60 replies to this topic

[tdlnx]

Today I discovered the small heating pad I had by the tank has stopped working for some reason. I’ve had it for years so I think it was just time to replace it anyway, so I’m currently waiting on a new one to show up. I wondered why they didn’t seem to be incredibly active and I’m beginning to think they were probably too cold.

The queen looks like she is about to absolutely pop so I’m hoping I’ll see a nice egg pile sometime soon. I also dropped a couple of fruit flies in their outworld and watched as one of them wandered right into the nest (big mistake, RIP little guy). Here’s a couple of pictures I managed to grab - I’ve been thinking about buying a clip on macro lens for my phone to see if it’ll help me get nicer pictures.

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Edited by tdlnx, March 16 2021 - 6:26 PM.

[tdlnx]

Got some ant mail today!

I got a tiny lamp and ceramic heater to warm up their nest a little bit. I found room temp was just too cold, so now the left side of their nest is much warmer. I’m seeing much more activity from the queen and workers so I’m taking that as a good sign. Also - we’ve got a tiny egg pile! My Queen had eaten her eggs once before so I’m very happy to see her laying new ones.

I also replaced their mesh feeder with a tower in their outworld. Not sure if there’s really a benefit of one style over the other but they’ve already been visiting it regularly.

I also was gifted a small acrylic formicarium (last pic) so I’m hoping at some point in the next year I’ll have a second colony to call it home.

Any advice/criticism is very appreciated! I’ve learned so much in the past month and I’m always wanting to learn more.

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[8NIN8]

They’ll be fine, but you’ll definitely need to cat proof your setup. It would not harm them in any way to shake them out of the tube into the outworld.

Is the brood easy to transfer? I haven’t been able to see mine because (I’m assuming) all in the back of the insert.

[8NIN8]

Fortunately, my cat was overly interested in the THA package I rec’d so I was reminded to cat proof everything. Good luck to you

[tdlnx]

They’ll be fine, but you’ll definitely need to cat proof your setup. It would not harm them in any way to shake them out of the tube into the outworld.

Is the brood easy to transfer? I haven’t been able to see mine because (I’m assuming) all in the back of the insert.

Mine only had a few eggs, but they ended up being eaten. I’m not sure how involved transferring the brood would be, I probably would have just let them take care of it.

[tdlnx]

I spotted my first larvae today and got to watch the queen and a few workers feed it pieces of freshly caught fruit flies. Here’s hoping more are in the way! The queen looks like she might explode so I’m really hoping to see more eggs in the coming days.

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[tdlnx]

Today I noticed the colony has moved their brood into the outworld just outside the nest entrance. I checked and the temp is sitting around 80 with 30% humidity, so I’m not sure why they’d move. The queen is still in the nest with a few workers but the rest are tending to the brood outside the nest.

Any ideas?

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[ANTdrew]

These ants are forever moving pupae around for no apparent reason. They may be seeking optimum temperatures and humidity, so I’s just trust their judgement. Without natural airflow and sunlight, ants don’t really distinguish between their nest and outworld as clearly as we’d expect.

[tdlnx]

Pretty huge update!

I upped the amount of protein I’ve been feeding this colony and when I checked in on them today I found a bunch of new cocoons! I have a feeling pretty soon I’ll see some big growth.

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[ANTdrew]

Excellent!

[GhostMouse]

So beautiful! I love silky field ants because the band around the abdomen looks like a polished cat's-eye stone. I'm so happy your colony is doing well. 

[tdlnx]

I gave them their first mealworm pieces today. After a minute of poking around and exploring the new food they quickly pulled them in to the nest and started distributing the wealth.

Lots of larvae and cocoons but no new workers yet, and this morning one of the 7 was dead on the trash pile, so hopefully some new workers start to show up and replace the old ones.

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[ANTdrew]

The darkness of those pupae shows that new workers are imminent. That’s a good brood pile.

[tdlnx]

I haven't updated in quite some time but wanted to show everyone how well this colony is doing. There has been an explosion in colony growth and they're up to around 40 workers now!

 

They seem to really enjoy fruit flies and mealworms the best, and all of the ants look strong and healthy.

 

 

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[ANTdrew]

Superb work, my friend!

[yibsi]

Looking good!

[tdlnx]

Update

There hasn’t been much growth with this colony but they are staying around the same size and seem to be thriving. The queen is healthy and I regularly see new workers replacing any that die off. Not the most exciting update but I realized I haven’t posted in a while.

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[ANTdrew]

They may be finishing up their growth for the season.

[tdlnx]

I’m actually glad to see them slowing a little bit. I was getting worried that I may need to start shopping for upgrades but it looks like this nest will be plenty big for quite some time.

[ANTdrew]

Haha, space is the last thing you need to worry about with Formica.