members of the hobby, have unfortunately skyrocketed in comparison...
For precise information on how to recognize pure hissers, (including Princisia), from hybrids, please see my Pure Hobby Hisser "Key". Basically, consistent coloration is the hallmark of pure P.vanwaerebeki "Big", as is their relative difficulty compared to other hissers. If individuals pop up in a culture that vary greatly from what normal P.vanwaerebeki "Big" should look like, then that's generally a good sign of hybridization.
This stock comes from Eli Castro, who kept his colony pure, he got his from Cape Cod Roaches in 2017, which seem to have kept theirs pure up until that point, and I believe they got theirs from Roachcrossing, which got pure stock from Dexter Davson at DoubleDs, who presumably got theirs from Europe long ago when they were first entering the hobby... So this is almost certainly pure stock, and according to Eli they have consistent coloration from individual to individual that is a perfect match for what pure Princisia vanwaerebeki "Big" are supposed to look like.
(By the way, unfortunately it appears as though CCR's stock is no longer pure, as a friend of mine who bought a group from them much more recently had adults pop up with very atypical, chocolate brown coloration, some lacked yellow abdominal margins completely, and they were very easy to rear as well, all red flags in terms of purity for this species).
Unfortunately pure Princisia, both of this and the recently imported "Androhamana" strains, are quite finicky compared to other hissers. Young nymphs can apparently have high die offs for seemingly no reason, and females give birth sporadically, and often to small litters. No one knows why this is, inbreeding certainly can't be the cause, since even the more recently imported Princisia strain is apparently just as difficult to work with, there's likely some aspect of husbandry we are missing. So these and Elliptorhina davidi are the most finicky hissers in the hobby, which is unfortunate since both are quite unique among the other species in the hobby...
I'm keeping mine as I would most other hissers, in a well ventilated enclosure with some coconut fiber at the bottom, lots of hides in the form of eggcrates and hardwood bark, I'll keep two thirds of the enclosure dry, the other third humid. I'll offer chick feed, fruits and veggies, and probably artificial pollen, because why not? I'll keep them above 75F° for optimal growth and breeding rates.
Here are some pictures of the new arrivals, I was sent a total of 5 nymphs, one small, four medium sized:
Very pretty, and they're not even mature yet! 😁 Hopefully they do well for me and I can establish a colony of these rarities, and if they are indeed pure as I'm 99% sure they are, help get them further established in the US hobby, maybe one day more so than their mislabeled hybrids! (but that last part is probably wishful thinking).
It's good to go back to my hisser keeping roots, though due to my allergies, I'm probably going to be sticking to the less prolific hissers like these. I'd really like to keep the "Androhamana" strain one day, as well as Elliptorhina davidi!
Anyways, that's gonna do it for this post, thanks for reading, I hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time! 😉
No comments:
Post a Comment