7 replies to this topic

[FSTP]

Hello Guys. Its been forever since I've been active. Not because I lost interest in ant keeping but rather I've been really ill and not physically capable to go anting or to take care of any ants for that matter. My health has been up and down and literally almost died twice (requiring intubation and defibrillation). So I don't have any ants at the moment but my health is much better now and I want to get back into ant keeping. I still have the termitat and they're all going strong. So I thought I would do an update on them. So I've had the termitat for just over a year now and they are all doing great. Its been the easiest thing to care for only needing about 5ml's of water every week or so. When I first got it the colony only consisted of a hand full of workers and maybe two soldiers. Now the colony is much larger with lots of soldiers and tons of adult workers and numerous juveniles. The juveniles seem to come in waves every month or so.

 

Soon within the next month I'm going to try and rehouse them into a larger version of the Termitat that I'm designing. It's basicly just going to be a jumbo version. With a 15" diameter slab of Douglas Fir instead of the 7.5" slab that they're living in now.

 

 

So here are a couple of pictures.

 

This is what I refer to as the front side.

 

And this is the backside.

 

 

 

Also here is a short 6 minute video I just took.

 

https://youtu.be/abguJhxTSWM

 

 

So for those members that might remember me, I hope everything has been going well with you and your colonies.

 

thanks,

Jess

 

Edit: forgot to mention the species. These are Zootermopsis angusticolis, AKA damp wood termites.

Edited by FSTP, September 15 2018 - 5:38 AM.

[Patp3]

Hope you're feeling better and are able to get back to your ant adventures! I witnessed a flight of termites earlier this month but passed up catching any because I wasn't to interested in keeping terms but after seeing your set up I may have to change that, your set up is beautiful!

[neoponera]

Can you get a video of the queen?

[RobertJ]

I must have one of these Termitat's lol

[Guy_Fieri]

Aren’t the termites bothered by the light? Do they get used to it like some ants?

[FSTP]

Aren’t the termites bothered by the light? Do they get used to it like some ants?

 

 

They don't seem too bothered by the light. When I first got them they did seem to block spots that were to bright with fecal pellets. But now they don't seem to do that. also while the photos look as though they're in a lot of light, they really are in a pretty dim area.

Edited by FSTP, December 13 2018 - 8:40 PM.

[Vendayn]

Yeah I noticed my colonies don't mind the light at all.

 

My Incisitermes minor will explore right in the open, with a flashlight on them. The only thing that startles them is if I breathe on them, but they are even used to that more than in the past. They are "hibernating" now though, which for termites just means they are super slow but kind of still active. My subterranean termites are pretty much the same, but a little bit more bothered than my Incisitermes.

 

I find ants are vastly more bothered by light than termites are...which is kind of weird. One would think it would be the opposite, since a lot of termites rarely actually come to the surface to begin with.

Edited by Vendayn, December 17 2018 - 7:32 PM.

[AntsBC]

I must have one of these Termitat's lol

 

You can buy one from https://termitat.com/products/