some people are sooo insensitive! UGH!

[DragonTamer]

Maybe I'll try UO, but if I do, you guys gotta try AO.
So Dragon, how big do those roaches get?
Also, what about Palmedo(sp?) bugs? The ones that get REAL big with wings?

hey, when the new Star Wars MMORPG comes out next year or two, I'm going there.. it's being worked on by ex-UO and ex-EQ people.. it's bound to be good!  you can tame a rancor!  

erm... hmm.. my roaches...  the hissers get a little under 3 inches long, but normally 2 1/2 inches.  my largest cockroach currently, is over 3 inches in length..  he's a giant cave cockroach, and still not the largest cockroach in the world (but the largest in it's genus!)

my giant cave roach next to a quarter

my hissing cockroaches next to a quarter. female is on the top and the male is on the bottom.. can't see his horns very well in that picture..

palmetto bugs are cockroaches, but nowhere near this big.  the largest winged species (which the roach breeder I get mine from still doesn't have a colony of, yet), is the megaloblatta longipennis.   the largest cockroach in the world is wingless, Macropanesthia rhinoceros.  these get almost 4 inches in length..  and look like a HUGE hissing roach.  

I keep getting mixed information about these large roaches.  apparently they can live up to 7 years in captivity, and take 3 years to reach maturity.  they also give birth to live young just like the madagascar hissing roaches, and have around 30 babies.    

in fact, if anyone can... could they ship me some palmetto bugs??  I'd love a small colony of them!  I heard they have a tint of pink to them!  

[ruthiechan]

ERK.  

You are weird.
I hate palmetto bugs! Of course I remember them being MUCH bigger, because I was only 8 years old at the time.
It's interesting though, I certainly learned a lot.
So, if the pest roaches are so rare, why are they so prevelant?

When I get my own puter I was thinking about trying UO, is it really that good? I know Anarchy is, especially if you like the table top RPG Shadowrun.

[DragonTamer]

UO is one of those games you grow to love... then become addicted to.   at first you HATE the game and can't stand not being able to kill a mongbat... then suddenly it becomes addicting and you can't go for one day without playing it for hours on end.  

pest species are so prevelant because they're the ones we notice..  remember there are over 4,000 species of cockroaches in the world..   the 1% pest species are the ones that are in our homes, and multiply like mad.  I can only name about 5 species of cockroaches in america that are pests...  oriental, american, german, and two that live in florida.  even palmetto bugs aren't naturally pests, but can become pests if in the house..  most cockroaches, though... if removed from the house, that's all there is to it.  there are no more.. unless you missed one or two.  they don't multiply like mad or infest, nor can they survive inside for long.   the thing is, most roaches that aren't pests, also don't live in the US.  they're tropical.  there's a wood roach in florida that's non-pest that I know of, though..  

it's like lots of animals.. people notice the ones that breed like mad and live in our homes, but fail to note that there are probably thousands of other species of that same creature, that are non-pest, you barely notice them, live outside, cannot survive inside someone's home anyway... and may even make great pets!  

[ruthiechan]

Interesting.
So what are the bennies of having pet roaches?

[DragonTamer]

Interesting.
So what are the bennies of having pet roaches?

I wish I knew what "bennies" means...  

[Dearpie]

"bennies" means benefits.....  like ratties are cuddly and FUN, what makes the cockroaches good pets?  what do you get from them?  

[DragonTamer]

cockroaches are extremely easy to care for.  you don't have to even feed them every day... or even every week!   they're pretty hardy like that..  which is cool  

they make interesting pets, in the fact that not everyone would own one.  they're calm and quiet, and make great terrarium pets, with a uniquely set up terrarium landscape (actually, my tank looks natural.. complete with moss, dead wood, etc.  whereas my boyfriend kept his in a tank with a space theme, with toy aliens and astronauts, and his male was named "strategically misplaced")  

it's the fact that they're great conversational starters, are very quiet and calm, and fun to watch, and extremely easy to care for.  they require so little care, they make great beginning pets for children, as well.   also, with hissers, they're so calm and slow, you can hold them any time you want and not worry about them running off at all.  I've actually heard of someone who used hissing roaches as part of their halloween costumes!  they'd just place the roach on their costume somewhere, and it'd stay there the entire night (but they'd constantly watch it all night long to make sure it didnt' fall off accidentally.. but they can stay stuck on you for a long time).  

watching a colony of hissers defend their territory over another colony of hissers, is really entertaining as well.  you never realize how much personality they have, until you own them and actually sit down and watch them interact with each other.  

I guess it's like asking someone "why are fish good pets?" except... you can actually hold your pet cockroach

[DesertSands]

Cochroaches have brains in their butts? I know a few men like that.

*SNORT* Hahahaha! Don't say something like that when I'm eating, I just splattered the keyboard with milk and cereal!

Hehe, actually, I'd say the second brain is about six inches north of the butt, heading in the same direction the guy's facing. No offense to guys here! I LOVE my husband's "second brain"!  

[Anna]

What beautiful roaches!

The reason that pest roaches are so prevelant when only 1% of the roach species are pests is part of what defines them as pests. (that didn't make sense, let me try again)
A pest is something that reproduces everywhere in great ammounts and is non beneficial.
Our common roaches could reproduce in your freezer if thats where they were at the time.
the other 99% of roach species have to have very specific climates to reproduce, and would die off in many many places.
I hope that made some sense.

[Elaken]

So after reading the benefits of roaches I was thinking hmm, maybe they would be fun to have.  But nope, I am just way to culturally ingrained that cockroaches are bad!!  I would be paranoid about a 'pet roach' breaking out of it's habitat and attacking me in the night.....*ugh*

[ruthiechan]

I feel the same way about pet arachnids!

[Tara]

LOL!! yes... I've been a grandmaster tamer for two years now...  and I have three more tamers almost GM.  one named ImaRatcatcher (former ImaTown citizen on Pacific shard....  until ImaTown was sold off recently.... arg), she's 96.7 taming so far, then the other two are in the early 90's..    I love taming far too much..!!   I've been helping with testing bugs for the latest publish 16 on test center now.. and I was a beta tester for third dawn, and LBR.  

I'm on Europa, Pacific, and sometimes on Lake Superior.   if you ever run into a red murderer character named Damien, be sure NOT to kill him! he's been red forever....  I doubt he'll ever go blue again...  most of my chars are Damien, or a rat, or a rat catcher, ImaRatcatcher... you get the idea... lol

My first char started out as a tamer, but I kept dying when I went to tame stuff, so she turned into a 3x GM fighter with some taming.   I  can tame up to forrest ostys, but that's about it.   I LOVE to tame the rats, and I name them after my boys.  hehehe.    I am in heaven in the brit sewer, but if they attack me, unfortunately, they have no chance against a GM swordfighter.    I ahve two other chars that I play from time to time,  an advanced level mage/scribe and a newbie archer.  

And, yes, UO is addictive,  especially if you are playing with the right people.    My hubby has it worse than I, playing way into the wee hours of the morning!   Maybe I will jump on Europa or Pacific sometime and hunt you down.   Where/when do you play the most?  

[whispurrr]

There are some nice people on EQ actually. I'm one of them!

I find people are better on Firiona Vie (sp?), especially if you are a role-player.