Captive Termites- Journal (ended)

[Vendayn]

March/31/07:

Desert termites: Doing great, and in fact they are so easy to keep that the last time I gave them water or did anything with them was when I updated this journal last. They have plenty of wood, so I didn't have to worry about that either. I also looked in the tunnels today and it looks like there is actually a lot more termites than when I originally had them.

Western termites: I think they are doing good. They covered the tunnels with dirt, so I can't see them...but I see a few crawling on the side. I'm actually not sure if most are alive still or not, but I'll watch them over the next week.

[Vendayn]

April/18/08:
Well, real good news and real bad news. my Western subterranean termites are dead, container was moist enough but when I was moving it around trying to deal with the winged termites a lot got squashed from collapsing tunnels. There weren't many left and the ones remaining I fed to my ants.

Good news is my Desert subterranean termites have eggs! I looked in their container tonight and underneath, I saw a small pile of eggs. This is great! Means I have a queen or queens and will have a healthy population of termites.

[Vendayn]

Been a few months since I last updated.

A couple days ago I saw a small baby termite that must have hatched within the past 1-2 months. Today I see even more baby termites and I see the queen termite as well. She is a lot bigger than when I originally got her, about double the size. Over the next few months she will get bigger and bigger.

They are kinda boring...but do make a good food source for ants

[jay942942]

So you have Western and Desert Subterranean termites as well as Arid Land termites and Western Drywood termites? That's a lot.