58 replies to this topic

[CasiahJade]

They ate the eyes!  And it looks like some around the gills, so it makes me wonder if the gold fish scales are too thick for them to get past.  But, I know that they ate something!

[Ants_Dakota]

i might give fish to my camponotus colony when they become big enough. for now, they like crickets and mealworms

[CasiahJade]

The winter storm just removed my opportunity to get crickets and mealworms.  I will say, it was fun going into the pet store and asking for a dead goldfish.

[CasiahJade]

We are starting the second week with Sunburst in their outworld, and they have certainly taken to it.  They've consumed half of what was offered, and considering that the datasheet suggests changing it out every two weeks, I guess I put the right sized container in there.  As an aside, the little glass jars are so cute and are far superior to the plastic I was expecting to be in the feeder kit.

 

An interesting habit I've noticed is that each morning they have piled the eggs and larvae by the glass of the mini-hearth on the lower floor.  I have the bifrucated mini-hearth, so I find it amusing that they move the eggs and larvae back up to the top chamber later in the day.

 

Edit: For anyone who keeps Novomessor, are they a destructive species?  I *think* that they're digging a pit around the exit into the outworld.

Edited by CasiahJade, March 17 2021 - 4:56 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

Assuming they are in a mini hearth, there is a little bit of loose sand (at least in mine), so they could just be moving that around.

[CasiahJade]

Well, they weren't at the bottom of the Mini Hearth today, the any idea why they might have brought the eggs to the Outworld?

 

Also, @Kaelwizard, here's the divot that I think is expanding.  I don't remember the tube being so exposed.

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[Kaelwizard]

That's definitely the work of the ants then. Was any sort of liquid ever spilled in the outworld? That would explain how they were able to do that much damage.

[CasiahJade]

Nope!  But, I could be remembering wrong.  Which is why I asked about their destructive level.  That could be the way it always was.  I need to go through my videos and pictures and compare.

[CasiahJade]

I've got some used equipment coming in today, an Atrium and a Fortress.  I don't think that my Novomessor are ready to move into a larger formicarium from the mini-hearth, but I am afraid of them getting bored with such a little outworld.

[ANTdrew]

You could make a bigger outworld and attach it with tubing to the smaller formicarium. Do you have a Container Store near you?

[CasiahJade]

I have a THA Medium Outworld that I can hook up, I did get some aquarium safe silicon and affix a tube to it.  The tubing that fits with the Mini Hearth fits inside the tube for that, so I can hook it up that way.

 

Would it then be better to feed them in the larger outworld, or continue feeding them in the outworld on top of the Mini Hearth?

[ANTdrew]

Either way is fine.

[CasiahJade]

Alright, I've got the Outworld connected and at first it was just one little worker running around the place, this morning there were three.  Climbing on a stick, crawling up one of the fake plants, just vibing.  I feel so much better, it used to be walking in and finding six leaning against the edge of the outworld in a line as if they were trying to push down the wall.

[CasiahJade]

I saw the queen last night, first time since March.  Their numbers haven't really grown much from what I can tell, but they have holed up in the bifrucated mini-hearth and they seem to prefer the top level.

 

I gave them a small sliver of beef from my atkins meal last night and they had eaten about half of what I'd given them by the morning.  They don't seem to like the frozen fruit flies so much.  I can't tell if they like Ant Juice or not.

[CasiahJade]

They even ate the broccoli I gave them!

[CasiahJade]

The colony is still _very_ small.  But, they are eating.

 

I've now got the red shield thing over the glass to their Mini Hearth, so I think that is helping them.

 

One thing that I've noticed is that they collect food in the formicarium.  They just carry it into it and drop it off on the lower level (my mini hearth is bifurcated).  They do eat it eventually.

[CasiahJade]

I gave them their first "Large" cricket last Friday.  They tore off its hind legs and dragged those into the formicarium.  Then they tore off the other limbs to drag those in.  By Saturday Morning, they'd nearly gotten the main body stuck in the tube leading into the bottom level of their formicarium.  The limbs were being pulled on top of the water tower and the larvae and eggs were brought down to the base of the water tower.  This morning, the main torso was inside the lower level where I won't be able to clean it out.  Hopefully they'll drag the trash out for me.

 

I've got two more crickets for them, but I don't want to give them more if they aren't done with the one that they'd already dragged in - if only for the cleanliness factor.

 

I feel like I'm being a bad caretaker for them.  The colony is growing but it isn't as large as I'd expect for 8 months into my custodianship of them.  There were maybe six of them who went out to do the work, while others stayed inside.

[CasiahJade]

The colony is much larger now, they're taking well to the meal worms and crickets that I've been feeding them.  Each night, they bring their brood out of the formicarium into their outworld and I see them before going to bed.  When I wake up, they're still up there.  I'm even able to see the queen at least once a day!

 

I don't really have much to report on.  With this colony.

[CasiahJade]

This is likely my penultimate entry for this colony journal.  Nothing is going wrong with them, quite the opposite.  I've given my half brother a Fortress Formicarium from THA and in December I'm going to bring over the Mini-Hearth that this colony is in.  When we set them up to move in, I'm going to teach my nieces and nephews about the colony and how they need to take care of them.  The colony isn't too big for the Mini Hearth, but I figure they can have both it and the Fortress should they desire it.

 

I gave these girls a small piece of Hebrew National hot dog, and when I next looked there were small little chunks of beef among the brood.  So I guess they liked it.