# Termites as primary food source?



## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

I recently found a fantastic source of dampwood termites near my house, and assuming the recent humidity keeps up, I should have a ready supply of termites to feed my growing collection. Even the jeuv. Vents can easily eat them. My question is, are termites an acceptable substitute for flies? I've been combining them with the ff's I have, but it would be simpler to just collect termites weekly.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

As long as they are dusted, I don't see why they couldn't be a staple diet. I'd still keep FFs on hand though, just in case. Termites can dissapear without warning.


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

They're a great food source but very fatty so be reasonable about using them as a staple. I'm told by a friend of mine who is an entomology professor that damp woods termites are the most likely to produce secondary queens from workers. If you have a good supply, I would try to trap a huge number with a cardboard trap and set up a culture that you don't feed from to see if you can have some luck at getting a queen to appear. If you do, you'll be the envy of all froggers.


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## jbeetle (Feb 8, 2004)

I have a culture of dampwood termites that is over a year old. I collected them, fed off some, and then got lazy and didn't feel like going through the wood looking for them to feed off... so here they are a year later lol.


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

I actually have a termite culture, and so far it seems to be producing well, although I have stopped checking on them so I dont mess up their tunnels. Last time I checked there was 9 queens in there. I suggest setting up a culture, just because they are a great supplemental feeder.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Would anyone be able to sell starter cultures?


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

I think I was told it was illegal to ship a queen, but who checks every termite to make sure?


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## Guest (Oct 27, 2004)

I'd be willing to pay for a starter culture of termites if you want to send a good number of them down my way :lol:


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## snmreptiles (Feb 26, 2004)

CFeeney said:


> I'd be willing to pay for a starter culture of termites if you want to send a good number of them down my way :lol:


Same here!! I could split it with you Chantel!  

-Shelley


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## Guest (Oct 27, 2004)

I'd be more then happy to split it with you Shelly. If we can find someone willing to ship some to us in a large enough quantity. :lol: I can just set them up in large sterilite boxes in my crawlspace and forget about them for a few months and let them set up their own colony. My frogs would be in heaven.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Yes, as far as I know, dampwoods can have multiple surrogate queens per colony, so that in the event of the primary queen's death, one will replace her. Everytime I collect, I get 4 or 5 of these pseudo-queens along with the feeder workers. I would be willing to ship some as soon as the rains in my area stop if anyone would like to try their hand at culturing them, but does anyone have any info on the legality of it? I suppose I could just send them in unmarked packaging, but I don't know how big of a no-no that is.


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

It is illegal to sell termites without the proper permits. I dont think you will have a problem though, just dont post a add, just keep it confined to pms.


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## Guest (Oct 28, 2004)

hey dane i live in temecula maybe i can come by and grab a starter culture from you.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

sent pm's.


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## benmz (Feb 18, 2004)

It is absolutely illegal to sell or even ship termites without USDA permits. They are considered by authorities to a majpr pest. Millions of dollars are spent every year by homeowners trying to prevent them from eating their houses away. 

However, us froggers are smarter than that. We know that if the wood in your house is not wet you have little or nothing to fear. I would really be careful about shipping these tasty treats. Being regulated at a federal level you could face some stiff fines if caught. No laws about collecting them or passing them along for free though, just not sending through the mail or other shipping services.


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Shipping termites is a pretty big deal you all should be ashamed :lol: 

:wink: lol


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## Guest (Oct 31, 2004)

We're not shipping anything :wink: 

We're discussing frog food.


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Kinda an inside joke i guess...


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## jkinsey (Oct 7, 2004)

How much are the termites going for?


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Well, the feds are on my tail, I've been running termites and cocaine out of mexico, so if you want a culture it's gonna be $5000. Jk.


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## jkinsey (Oct 7, 2004)

Great...I'll take 2!


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## jkinsey (Oct 7, 2004)

Ok...so how does everyone have their cultures set-up? I have read a couple of different methods but would like to see others so I can get some ideas in case I get some. Here is what I have found so far...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthr ... ge=1&pp=15


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2004)

*termite culturing ~ long....*

The arachnoboard thing is a good starting place, but Ive found a method that works better for me. I got tons of mites tha eventually crashed my cultures when I set them up as on the arachnoboard link.
Form the wood and paper "sandwich" like they say. But, make enough of them to fill the width (shortest dimension) in a ten gallon tank. This allows plenty of space for the termites to begin a colony. Set them up "vertically" (laid on their side, not horizontal), not laying down as outlined in the link. Thus, the multiple sandwiches will fill one end of the tank. I think about 10 pieces of board (1" thick) fills a side. Every other one is a blank, the others are with the hole cut in it and the paper stuffed in it. Put an airtight top on the tank. Only need to open about once a week for misting of the wood. Add about 2 inches of sandy dirt to the rest of the tank. Other than misting the wood, leave completely alone for about a year. New termite queens arent particularly fecund, and the new colony will need to go through a maturing phase. Temps are important, and the temp should never exceed 80F. Ideal temp is about 74F. 100% humidity at all times is necessary. 
If youve pacific dampwood termites, they'll need the space. Theyre huge. In many cases, too big for tincs to eat. Interestingly, there are 3 species of the pac dampwood identified, and the various authorities that you can find are very eager to share knowlege. Do some google searching and you'll find some that will help you identify if youre interested. Theyre a relic species from when the West Coast was a wetter place, and can be found from S. Canada all the way to Baja CA. Though, theyre getting less prevalent, and the various species are in the process of colonizing each others traditional territory....I spent way to much time researching this, and have been to about 10 locations across the west coast where they traditonally could be found. Best location so far: Golden Gate park in SF.
FL. subterraneans are WAY smaller, more "feedable" to most frogs. Set up the same way. They, unlike the pac dampwoods, will form tunnels in the soil in addition to colonizing and eating the wood and paper. If you set them up on a rack in a cool, dark closet or something similar, you will be able to see them forming the tunnels and running around through the bottom of the tank. They take a year to really get going, more or less.
I use the pac dampwood setups as compost piles for trimmings from my frog tanks. Usually, they get a good colony of mites running around there too, which I feed off to juvies and thumbs. The termites seal their tunnels, and mites arent very fond of getting in there. I think for me that was the key difference: with the larger setup, the termites were able to establish and seal off a larger area, thus keeping out most mites and allowing them to feel more comfortable. Ive got 3 viable and reproducing pac dampwood colonies. I can feed from them about once a week, max. They dont reproduce rapidly, so you dont want to over harvest. The FL subterraneans reproduce more rapidly, but I havent arrived at a harvestable stage just yet. But, Im getting there......


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Thanks for all the great info, looks like ill be makin a larger setup!

Ryan


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

Divegod,

I'm having trouble visualizing your setup. Could you post a picture? Are you saying to put the wood sandwiches on their side?


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2004)

Correct. Put them on their side. The side that is down to the bottom of the tank should be the 1" thickness, not the 6" flat side. Ill post a pic this weekend.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Hmm, all this time I thought I had Dampwoods, but given their small size and swift tunnel building, I guess they're subterranean. Cool to watch them running through the tunnels in the bottom of the tank, like an ant farm.


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2004)

how do u collect them? with a modified vacum like that on tincs.com? how hard would it be to find a queen, do the phsudo queens ever mature to real queens? sry for stupid questions i guess i'll search on my own i just wanted to see if any oen had quick answers. 

Thanks
Tom


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## EverettC (Mar 9, 2004)

I made a culture with just paper towels, wood chips, and a bit of moss for humidity. I found my termites in my backyard in some pieces of wood laying in the greenbelt. I kept them in a standard critter keeper and left it outside (I had to cover up the holes). They lasted me all summer and a bit into winter untill I put them back into a tree stump in my backyard (when I saw the helicopter drones ). I'll go and collect more this spring and then do it again. Works really well with little mess (mom doesn't yell at me for this one)


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