Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, all. due to dumb luck and bad planning, i am up to my eye balls in termites. not in my house mind you, but i found some down at the creek bottom. i have like two pounds of these little buggers and i wanted to make sure that they were ok to feed to little frogs. i know that there can be some problems with feeding ants, so i wanted to make sure that it would be ok. i have been feeding them to my cresteds and they love them, but the frogs are a little more delicate, so i wanted to make sure. thankx
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1.1 crested gecko
0.2 antherystic kenyan sand boa
0.2 madagascar ground boa
0.0.1 frilled dragon
1.1 cook's tree boa

Are you kidding me? They're great! They are said to be one of the frogs natural food sources and in certain Amphibian/Reptile journals I have read, authors talk about how feeding termites not only improve health but cause them to go into breeding more readily! Geez! I'd love it if I could get a hold of some myself! Surprized no one else wrote back to tell you that! Good luck, I'm sure you will find the frogs appreciate this variety. Only thing you HAVE to make sure is that you harvest termites, and field plankton from unsprayed areas only-that would be the only concern. Regards-Maggie

I do have pictures of the method. But I can't paste the into the messege.

The materials:
• A medium and small sterlite type container - the small container needs to fit easily inside of the larger.
• Unbleached, brown paper toweling (the kind you find at gas stations and in the office bathroom).
• Large popsicle or craft sticks (buy them at Michaels or similar hobby/craft stores)
• Vermiculite - you can probably use soil or peat but I like vermiculite.
• A softwood board and access to some woodworking hardware (this is the hard part but there is method to the madness)
• Subterranean termites

The first thing you want is to get the "brains of the operation". This is a 3 layer contraption made out of the board. It is 5" square and 3/4" thick out of pine (yes, pine, it's fine for raising termites). It's simply 2 square pieces and a middle piece which has the center cut out with a hole saw and grooves routed into it. The grooves don't need to be deep, maybe 1/8" wide and 1/8" deep. you can even achieve this just using a table saw adjusted for a partial cut. The grooves are important because it lets us take advantage of termites' stupid natures (they happily follow natural pathways along wood).

Soak it in water, preferably overnight, along with a bunch of the popsicle sticks. Then get the rest of your goodies together:

OK, here's the secret: *pack* the cut out center of the brain with wet unbleached paper towels. Termites love this stuff. This is the only part of the culture you are ever going to add water to. Termites need a source of moisture to survive, by only adding water here such that it is the only wet area, this is going to be a place they will congregate (and travel to via those grooves).

Put it at one end of the smaller sterlite container and put a thin layer of vermiculite in the bottom. Layer the soaked popsicle sticks on top of that.

You can add more popsicle sticks (you can even put another layer of vermiculite and then a whole other layer of popsicle sticks):

Then add your termites. Pictured is a bunch of crumbled wood from the log they were in with a bunch of termites being dumped on some moist vermiculite over the popsicle sticks:

The moat" comes next. You set the Smaller sterlite container in the larger with an inch or two of water in the larger. This is *very* important.

First, termites need about 100% RH to thrive (they do not need much in the way of air exchange, though, so don't worry about the marked lack of ventilation).

Second, they're idiots who spread by their very nature. Once the population gets going they will build dirt tubes up and out of the smaller container. The moat will catch the suicidal nuts that march out into the great unknown. Far better that they drown than establish themselves in your home.

To care for the culture keep it sealed up in the larger container in the dark. Every couple of weeks, add some water to the paper towel in the "brain". If they consume a lot of that towel, add some more.

If there comes a time that most of the wood is consumed outside the brain, add some more popsicle sticks, or if it's getting filled up with the broken down wood, scoop out most of the dirt and start over.

Here's the payoff: unlike most social insects, termites don't need a queen. Young termites will grow into what they call secondary reproductives and lay eggs. The colony can be grown from a few hundred initial workers into a full fledged colony of thousands.

Once you've got a decent pop, here's what you do:

You go into the brain and lift off the top two sections, the bottom board should be covered with termites. Knock them off into a clean plastic container and feed away.

Ideally what you want is to get 3 or 4 cultures going. Then you can feed from one on a given week, and then rest it for a few weeks. This allows the population to recover.

If you can't find enough infested logs initially, you can grow your number of cultures by splitting an established one.

Israel

very informative post there mate

Jonny
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0.0.3 Orange Splash Back Dart Frogs

England, UK
gjuk@ntlworld.com

Wow. That is great information. Is there anyway you could email pictures of that setup. I would be interested in seeing that. My email address is joshkinsey@hotmail.com. Thanks, Josh

What can be done about mold growing in termite cultures? I have some cultures that keep growng mold and I think it is slowly killing off the termites. Any ideas???
Thanks, Josh

Yeah, that is awesome you have that many termites. Your frogs are going to go crazy. Have fun.

Here is a link to pics and info on culturing termites

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=14641

Have Fun!

Thanks a lot for that link it was more than helpful. Take care.

Regards,
Josh