I returned to my home village for the holidays. My pets are staying with my friend back in Japan, so naturally, I felt incredibly roachless when I left them. So along with the recent pet reptile ban lift in Norway, my home village opened this sweet new pet shop, and along with reptiles, wouldn’t you know it? They had hissing roaches! I bought three – the only adult they had left, and two nymphs. Here’s the adult, appropriately named BIG BOY:

I’ll be bringing him and the nymphs back to Japan with me. There are no restrictions or anything on hissing roaches, and they’re totally fine being stuffed in my suitcase for transport, so that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. I look forward to adding them to my colony!!!

The three of them are currently residing in a Chinese food container with bottle lids as food and water dishes. It’s a little shabby, but it’s a temporary home for three little insects. They’re fine.

I held BIG BOY the year went from 2017 to 2018 for that extra bug luck. He’s a clinger! Once he velcros himself to you, he won’t let go so easily! People new to roaches might get a little freaked out by this, so I will probably choose a less clingy roach if I ever were to offer bug exposure services.

He’s a very pretty boy. I wonder how old he is. His antennas are completely intact, but he has some battle scars on his side.