No worries, glad to help. It seems theres a big
"luck" component involved, so get a few tanks ready in
order to hopefully end up with a few good ones. The
process of forming a new queen and then her
establishing a new colony involves some very
interesting steps. Ive got a colony right now that is
splitting off from the main colony, and, frankly Id
rather watch them doing their thing than anything
thats on TV!
C
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 13:48:09 -0800 (PST)
> From: Chad Mayer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [gecko]Re: termites
> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Yeah, I failed many times too. Heres what I do now:
> 10 gal aquarium with an airtight lid.
> 6"x6" squares of regular pine lumber. Cut a hole in
> the middle leaving only about 1" of wood remaining
> along the sides. Using unbleached paper towels,
> stuff
> the center of the hole. Every other piece of wood
> is
> a "blank" square with no hole cut in it. Put wood
> squares into the aquarium on the side, not laying
> flat, alternating between the blanks and the paper
> towel filled pieces. Forms sort of a sandwich
> effect.
> Fill one (short) side of the aquarium with these
> guys. Add sandy soil to the remaining 3/5 of the
> aquarium, about 2" deep. Heavily spray the wood and
> let sit for a few days. Add TONS of termites to the
> wood.
> Depending on what type you have, the termites will
> begin burrowing into the soil and wood, eventually
> forming a viable colony. Keep in a cool (below 80)
> dark space for a YEAR, watering (spraying) once a
> week. Replace toweling (which is best gotten from a
> gas station. You'll have to experiment with this as
> some is better for this purpose than others) as
> necessary, checking no more than once a month.
> Key things: temps need to be between 60-75 F.
> Moisture needs to be high, they dessicate rapidly.
> As
> I said, I failed many, many times, but now have
> Pacific Northwest dampwood termites and a species
> from
> florida reproducing for me. Its hard to not check
> more than once a month, but if you set the colonies
> up
> on some sort of shelving, you can see activity
> through
> the bottom of the glass, relieving curiosity. The
> termites DONT like being disturbed, and they will
> expire quickly if temps get higher than 80 F.
> Best of luck, I think that luck plays a big part in
> getting these guys to work for you, and you may have
> to repeat the experiment several times before you
> get
> a viable colony. Fortunately, few people will
> complain about you harvesting termites.....Any other
> questions, feel free to ask!
> C
>
> > Message: 2
> > From: Lyle Puente <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Subject: Re: [gecko]Re: termites
> > Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 08:31:12 -0500
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > Nice! how did you manage to get that all set up
> and
> > how are you
> > keeping them?
> > I always had long term failure in my attempts.
> >
> > On Dec 15, 2004, at 2:15 AM, Chad Mayer wrote:
> > > Just for the record, I culture two different
> > species
> > > of termites, and my gex LOVE them. Theyre high
> in
> > > protein, but a bit fatty, so they dont get them
> > very
> > > often, but when contained and properly cultured,
> > they
> > > make a great feeder. You have to be incredibly
> > > patient though, they can take as long as a year
> to
> > > become a viable colony after being taken from
> the
> > wild.
> >
> > Lyle Puente
> > President
> > Global Gecko Association
> >
> > My Brothers Banned
> > http://www.mybrothersbanned.com
> >
> >
> > -- __--__--
> >
> > Message: 3
> > From: "Sven Vogler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 15:12:45 +0100
> > Subject: Re: [gecko]Re: termites
> > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > Yep. In that setup I am highly interested, too.
> >
> > Greetings from Hamburg
> >
> > Sven Vogler
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Lyle Puente" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: Re: [gecko]Re: termites
> > Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 08:31:12 -0500
> >
> > >=20
> > > Nice! how did you manage to get that all set up
> > and how are you keeping =
> > them?
> > > I always had long term failure in my attempts.
> > >=20
> > > On Dec 15, 2004, at 2:15 AM, Chad Mayer wrote:
> > > > Just for the record, I culture two different
> > species
> > > > of termites, and my gex LOVE them. Theyre
> high
> > in
> > > > protein, but a bit fatty, so they dont get
> them
> > very
> > > > often, but when contained and properly
> cultured,
> > they
> > > > make a great feeder. You have to be
> incredibly
> > > > patient though, they can take as long as a
> year
> > to
> > > > become a viable colony after being taken from
> > the wild.
> > >=20
> > > Lyle Puente
> > > President
> > > Global Gecko Association
> > >=20
> > > My Brothers Banned
> > > http://www.mybrothersbanned.com
> > >=20
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Global Gecko Association
> > > http://www.gekkota.com
> > > Classifieds
> > >
> http://www.gekkota.com/cgi-gekkota/classifieds.cgi
> >
> === message truncated ===
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________
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> --__--__--
>
> Message: 2
> From: Lyle Puente <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: [gecko]Re: termites
> Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 21:29:51 -0500
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> thanks Chad,
> Nice post. I think for the first time ever I cant
> wait
=== message truncated ===
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