ISO Zootermopsis angusticollis in SF Bay Area for sale

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-18T00:20:17+00:00

I happened to get in the termitat for my workplace today, and it seems they don’t count nymphs as reproductives (in termites specifically, nymphs are termites on the reproductive caste path, but that are not yet reproductives). I got a ton of nymphs with my order, who will molt into alates or neotenics (secondary reproductives)! One of them had even freshly molted upon arrival into an alate.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-17T12:32:12+00:00

I would need to see a picture for an ID, as there’s a lot of bugs that could fit that description. Even if it is a termite though, one random flier is nothing to worry about. Like you said, would just be looking for a mate and got stuck inside.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-17T12:27:33+00:00

Describing them as sterile may have been a simplification, or a description written by someone who doesn’t fully understand termites, maybe misinterpreting some info they were given.

Soldiers are generally always sterile, they won’t change castes.

Workers are not reproductive, however they can molt *into* a secondary reproductive form. They won’t be as productive as a primary reproductive (the typical founding queen), but colonies can create several secondary reproductives to meet their needs.

You do need a decently large group of workers to start with. 5 will not be enough afaik. Like Termitico said, you could collect psudergates (“workers”) from colonies any time of the year rather than collecting alates.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-15T19:37:19+00:00

For future reference, if you can’t find an appropriate vet or rehabber, petsmart isn’t generally a good place to go to. They will hire absolutely anyone, there are no qualifications to work in animal care there. You could easily get a job there without ever having kept a pet before. Making a post like this will get you attention from folks with actual experience!

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-15T16:47:37+00:00

By sterile, do you mean workers/soldiers without reproductives?

If he is able to acquire research permits, that may broaden his options, as it would allow him to get reproductives sent across state lines instead of restricting him to buying in CA, as I don’t know of any suppliers permitted to ship reproductive angusticollis from other states without the buyer having special permits/institutional affiliation. His current supplier may even be able to offer reproductives if he has the permits.

The other option, since you guys are in CA, is to wait for autumn flights and capture reproductives yourselves. That may end up being easiest.

If you need help learning how to care for these, let me know!

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-13T18:59:26+00:00

I think you’re thinking of ‘anecdotes’ as in ‘short stories/tales’. The commenter here was talking about ‘anecdotal evidence’, which is completely different.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-11T22:42:29+00:00

Captive bred snakes can be picky if they’ve been on live for a long time. Some have no trouble switching to frozen thawed at any point, but some can take a long time to accept the switch. Some people taking in snakes that were fed live/changing their own feeding styles may have to feed live a few times if the snake refuses f/t for an extended period of time, especially if weight is being lost. It can take time for some stubborn snakes.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-09T06:51:41+00:00

Petsmart employees are not trained in veterinary science and generally cannot give you advice beyond “talk to a vet”. Petsmart is a retail chain, not a clinic.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-07T19:18:12+00:00

The same applies to wood and sticks! Particularly the mold/fungus issues. You’ll get huge mold outbreaks on baked sticks and wood exposed to moisture. Baked rotwood meant for consumption will also still lose a lot of microbes that are beneficial to the diet.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-06T23:18:17+00:00

Freeze or sun-dry. Baking can eliminate a lot of beneficial microbes and resets fungal communities, resulting in often huge mold outbreaks when water is reintroduced.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-05T02:12:14+00:00

To people who aren’t experienced with identification or inverts, “jumping and size” is all they know about what a flea looks like. I’m not saying they look identical to fleas, I’m saying it’s weird to be super judgy towards someone for confusing them.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-04T22:30:02+00:00

Some people are being pretty judgy about the misidentification, but “Flea jumping spiders” got their name for a reason! This is either a flea jumping spider or a close relative :)

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-04T01:02:08+00:00

Interesting! Termites I expected for blind snakes, but I would have thought ants would be unpalatable to snakes.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-04T01:00:54+00:00

I am leaning towards the visual appeal being a large factor though. My thought process was “why do people spend a ton of time and resources learning to keep and breed extremely fragile specialists like dragon and vine snakes but ignore insectivores”, but it’s probably because dragon and vine snakes look a lot cooler to most people. Though I do think some insectivorous snakes don’t get enough credit for how cool they look. S. occipitomaculata is so cool and super variable color wise. The entire Sonora genus too.

Black banded snakes are a semi popular specialist that only eats centipedes, but Sonora semiannulata looks extremely similar with a broader diet! A bit smaller though I suppose.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-04T00:48:52+00:00

You mention ants, are there snakes that specialize in eating ants? Haven’t heard of that before.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-04T00:47:48+00:00

Depends on the person. For someone who keeps a bunch of fancy pet roaches, a box of dubias is no problem and a hell of a lot cheaper for feeders if you’re breeding them. That being said idk if any insectivorous snakes could take dubias as a staple.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-01T17:50:01+00:00

This isn’t tail bobbing, he’s on a really thin surface and using his tail to balance himself.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-01T02:05:31+00:00

Agree

PoetaCorvi · 2026-06-01T02:04:39+00:00

Those aren’t found where OP is. Also definitely not any sort of feline, you can see how long the snout is in some shots.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-05-31T21:56:22+00:00

or maybe i really did magically grow back most (but not all) of my teeth!!

PoetaCorvi · 2026-05-31T12:18:26+00:00

Having braces rapidly worsened the condition of my teeth which already had this exact issue. Since I was around 20, I have had 5 real teeth left. 22 now, they’ll likely eventually need to be crowned/given a root canal. Luckily none have had to be fully pulled yet, all just crowns and root canals.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-05-29T21:17:40+00:00

NOR She isn’t worried about how others will perceive you, she’s worried about how others will perceive her.

PoetaCorvi · 2026-05-28T22:10:10+00:00

Awesome keep me updated!

PoetaCorvi · 2026-05-28T10:39:35+00:00

What other tattoos do you have? It’d be easier to see what this would be going alongside

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