How To Provide Proper Humidity For Hissing Cockroaches

6 min readFeb 13, 2023

The MHC is relatively easy to care for and makes an excellent pet. Owners should maintain their pets in an area that provides a dark, moist and secluded environment.

Humidity

To ensure proper humidity levels, the enclosure should be misted with water every day (morning and night) or at least every other day. An occasional misting of the medium with water will provide the proper humidity for the roach’s cage. Spraying the walls with water will provide proper humidity and also create a source of drinking water. Keep habitat as humid as possible without being wet. You should not “water” the substrate like a potted plant. Keep the coconut fiber bedding damp, and mist frequently. Around 60–80%, misting at least once a day is usually adequate.

Make sure humidity levels are at least 40%. Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches will survive at lower room humidity, but will thrive in the 60–70% humidity range. Provide a high enough humidity that mold or fungus does not grow, but successful molting is accomplished. We provide a humidity cycle of 60–80% and to reduce the growth of mold we allow the humidity to drop during part of the day.

Humidity tracking

Attach a hygrometer to the inside of your cockroach’s tank so you can easily monitor the humidity. The hygrometer may be sold with a cable and sensor to place the display outside the terrarium. There are also cheap smart hygrometers (for example, Xiaomi Mijia Hygrometer 2), whose readings can be monitored from a smartphone.

Mistakes with increasing humidity

Increase humidity by watering the substrate, like a pot of flowers. Not only does this create a moisture content that is too high, but it also prevents the cockroaches from drinking the drops of water.
Holding too high humidity (80–100%).
Don’t let the humidity drop. For example, don’t spray your terrarium every time the humidity drops to 70%. Maximum — spray 2 times a day (morning and evening).
Rare substrate change. If the substrate is not replaced for a long time (more than 2 months), then it will no longer retain moisture, and in the worst case, it already has mold or fungus. Depending on the size of the colony, the substrate should be changed approximately once a month. If the substrate is not very dirty, then you need to replace it as soon as it becomes too dry.

Automatic watering system

The cotton wick absorbs water that is absorbed into the substrate. They may also be made from nylon stockings or other absorbent materials.

Required items:

water bottle with lid;
cotton wick;
plastic clamp.

To prevent the bottle from falling, I attached it to a plastic clamp on the wall of the container. The wick must not be too long for the system to work.

Ways to increase the humidity

Using an automatic watering system (substrate will absorb moisture).
Bottle with one hole in the cap (like a watering can). Drops of water will fall on the substrate without feeling the water flood.
Use a Room Humidifier. You can also make your own humidifier using this and this tutorial.
Reptile Fogger for Terrarium Tank
Washing the floor in the room.
Dry your clothes inside the room
Leave the bathroom door open when showering
Set vases of water on sunny windowsills
Set up an Indoor Fountain
Add Houseplants to Your Room

Houseplants that increase humidity

According to a research “Evapotranspiration from Spider and Jade Plants Can Improve Relative Humidity in an Interior Environment”, spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum), and green jade plants (Crassula argentea) can increase the humidity:

Using the measured data, calcu-lations indicated that 32,300-cm2 total spider plant leaf surface area could increase the humidity of an SNF roomfrom 20% RH to a more comfortable 30% RH under bright interior light conditions. This leaf surface area of variegated spider plants corresponds to about 25 plants in 4-inch diameter pots or three 10-inch hanging baskets.During seasons when additional mois-ture is not desired, the spider plants could be replaced with jade plants to negligibly influence room humidity.

Other houseplants:

Areca Palm (Dypsis lutescens). Transpiration Rate: 10
Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii). Transpiration Rate: 9
Ferns (Nephrolepis exaltata). Transpiration Rate: 9
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum). Transpiration Rate: 8
Florist’s Mum (Chrysanthemum morifolium). Transpiration Rate: 8
Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa). Transpiration Rate: 8
English Ivy (Hedera helix). Transpiration Rate: 7
Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica). Transpiration Rate: 7
Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum). Transpiration Rate: 7
Parlor Palm (Chamaedorea elegans). Transpiration Rate: 7
Corn Plant (Dracaena fragrans). Transpiration Rate: 7
Dwarf Date Palm (Phoenix roebelenii). Transpiration Rate: 7
Dumb Cane (Dieffenbachia). Transpiration Rate: 7
Syngonium (Syngonium podophyllum). Transpiration Rate: 7
Dwarf Umbrella Tree (Schefflera). Transpiration Rate: 7
Prayer Plant (Maranta Leuconeura ‘Kerchoveana’). Transpiration Rate: 7
Anthurium. Transpiration Rate: 7
Philodendron. Transpiration Rate: 6

FAQ

How much humidity is required?

Not less than 40%. 60–80% works well. If molting or birth happens soon, the humidity should be increased to 80–90%.

What influences air humidity? What is the difference between 40% humidity and 80% humidity?

When humidity is low, cockroaches become passive and mostly hide in shelters. In high humidity, they often move and crawl out of their shelters even during the day. Females are giving birth better too with proper humidity.

What are the extreme humidity levels?

If you have nymphs (cockroaches that have not reached the sixth molt), then with insufficient humidity, they can hardly get out of their old exoskeleton or even die. If you think that the cockroach will soon molt, you need to increase the humidity to 80–90%. Do the same if your female is about to give birth. If you constantly keep high humidity (70–90%) and do not let it decrease over time, then mold or fungus may appear.