Reticulitermes grassei are known as the western subterranean termite. These termites nest in soil in the wild with access to wood which is their main food source, cellulose which is produced from plant cells, is what they feed on and have special digestive enzymes which break down the wood.
Care:
They will come in a test tube with either card inside of tissue paper which they eat you will have to pipette water into the test tube every 5-10 days to keep nest space damp but not wet, if the tissue/card is wet then do not add additional water its best to have the space with humidity but not too wet.
Once they have 10 or more workers consider moving to a nest, they they use up the food you can simply pop in some damp tissue or toilet roll without any scent on.
Nest:
Natural set up with a block of untreated wood at the bottom covered with hydroponic soil or sand/loam mix.
Acrylic nest: You can create a small chamber for the small colony by opening the nest and creating chamber without any tissue or small amount of tissue then fill the acrylic nest space with tissue then seal it up in the outworld you can place a block of untreated wood and cover with a layer of soil or sand/loam mix. Make sure you keep nest hydrated and they should do well.
Its best to keep termites covered for sunlight and can reveal during observation of the colony. A blanket for acrylic sheet or acetate sheet should be ok.
Any questions just contact me and ill help!
Keeping difficulty: Moderate (Kept at least one or two European species)
Colonyform: Monogyne
King size: 5-6mm
Queen size: 7-8mm
Worker’s size: 3-4mm
Soldier size: 4-6mm
Food: wood, paper/cellulose
Temp: 18-24°C
Humidity: 50-70%
Founding: Semi-claustral with
Colonysize: 1-10,000
Hibernation: NO
Live arrival guarantee:
We guarantee the live arrival of your Queen they come well packed in our jiffy bags which have two-sided padding as well as an additional layer of bubble wrap around our test tubes. We are the only company in the United Kingdom to offer our live arrival guarantee of your queen as well as an additional 14 days guarantee if the colony if kept in the original test tube for all our European species (excluding termites Live arrival only for 24 hours). Why do we do this? We are confident with our colony’s health and our packaging process as well as our care guides, we also believe in our customers and making sure they have a good ant keeping experience.
Be aware of sellers only using the Live arrival guarantee and not the 14-day additional warranty on European ant species it might be slightly cheaper but could end up paying more in the long run, also all our products are sold as starter kits including food and a pipette.
We do require photographic evidence of the queen in the original test tube for validating the guarantee once outside the test tube and in a nest the environment is outside of our control.
It is illegal to release non-native species of ants into the wild and could damage the local ecosystem so bare this in mind we have a duty to our environment.
Live arrival guarantee we ensure the live arrival of the queen only upon delivery contact us within 24-48 hours of receiving the Queen dead on arrival with a picture of the dead queen and the original workers. DO NOT TRANSFER THE DEAD QUEEN OR WORKERS TO A NEST AS THIS VOIDS YOUR WARRNTY. For our additional 14-day guarantee for European species the Queen and workers must be kept in the original test tube sealed with the cotton and care sheet instructions followed if you want to keep this additional guarantee do not transfer to a nest or your warranty is VOIDED (we recommend you keep the 14-day warranty).
We have no control over the environment outside the test tube and have no influence in the conditions the responsibility once placed outside the test tube within the 14-day period the responsibility is with the buyer. 9 times out of 10 colonies die in the nest due to lack of water access, food, temperature, oxygen or stress due to vibrations or exposure to excess light. If your colony does fail inside a nest contact us, we can advise what went wrong but it is up to you to buy another ant colony, you will succeed but sometimes it does not work the first time. Research is key to success with ant keeping and follow our guides.
