17 replies to this topic

[Chicken_eater100]

so apparently, i'm a "stupid idiot" who forgot to fill the test tube halfway with water, and now she is almost completely out of water.  (she still has some water soaked into the cotton.)  is there anyway of filling it back up with water with little disturbance as possible?

[Ants_Texas]

Sadly no, this will require a tube change. 

[nurbs]

What species? You can try this arguably controversial method. Works well.

 

[Ants_Texas]

What species? You can try this arguably controversial method. Works well.

 

Exactly what I was thinking of when I said "tube change". 

[Jadeninja9]

What species? You can try this arguably controversial method. Works well.

 

I feel bad for laughing lol. Couldn't they eat their eggs from stress?

[nurbs]

 

What species? You can try this arguably controversial method. Works well.

 

I feel bad for laughing lol. Couldn't they eat their eggs from stress?

 

 

That's why I asked what species. If the colony has workers, it should generally be fine. If it is still a just the queen with brood and they are Myrmecocystus or the highly paranoid Formica (many within this species are slave raiders or parasitic) then yes, the queen may stress out and eat her eggs.

[Jadeninja9]

 

 

What species? You can try this arguably controversial method. Works well.

 

I feel bad for laughing lol. Couldn't they eat their eggs from stress?

 

 

That's why I asked what species. If the colony has workers, it should generally be fine. If it is still a just the queen with brood and they are Myrmecocystus or the highly paranoid Formica (many within this species are slave raiders or parasitic) then yes, the queen may stress out and eat her eggs.

 

I remember when I shined a flashlight on my Camponotus hyatti colony it caused a worker to consume an egg. Now, I just let them move when they want.

[Chicken_eater100]

 

 

What species? You can try this arguably controversial method. Works well.

 

I feel bad for laughing lol. Couldn't they eat their eggs from stress?

 

 

That's why I asked what species. If the colony has workers, it should generally be fine. If it is still a just the queen with brood and they are Myrmecocystus or the highly paranoid Formica (many within this species are slave raiders or parasitic) then yes, the queen may stress out and eat her eggs.

 

I'm pretty sure it's Lasius Neoniger.

[Hunter]

you can buy a super long skinny needle

[Serafine]

Get a second test tube and use a straw to connect both of them.

[dspdrew]

A couple seconds of being shaken like that once every two months is probably nothing compared to the amount of stress most people cause them by simply feeding and checking on them every couple days.

[AntsMaryland]

Doesn't that potentially damage the queen or brood? (amateur question)

[Ants_Texas]

Doesn't that potentially damage the queen or brood? (amateur question)

Only if you're way too aggressive with it. It might have seemed that way in the video, but nurbs was just causing them to lose balance.

[Jadeninja9]

Get a second test tube and use a straw to connect both of them.

Often they will move inside the straw and it's so annoying

[Works4TheGood]

This happens to me all the time. I usually take the test tube with the queen and workers and put her in a small air tight food storage container (with sand on the bottom) along with a brand new test tube setup right beside the one that's running low on water. Once there is no moisture left in the old tube, the colony moves to the new one all on its own.

[Jadeninja9]

This happens to me all the time. I usually take the test tube with the queen and workers and put her in a small air tight food storage container (with sand on the bottom) along with a brand new test tube setup right beside the one that's running low on water. Once there is no moisture left in the old tube, the colony moves to the new one all on its own.

I never thought about that before.

[Yossarian]

 

Doesn't that potentially damage the queen or brood? (amateur question)

Only if you're way too aggressive with it. It might have seemed that way in the video, but nurbs was just causing them to lose balance.

 

 

I tried that the week Nurbs posted the video.  My C.vicinus were too strong or I am too weak and for 3 or 4 of them I had to wait until they walked on a cotton ball for transfer.

[Works4TheGood]

This happens to me all the time. I usually take the test tube with the queen and workers and put her in a small air tight food storage container (with sand on the bottom) along with a brand new test tube setup right beside the one that's running low on water. Once there is no moisture left in the old tube, the colony moves to the new one all on its own.

I never thought about that before.

If you use a small storage container, then the humidity eventually reaches 100%, making the entire container feel as though its an extension of the nest. ... I dunno ... it's always worked for me (20 times maybe?).