8 replies to this topic

[Temperateants]

Hi all, this is my first post on this forum. This whole year, there have been a few unusually cool days in spring in summer, so I am considering getting a heating cable for my camponotous. I read a few articles, and what I picked up was that you should put the cable on the dry end of the test tube and give the ants a heat gradient. In addition, to experiment with their preferences. Can someone corrorborate that statement? I have a few questions.

• How much do they speed up growth of ants?
• Do they increase mold growth?
• what is an acceptable wattage
• And finally, how much does this increase the need for feeding?

Is there anything else I need to know? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Canadant]

My cable is 15 watts. Put it on one side so the ants can regulate the temp themselves. Sometimes they're close and other times they move slightly. I didn't find it sped up the growth that much but it does apparently. Mold? didn't have issues. However, I did get some slight condensation when just filling my hybrid nest 1.0. Turned off cable and waited a day. No probs. Feed? As the colony grows so does feeding.

Be careful as well. I accidentally killed a queen because I set the cable lengthwise along her test tube. didn't take long.

My cable was long too. So you might have excess.

My camponotus seem to like it. I would heat all my queens in tubes too, but my space is limited where my ants are.

I found it a good purchase.

[Temperateants]

Thanks for the reply! Do you have the link to the purchase?

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Zoo Med Repti Heat Cable 15 Watt 11.5 feet (3.5m) length. Just got it from Tarheel Ants. My Tetramorium flocked to the corner of the outworld that it was up against, so I moved it around a bit to make it touch their favorite nesting spot instead. That's what you should do; have your setups a somewhat conservative distance from the cable and then move them closer or further depending on what the ants do.

[Canadant]

Thanks for the reply! Do you have the link to the purchase?

Same as antennal_scrobe's heating cable.

[Temperateants]

Thanks for all of the replies!

[Temperateants]

How do you moderate the temperature of the heating cable? Do you use a thermostat?

[Antennal_Scrobe]

You don't need to. It only heats things about 10 degrees. Just make sure you are home to watch your ants closely for several hours after you set it up, in case they want to be closer or further.

[MrPurpleB]

I use a heating cable, I think it's 15 watts from zoo med. I don't have any form of regulator to control the temperature, but I just leave the cable on one end of the test tube or setup. I think you can buy themostats to control the temperature. I have seen lots of thermostats for reptiles. My ants don't seem to care for the cable, and usually go away from the cable. It depends on the location of the ants.

You can put the cable in the middle of setup and move it closer or further away from the setup depending on how the ants react. If the ants move away from the cable you probably want to move the cables further to the edge. Similarly, when the ants move closer to the cable, move the cable closer to the center. I either saw this on a YouTube video or forum post, so I thank them for this info.