Termites / A necessity for some? Or should we find an Alternative

[Lukec]

Completely respect everyone's view here, please put it out there.

Termites, what are your top 5 finches that "need" them?

Reading between the lines it appears that some people are steering away from termites. Am I right and why so?

I expect that some birds may need them, should there be a group that maintains a species with termites?

Should we be moving to maggots as a replacement? If so what are challenges?

[casehulsebosch]

I have visited various bird breeders in Australia over the years.
I was told that for breeding Melba's and other ptyalin species termites is an absolute must.

Bird breeders I visited in South Africa also supplied termites, mainly for their african species.

Maybe people are steering away from termites because it is a time consuming exercise and one has to be committed to the species?

I still believe that variety is the spice of life (and the secret to good bird breeding) where one should supply, termites, crickets, waxmoth, maggots, fruitflies, mealworms etc.

From my own experience i know that Pekin Robins for instance may raise a nest of young one time on mealworms alone, while with the next nest of young may ignore these completely and go for other types of live food.

A supply of maggots is certainly much easier to set up and maintain than doing this with termites. The experts will tell you. We have no termites or termite problems in New Zealand.

cheers, Case

[Craig52]

Completely respect everyone's view here, please put it out there.

Termites, what are your top 5 finches that "need" them?

Reading between the lines it appears that some people are steering away from termites. Am I right and why so?

I expect that some birds may need them, should there be a group that maintains a species with termites?

Should we be moving to maggots as a replacement? If so what are challenges?

Termites are regarded as the premium livefood for all the pytillia group and blue caps infact the the latter are addicted to them and extremely hard to convert them to maggots even though they still eat them,it is most likely a protein thing.
The main reason a lot are moving away from termites is access to them and keeping them alive as well as the minister of finance having them on site, they think they will eat their house down.
There is plenty of groups and breeders that still use them combined with maggots and mealworms.
Breeders have moved to maggots with good results for finches other than the species mentioned above but most give a good array of livefood mixed with them including termites.
I personally only feed maggots to my crimsons but their soft food/sprouted seed mix is fortified with a good vitamin/ mineral and amino acid powder every second day in which i believe compensates for the higher protein termites.
Breeding bushfly maggots is imo easier than the hard work of obtaining termites,my wife now only complains about a few extra flies around during summer so i keep the pantry stocked up with fly spray just incase Craig

[Tiaris]

IMO all Pytilias, Twinspots, & most African waxbills breed best with termites as the main livefood offered. I also adamantly believe they give the best results with Strawberry Finches and some other non African species but maggots certainly give very acceptable consistent breeding results with most species other than the notorious termite eaters if offered in consistent quantities.
Maggots are obviously more convenient for most breeders these days and this is having obvious consequences to numbers of Pytilias, Blue-caps, etc bred compared to when termites were the staple livefood for most finch breeders.

[arthur]

Termites are far and away the best live food for insectivorous finches

If they are available in quantity within a short drive of home they can be supplied 'ad lib', and are much easier and so much better than maggots, mealworms, etc

You have to factor in the variables after that, as to the way you will go . . but white-ants are top shelf

More reliable production, and larger and healthier clutches

With larger softbills, larger live food is the order of the day. In fact Pekin Robins etc generally ignore termites completely when feeding chicks

Case mentions mealworms for PR's but when I was breeding them, and R-C C's, mealworms (apart from the newly hatched, white skinned babies) were the cause of deaths in young ones . . even though tiny birds like wrens youngsters can thrive on mealworms

Perhaps Sam D could comment on experiences of members of FSA who are breeding PR's, as to their opinions of mealworms

[arthur]

Termites are far and away the best live food for insectivorous finches

If they are available in quantity within a short drive of home they can be supplied 'ad lib', and are much easier and so much better than maggots, mealworms, etc

You have to factor in the variables after that, as to the way you will go . . but white-ants are top shelf

More reliable production, and larger and healthier clutches

With larger softbills, larger live food is the order of the day. In fact Pekin Robins etc generally ignore termites completely when feeding chicks

Case mentions mealworms for PR's but when I was breeding them, and R-C C's, mealworms (apart from the newly hatched, white skinned babies) were the cause of deaths in young ones . . until we realised . . even though tiny birds like wrens youngsters can thrive on mealworms

Perhaps Sam D could comment on experiences of members of FSA who are breeding PR's, as to their opinions of mealworms

[Tiaris]

Couldn't agree more Arthur.
Worth the effort if you possibly get them for most finches.
The question of finding an alternative is not an effort to best meet the birds' needs but rather to try to meet you own convenience.

[wagga]

I agree with you guys in saying that only feed termites if you can ready and consistently find them.

[Cordonfan1]

One solution - although you still have to access them is to freeze your white ants - I collect & put them straight into 4 litre buckets , straight into the fridge in the ute , then into the freezer .
They can be kept up to ten weeks & my cordons & OBs etc still smash the tray when fed out
One question though , is it illegal to collect them from state forests ??

Cheers
Deano

[wagga]

collection of termites in NSW is easy to remember.

state forests = illegal
national parks = illegal
private land = OK with permission