Aussie Finch Forum

I would like to feed my birds termites, but No.1 I don't know where to get any, and No.2 my dad is paranoid about them (you know, getting into the house ect)

How could I overcome these probs?

Hi
I can't really help with wehre to get them, but if you have any friends who live on bush properties than they might help
You can freeze termites, they do die and that solves the eating the house problem but they remain soft for 2 or 3 months. Reports vary on whether the birds like them better or not, but most say it's the same

A pest guy told us that they live everywhere underground where there is 'food'.They dont generally come up out of ground .Have you any trees that have died or friends got any dead trees ? Worth having a look , look what I found today I was even going to go Bush and have a scrumage around lol ! Good luck shame we cant buy them

I use ones from the bush up the back of our farm, which I am pretty sure are Heterotermes ferox.
They have a grey dome about 2 feet wide and a foot high, not growing in a tree or stump.
The termites vary from area to area. In the south, there's usually only a few kinds in any given area.

To reassure your dad, find out which ones are a problem in your area (maybe ask the council or a pest controller) and learn how to identify (and avoid) their mounds.
Also, to avoid them setting up a home at your house take only the outer part of the mound, as the queen and eggchambers are in the inner mound.
It is easy to avoid in H. ferox, as it is rock hard and impenetrable, but I don't know if that is true of your local termites.

I take about a quarter of the outer mound, and rotate nests.
If I have time, I stand back to watch the chats, wrens and robins feasting at the hole in the mound.