154 replies to this topic

[anttics]

thx antsy. I hope this mite is not infestation or journal will be short. gonna try to change old tube with old food today. they might be living there.

[anttics]

my plan is to bath sand with Lemmon let it dry. take a poor ant to experiment for a few hour in test tube if it survives I will introduce it with Lemmon soaked sand. and a lemon slice on the side to see if I kill them before they spread
any suggestions bhy experience antlers is welcome.

[dspdrew]

Hard to tell by the pictures, but mites in colonies are pretty common. Almost all of my colonies have mites. They don't hurt anything, and are probably even beneficial, unless they are parasitic. In my experience, parasitic mites in captive colonies are pretty rare. I have only found parasitic mites a few times, and one of those times the entire colony was dead within two days. Assuming it is a mite, if you found it crawling around in the container, I'm almost certain it's not parasitic, and there's nothing to worry about.

[nurbs]

Was about to respond but Drew beat me to it. They are common, half my colonies have those little mites running around the outworld.

 

What you don't want are mites that attach themselves to the queen or the workers. 

[anttics]

kept a close look. last night. I saw 3 mites around the trash site. I think I saw an ant biting one who tried to stick to its leg. I could be wrong but it look like that. so far not a single one in the ants. or the queen. they seem to be harmless, and the ants do not tolarete them on their bodies.
on a side note. I gave the ants their weekend protein. a chunk of turkey happy latesgiving everyone. I wash the grease condiments with water and dried up. 15 minutes after I put it in. I checked on them. there were 30 ants around it. with tiny bites all over the turkey. first time I seem them eat something so vigorously. Foods they like are:

-They go nuts for turkey.
-They are ok with fish flakes.
-They like crickets.

[anttics]

Thank you for the info about mites guys. the ants seem ok. not a single death. exempt for my mistakes that got 7 killed, and test tube ant.

[anttics]

checked the ants yesterday they seem restless half of them outside the tubes. and they are tearing apart the cotton on the new test tube.

[anttics]

I thought temperatures was the issue since the heat mat was next to it. move it to the bottom of the container were the tubes entrances are. they are still trying to tear the cotton, and they moved all develop pupa next to the heat source. you can see in this pic

[anttics]

the queen has stop laying eggs. I think she lays them once a week for 2 days. just started my observations on the subject. will post results. unfortunately last week temp in the valley was at 90s today it's at 70s so it will affect her behaviour.

[anttics]

last week she laid them like crazy. do not have any close up clear pics. these pic is from.far away but if you soon in to new test tube you can see a ball of eggs many times the mass of workers.

[anttics]

update. only thing worth mentioning. is I moved them to a bigger container with 6 test tubes. 3 are closed with cotton. they like it.
-no dead ants yet since I got the colony. -there are 175 ants now.
-Biggest major born last week. Named her Hercules. It's almost 3/4 the size of the queen. easy to recognised from the rest.
I will be posting pics of the new container

[anttics]

[anttics]

it crack on the left lower side. will path up as soon as no ants are down there.

[anttics]

After seeing this pic my friend told me. "I would hate to be their size and be inside that tube". they look like the Aliens. So I decided to call this the Xenomorph colony.
To bad they do not spray formic acid.

[anttics]

Queen finally started to lay eggs after almost 3 weeks of vacation. funny she laid an egg.on the head of that worker. lol

[anttics]

a picture of Hercules the first biggest major.

[nurbs]

Any cracks should be fine, no need to patch anything. I usually wait til the plaster or hydrostone is 100% cured before putting any ants in there (usually a week after pouring) just to be safe. Plaster that is not fully cured - even though it is a solid - can be harmful to some ants.

[Martialis]

Why did you post your phone number?

[anttics]

Is not my number. I think my mix was not good. not enough plaster, but it's all good. the colony has reach 200 ants. so they seem healthy.

[anttics]

found a deformed ant who was born 2 weeks ago. I'm glad ants take care of their disable sisters. she usually acts as a scout. once I open the top she runs in so it's hard to get a look at her. called her ugly betty