26 replies to this topic

[Swirlysnowflake]

Swirly is buying all the ants this year.

Haha, not many. Most ants that I want, no one has for sale currently. (Cryptics, Temnothorax, Solenopsis xyloni, etc.) This year I've bought Myrmecocystus and Veromessor. Probably going to purchase a few founding queens of Pogonomyrmex, but nothing else. 

[Spazmops]

I used the same mat as Devi. I put the very end of each tube onto the mat, and for my colony in a minihearth, I heated the side opposite of the water tower. For the minihearth only about half an inch of the nest was on the pad.

[Swirlysnowflake]

How do I heat a test tube without condensation??

[buglover123]

How do I heat a test tube without condensation??

 

You need an incubator, since condensation is caused by difference in temperature (hot housing vs cooler room). What I do is use a styrofoam box and line the inside with a heating cable plugged into a thermostat and put all my ants in.

[Spazmops]

How do I heat a test tube without condensation??

Heat the entrance of the tube rather than the end with water. Putting in some sterilized substrate can also help bring down condensation levels.

[Swirlysnowflake]

 

How do I heat a test tube without condensation??

Heat the entrance of the tube rather than the end with water. Putting in some sterilized substrate can also help bring down condensation levels.

 

Heating the entrance still makes condensation, idk why.

[OhNoNotAgain]

I have a small seedling starter heating mat and the same brand thermostat (Hydrofarm Jump Start). They claim to be the only UL-certified brand, and after reading all the Amazon comments about reptile heating cables bursting into flame, I went with that (though I do have a reptile heating cable too). 

I keep it under 1/2 to 2/3 of the mini-hearth.

And yes, I founded Pogonomyrmex subnits in mini-hearths. I got two polygynous sets from Sleepy, one earlier in the year, the other later. iirc the queens had a roughly 30% mortality rate (contrast to my Veromessor pergandei mortality rate of 50% or my horrendous M. mexicanus 90% ... it could be I just suck). At this point the remaining 5 queens (3 and 2) colonies are doing well. The 2 queen colony is still being heated because they were so far behind. The 3 queen colony is getting low heat over winter because the mini-hearth is getting crowded AND not only that but they made the glass so disgusting I can't see inside. I've ordered a Fallen Fortress for the dirty Pogonomyrmex - supposed to be good for visibility since they can't climb on ceiling glass and soil it.