11 replies to this topic

[Foogoo]

I'm leaving tomorrow for 9 days. I have two P. rugosus and one Camponotus colonies. The former in a THA Nucleus and the latter two in a growth chamber and Talus, respectively. What do you think I should do to assure they make it through my away time? I have a roommate, but my colonies disgust him so I'd rather not force him to help with them .

 

- I've been feeding them this week and they've been eating and storing some food. They should be ok left unfed right?

- Will humidity/water be ok with the water towers filled before I leave?

- It gets to about 72 degrees or so in the house at night. I've been leaving a light on near them just because. Is it necessary though while I'm gone?

 

I'm near Los Angeles btw. The forecast for the next week looks rather mild, hitting highs in the mid-80's.

[dermy]

I'd just make sure they have plenty of water, and some sugary food [honey water nectar etc.] Don't worry too much about anything, ants can live for a few months without food, trust me I know someone who leaves for like 3 months at a time.

[DesertAntz]

If they are well fed and the water towers are filled I can't imagine anything bad happening in 9 days. I'm not an expert though. 

 

I'm leaving myself for 4 days starting tonight and have four colonies I'm leaving behind. I'm leaving an extra cotton ball soaked in water in their containers with them, along with their test tube water, just in case though. Not too worried about the food for a 4 day trip. 

[Mercutia]

Maybe leave a liquid feeder out for them too. Otherwise, 9 days is nothing for ants. Just max water the water tower and leave a water feeder out for them too as s precaution.

[Gregory2455]

Liquid feeders for sugar, and a wet cotton ball in front of their test tube, and if you put live fruitflies in there they should live a few days, and be attracted to the feeders and wet cotton. This is only if they are in a foraging container.

[drtrmiller]

Too bad you're leaving tomorrow.  The workers will only need sugar to keep them from cannibalizing the larvae.  Another thing you can do is to lower the temperature where the ants are being kept to about 70 F, so their metabolism is slowed.

 

The unfortunate thing about sugar water is that it often spoils after a few days, due to yeast and bacteria growth.  Some, but not all, products marketed as "hummingbird nectar" contain preservatives to keep the product from spoiling as quickly.

 

Another alternative, to which I may be slightly biased, is to order a single-serve packet of byFormica Formula Green 600, which is specially formulated for vacation usage with sugar, vitamins, and preservatives to keep the product from fermenting or spoiling quickly.

 

Formula Green 600 is found on Amazon.com, and it's stored in warehouses in California, Tennessee, and Delaware that can ship you the stuff so you receive it the next day.

Edited by drtrmiller, October 17 2014 - 1:18 PM.

[dspdrew]

When I told you there would be no problem at all leaving them for nine days, I was thinking they would be in test tubes still. I don't really know much about those THA setups you have them in, but just make sure the Camponotus don't go without water. I'm pretty sure the Pogonomyrmex can go a little while without water, but I'd still give them as much as possible just to be safe.

[Foogoo]

Alright I'm back. I got some Green 600 the night before I left (which I remembered they were devouring when I got them from drew), left some for them, watered, and covered them up.

 

First, it looks like none of the Pogonomyrmexs or Camponotus touched the Green, at all. I think I did too good of a job at humidity maintenance and found the smaller Pogonomyrmex colony in the THA growth chamber with brown fuzzy mold here and there. I removed what I could with tweezers so the question now is, should I stress the already small colony out more by moving them back to the tube to let the chamber sit in the sun for a while? Or just leave things be?

 

And even though a part of me knew it would be better to leave them in the tubes, it's hard to control the inner kid on Christmas Day...

[AntsAreUs]

Too bad you're leaving tomorrow.  The workers will only need sugar to keep them from cannibalizing the larvae.  Another thing you can do is to lower the temperature where the ants are being kept to about 70 F, so their metabolism is slowed.

 

The unfortunate thing about sugar water is that it often spoils after a few days, due to yeast and bacteria growth.  Some, but not all, products marketed as "hummingbird nectar" contain preservatives to keep the product from spoiling as quickly.

 

Another alternative, to which I may be slightly biased, is to order a single-serve packet of byFormica Formula Green 600, which is specially formulated for vacation usage with sugar, vitamins, and preservatives to keep the product from fermenting or spoiling quickly.

 

Formula Green 600 is found on Amazon.com, and it's stored in warehouses in California, Tennessee, and Delaware that can ship you the stuff so you receive it the next day.

I did not know you sell on amazon I am planning on buying from you by the way.

[dspdrew]

Alright I'm back. I got some Green 600 the night before I left (which I remembered they were devouring when I got them from drew), left some for them, watered, and covered them up.

That was actually the Formula 300 which contains protein.

 

Glad to hear they're all okay.

 

On a side note: That queen I dropped when you were picking up your ants was back on her feet walking around that same night.    To this day she's perfectly fine.

[Foogoo]

That was actually the Formula 300 which contains protein.

 

Glad to hear they're all okay.

 

Dang it. I actually spent a good minute staring at the two, debating which one it looked like. And did you make it purposely thick or had it dried out?

[dspdrew]

I made it into a gel.