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The species best suited for captivity

Started By Spazmops , Dec 7 2020 10:43 AM

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72 replies to this topic

Poll: The species best suited for captivity (29 member(s) have cast votes)

Do you agree or disagree with my opinion?

  1. Voted Agree (10 votes [34.48%])

    Percentage of vote: 34.48%

  2. Disagree (19 votes [65.52%])

    Percentage of vote: 65.52%

Vote Guests cannot vote

#1 Offline Spazmops - Posted December 7 2020 - 10:43 AM

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I was reflecting the other day on how Pogonomyrmex occidentalis might be the species that's best suited for antkeeping. I have a few reasons for thinking this: 1.Their diet is simple and doesn't require live food or freshy killed insects. 2. Their temperature and humidity are easy to maintain and don't have to be exact. 3. They're big, so it's not very hard to spot mites or similar issues. 4. They're deregulated, so it's easy to get a colony of your own. 5. They can't climb plastic or glass, making lidless nests easily possible and escape attempts almost nonexistent. 6. They're active during the day, making it easy to monitor the activity of your colony.

I'm not saying that they're my favorite species or that they're the most fun to keep, but in my opinion they're the best suited to be kept in captivity. If you disagree or if I got some information wrong, feel free to correct me or put your own opinion. 

 


Edited by Spazmops, December 7 2020 - 10:44 AM.

Co-owner and founder of Mountain Myrmeculture and The Menagerie Discord Server. 

Ants I have:

1 Formica fusca group- 0 workers

1 Tetramorium immigrans colony-20 workers

1 Dorymyrmex insanus- 1 queen, used to have workers

 

1 large P. occidentalis colony- around 50 workers, plenty of brood

 

 

#2 Offline Swirlysnowflake - Posted December 7 2020 - 10:48 AM

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Wow, that does sound well suited to captivity lol. The downside is the price, $82+ for a colony from THA. 


Edited by Swirlysnowflake, December 7 2020 - 10:48 AM.

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#3 Offline Spazmops - Posted December 7 2020 - 10:51 AM

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Wow, that does sound well suited to captivity lol. The downside is the price, $82+ for a colony from THA. 

Yeah, THA's are pretty expensive. I'll be selling my $20 queens again next year, provided I catch enough.


  • Swirlysnowflake likes this

Co-owner and founder of Mountain Myrmeculture and The Menagerie Discord Server. 

Ants I have:

1 Formica fusca group- 0 workers

1 Tetramorium immigrans colony-20 workers

1 Dorymyrmex insanus- 1 queen, used to have workers

 

1 large P. occidentalis colony- around 50 workers, plenty of brood

 

 

#4 Offline Devi - Posted December 7 2020 - 10:53 AM

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Wow, that does sound well suited to captivity lol. The downside is the price, $82+ for a colony from THA. 

Yeah, THA's are pretty expensive. I'll be selling my $20 queens again next year, provided I catch enough.

 

Yes, absolutely!  We will be selling them for sure provided we can find them.  Think good thoughts!


#5 Offline Swirlysnowflake - Posted December 7 2020 - 10:59 AM

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Wow, that does sound well suited to captivity lol. The downside is the price, $82+ for a colony from THA. 

Yeah, THA's are pretty expensive. I'll be selling my $20 queens again next year, provided I catch enough.

 

Yes, absolutely!  We will be selling them for sure provided we can find them.  Think good thoughts!

 

Oh, great! I'll definitely purchase some, occis are cool


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#6 Offline Guest_StrickyAnts_* - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:05 AM

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Wow, that does sound well suited to captivity lol. The downside is the price, $82+ for a colony from THA. 

Then don't get em from tha  :lol:


 

 

 

Wow, that does sound well suited to captivity lol. The downside is the price, $82+ for a colony from THA. 

Yeah, THA's are pretty expensive. I'll be selling my $20 queens again next year, provided I catch enough.

 

Yes, absolutely!  We will be selling them for sure provided we can find them.  Think good thoughts!

 

Oh, great! I'll definitely purchase some, occis are cool

 

Oh nice! I'll def buy once I get a permit next year.


#7 Offline TechAnt - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:10 AM

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Agreed, but I find some cons:

Stinging - children/pets/allergic people can be fatally hurt/severely injured.

Climate - They are ants suited for warm climates which means they don't do well without heating in colder climates. Which means you need to have gotten some sort of heating for them in the winter.

 

Otherwise I do not see any other cons overall.


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My Ants:
(x1) Campontous semitstaceus ~20 workers, 1 Queen
(x1) Camponotus vicinus ~10 workers, 1 Queen (all black variety)
(x1) Tetramorium immigrans ~100 workers, 1 Queen
(x1) Myrmercocystus mexicanus -1 Queen
(x2) Mymercocystus mimcus -1 Queen
(x1) Mymercocystus testaceus ~45 workers, 1 Queen

#8 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:13 AM

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the biggest con i have is that they are, for an experienced ant keeper, not that new and cool. sure, they are everything you want in an ant, but for me, they get boring after a little.


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Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

#9 Offline Guest_StrickyAnts_* - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:17 AM

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the biggest con i have is that they are, for an experienced ant keeper, not that new and cool. sure, they are everything you want in an ant, but for me, they get boring after a little.

For me, Pogonomyrmex never get boring. They only get boring when you keep em small. My 100-125 worker Pogonomyrmex never makes me bored lol. 


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#10 Offline Devi - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:17 AM

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Agreed, but I find some cons:

Stinging - children/pets/allergic people can be fatally hurt/severely injured.

Climate - They are ants suited for warm climates which means they don't do well without heating in colder climates. Which means you need to have gotten some sort of heating for them in the winter.

 

Otherwise I do not see any other cons overall.

As for stinging-

Oddly enough I have had dozens of Pogonomyrmex crawl on me, and I have never been stung.  I don't know if I'm super lucky or something, but they seem to only sting prey or in self defense.  Ohhhhh, I wonder who voted no.  Lol


#11 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:18 AM

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the biggest con i have is that they are, for an experienced ant keeper, not that new and cool. sure, they are everything you want in an ant, but for me, they get boring after a little.

For me, Pogonomyrmex never get boring. They only get boring when you keep em small. My 100-125 worker Pogonomyrmex never makes me bored lol. 

 

i just like keeping challenging species. maybe that is why


Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

#12 Offline Devi - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:19 AM

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the biggest con i have is that they are, for an experienced ant keeper, not that new and cool. sure, they are everything you want in an ant, but for me, they get boring after a little.

For me, Pogonomyrmex never get boring. They only get boring when you keep em small. My 100-125 worker Pogonomyrmex never makes me bored lol. 

 

i just like keeping challenging species. maybe that is why

 

Ahh, I get that.  Try atta or Acromyrmex if you ever get a permit.  Lol


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#13 Offline Guest_StrickyAnts_* - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:20 AM

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the biggest con i have is that they are, for an experienced ant keeper, not that new and cool. sure, they are everything you want in an ant, but for me, they get boring after a little.

For me, Pogonomyrmex never get boring. They only get boring when you keep em small. My 100-125 worker Pogonomyrmex never makes me bored lol. 

 

i just like keeping challenging species. maybe that is why

 

Lol. Harvesters in General really intrest me idk why. They are super easy to keep aswell. I have 4 Pogonomyrmex queens founding right now. Hopefully they all get workers


 

Agreed, but I find some cons:

Stinging - children/pets/allergic people can be fatally hurt/severely injured.

Climate - They are ants suited for warm climates which means they don't do well without heating in colder climates. Which means you need to have gotten some sort of heating for them in the winter.

 

Otherwise I do not see any other cons overall.

As for stinging-

Oddly enough I have had dozens of Pogonomyrmex crawl on me, and I have never been stung.  I don't know if I'm super lucky or something, but they seem to only sting prey or in self defense.  Ohhhhh, I wonder who voted no.  Lol

 

I've only been stung once. And It hurt really bad ngl. 


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#14 Offline Spazmops - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:37 AM

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I've never been stung, even after sticking my finger into the hole in the nest and letting them crawl on me. I've only ever even seen them sting when there was a dying grasshopper right on their hill.


Co-owner and founder of Mountain Myrmeculture and The Menagerie Discord Server. 

Ants I have:

1 Formica fusca group- 0 workers

1 Tetramorium immigrans colony-20 workers

1 Dorymyrmex insanus- 1 queen, used to have workers

 

1 large P. occidentalis colony- around 50 workers, plenty of brood

 

 

#15 Offline TechAnt - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:41 AM

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Agreed, but I find some cons:

Stinging - children/pets/allergic people can be fatally hurt/severely injured.

Climate - They are ants suited for warm climates which means they don't do well without heating in colder climates. Which means you need to have gotten some sort of heating for them in the winter.

 

Otherwise I do not see any other cons overall.

 Ohhhhh, I wonder who voted no.  Lol

 

Nah, I voted to Agree actually  :)

 

Edit: maybe I shall change my mind.


Edited by TechAnt, December 8 2020 - 9:15 AM.

My Ants:
(x1) Campontous semitstaceus ~20 workers, 1 Queen
(x1) Camponotus vicinus ~10 workers, 1 Queen (all black variety)
(x1) Tetramorium immigrans ~100 workers, 1 Queen
(x1) Myrmercocystus mexicanus -1 Queen
(x2) Mymercocystus mimcus -1 Queen
(x1) Mymercocystus testaceus ~45 workers, 1 Queen

#16 Offline Kaelwizard - Posted December 7 2020 - 11:55 AM

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I feel like Veromessor would be the better alternative since they don’t sting as far as I know.

#17 Offline Swirlysnowflake - Posted December 7 2020 - 12:08 PM

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I feel like Veromessor would be the better alternative since they don’t sting as far as I know.

I keep Veromessor, and they're cool, but I like Pogonomyrmex's red coloration. It's really beautiful lol


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#18 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted December 7 2020 - 12:09 PM

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Agreed, but I find some cons:

Stinging - children/pets/allergic people can be fatally hurt/severely injured.

Climate - They are ants suited for warm climates which means they don't do well without heating in colder climates. Which means you need to have gotten some sort of heating for them in the winter.

 

Otherwise I do not see any other cons overall.

 Ohhhhh, I wonder who voted no.  Lol

 

Nah, I voted to Agree actually  :)

 

i voted no.


Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

#19 Offline AntsDakota - Posted December 7 2020 - 1:14 PM

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Uh, in order for them to thrive they require live insects. They might just get by on seeds alone.

"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version

#20 Offline AntsDakota - Posted December 7 2020 - 1:16 PM

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I’d say Tetramorium are better suited. Their diet is wider, they’re even less picky about food than Pogonomyrmex, they grow faster too, and they can’t sting humans.

"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version

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