111 replies to this topic

[M_Ants]

I personally would just wait till the chemically smell went away. Here's what my care sheet said "IMPORTANT​: If you upgrade and get a larger THA nest, open up in the lid and front glass and let it "sit" for 2-3 weeks to let it "air out" before putting any ants in. Do a "sniff test" on the materal, it chemically smell will go away once it has been aired out for a few weeks."

[Cephalotus]

I wonder if that advice still applies to newer THA nests since who knows how long ago that care sheet was written

[M_Ants]

 Pretty sure it still does. I'm pretty sure I asked him about it and he never said not to do it.

Edited by M_Ants, September 28 2020 - 7:48 PM.

[Cephalotus]

I mean I guess that if you have the time to air them out, why not do it, but I ordered my MH over a month ago and by the time they’re here, if I have to wait ANOTHER 2-3 weeks to air them out, my test tube colonies are really going to be needed a bigger nest by then.

[M_Ants]

Yeah. I don't know. Maybe pm Nurbs.

[ghoguma]

I mean I guess that if you have the time to air them out, why not do it, but I ordered my MH over a month ago and by the time they’re here, if I have to wait ANOTHER 2-3 weeks to air them out, my test tube colonies are really going to be needed a bigger nest by then.

I did personally lost entire C. Sensabeanus colony and almost lost C. US-CA02 because i didn't air out the nest. 

Workers slowly died little by little and queen stop laying egg and passed away after that. 

(This was about 3 months ago) if you ordered pre made one u might get lucky but i would still let air out though. 

[Cephalotus]

I just contacted Mack from THA directly and he reassured me that there is absolutely zero need to air out any nests. The only time that was necessary/advisable was with the type 2 nests that were discontinued.

[M_Ants]

K well if you want to discuss this more can you move it to a different thread. Don't want to clutter my journal too much. Thanks.

[Cephalotus]

I mean I guess that if you have the time to air them out, why not do it, but I ordered my MH over a month ago and by the time they’re here, if I have to wait ANOTHER 2-3 weeks to air them out, my test tube colonies are really going to be needed a bigger nest by then.

I did personally lost entire C. Sensabeanus colony and almost lost C. US-CA02 because i didn't air out the nest.
Workers slowly died little by little and queen stop laying egg and passed away after that.
(This was about 3 months ago) if you ordered pre made one u might get lucky but i would still let air out though.

Mack just explained to me that every nest is tested out with one worker before sending out and that he has zero reports of deaths. Is there a reason you didn’t contact him directly if you suspected the nest might have been the cause of your issues?

Edit: Sorry M_Ants didn’t see your comment before this reply. I’ll start a new thread for this discussion I think it’s an important topic to talk about. My bad for high jacking your thread!

Edited by Cephalotus, September 28 2020 - 7:28 PM.

[M_Ants]

No problem just figured if it's going to be a whole discussion we could move it elsewhere.

[TechAnt]

Hey M_Ants, when do you think you will get a replete? I was thinking if I'm lucky, maybe one or two by the end of October.

[M_Ants]

Not sure. I've got some minipletes right now. Just made that name up. Their like a bit filled up but not really repletes.

Edited by M_Ants, September 28 2020 - 8:05 PM.

[Condenced_M1lk]

Wow that looks very cool.

[M_Ants]

I think I have a new worker. When I first got them they had a lot of workers eclose from cocoons but ever since they were put in the Mini Hearth it's just been the 11 workers and 4 larvae. I noticed (I think Tuesday) that they had a weird looking larvae thing. It looked like a larvae but it was kind of yellowish. I figured it was getting ready to spin a cocoon or something. Can someone explain what's going on with that thing? Today I checked on them and counted 12 workers and I don't see the weird larvae/cocoon thing. So...I guess I got a new worker. Yay! 

Here I counted 11 workers.

What is going on with this larvae/cocoon?

Had to screen shot the red dots for them to show up but here I count 12 workers.

 

 

Edited by M_Ants, October 5 2020 - 8:15 PM.

[TechAnt]

Do they mind the light?
I keep mine in a dark box.

[M_Ants]

They don't mind as long as it's indirect light. I keep try to keep it darker where they are by not turning on the light all the time and shutting the blinds. However, they seem fine with it. I asked Nurbs and he said I could remove the card I had in front of the glass. That's just how mine seem though. 

[Cephalotus]

I don't see any weirdness with the second picture. Looks like two large larvae that will probably pupate soon

[M_Ants]

Oops wrong picture.

[M_Ants]

What's this white stripe on the queen? Is her gaster torn? Also anyone know why they are huddled in the corner near the front instead of in the back like normal?

[Ants_Dakota]

1. that looks like something on the glass to me.

2.probably looking for the most snug area. that must be the area they like the most.