Pure Mahogany Hissers!

Magnificent Beasts 2021 Package Series Pt. 6/7

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First post of 2022, woohoo! 😄🎉 And we're starting off with an interesting milestone! Finally, after years of keeping hissers and going around online as "Hisserdude", I actually have pure stock of the classic hobby hisser, Gromphadorhina portentosa! 😁

This isn't any old pure strain though, this is the "Mahogany" color morph isolated by Limberlost Exotics, from the old 1972 Cleveland Aquarium G.portentosa stock. These were isolated for a solid light brown-orange color, with said coloration dominating even the thoracic segments. Most adult females from this strain have little to no black coloration on their abdomens or even their thoracic segments, whereas the males might have black pronotums, but usually even those are just dark brown.

I've got mine set up in a well ventilated two gallon container with a thin layer of coconut fiber as the substrate. I'm keep one third of the enclosure humid, the rest bone dry, and using eggcrates for hides. I'm keeping them warm (80-85F°) and feeding dog food and fruits.

Here are some pics of one of my larger nymphs (it's still a small one though):

I'm already surprised with the light coloration on this one, can't wait to see the adults in person! Hopefully I can actually breed these, as I've not been having the best of luck when it comes to breeding hissers lately... 😓 

Anyways, that's gonna do it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time! 😉