12 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

I have a few questions to the experienced ant keepers on here.

As you know, I recently started and I am still learning.

I also come from a veterinary background and I am a bit paranoid about mites and mold and diseases caused by poor hygiene.

 

I have seen online that some kind of mold in test tubes is no cause for worry, but I have also seen that colonies died because of mold.

How often do you change test tubes of colonies?

Is it better to stress the colony and put them into fresh tubes because of mold or is it better to leave them instead of stressing them?

The reason I am asking:

I have transferred my small rescue colony of Messor sp. into a new test tube with fresh cotton 2 weeks ago.

But I have noticed some mold and gunk growing.

How serious is this?

 

 

And then I wonder about cleaning the outworld.

My larger Messor colony dumps their refuse (dead bodies, shells of seed....) in a corner around the water tube and the seed feeder.

They dump it in quite a large area.

I try to clean maybe twice a week.

But I always notice that I overlooked some seed shells.

How often do you clean?

Do you remove every last piece of rubbish you see?

This is the area I am referring to- is this fine? Or do I need to be more meticulous? There are still some seed shells around after I cleaned!

I am a bit paranoid about getting mites.

 

 

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

failry noob to all this but here's what i got going on 16+ weeks into it.

I keep the outworld quite clean. The colony politely dumps their trash in a single pile as far form their nest as they can get it. I vacuum this out about once a week/as it starts to be a pile. There is always some amount of trash strewn between the nest exit and the actual dump. A lot of the ants will only carry a thing so far, call it good enough and drop it for someone else to take the rest of the way. I don't worry about any of that as it will find its way to the trash pile eventually.

As i have three outworld spaces, i keep the insect feeding to the tiny world nearest the nest. Any bug bits that have not been taken to the nest or trash after about 48 hours i remove with tweezers.
Also i noted the ants do not eat bug legs, but they do take the time to remove them to the trash pile. So i just cut them off now and they go direct to the house trash instead.
 

I keep a little slice of apple out all the time in the medium outworld, refreshing it every 24-72 hours depending whenever any rot beginning to show.

I vacuum up any unwanted seed piles in the large outworld after a couple weeks of being ignored.

 

And i do all this because i know a small space well warmed with rotting detritus will get stinky, and they sit right next to my computer where i spend the bulk of my at home time.
So i stay on top of that and never let it get too far along to start stinking.
 

 

While it will be different species to species, colony size can influence behavior. I'd guess that as the combo of their colony size and outworld space grows, they might begin to remove the trash farther from their nest area.
Each time i added more outworld space the first thing the ants would do is relocate the trash pile to be as far form their nest as they could get it. But again a tiny colony seems to be less willing to venture as far a field as a larger one.

 

 

the other thing i get is poop stains in popular locations. The main floor and rock decoration of the med outworld becomes dark with it. I use water and a q-tip to clean it up as best i can whenever it starts to look bad. But the more porous material of the floor would need a stronger brush scrubbing than i can give it while they are still in it. I figure to detach and super scrub it up once every 10-12 months or so.

 

 

While i've not dealt in founding i've read people praising this stuff over cotton for not molding so badly/quickly/maybe at all.

https://www.aliexpre...o2usa4itemAdapt

 

 

 

not 100% sure if these are the same exact thing but also these might work for that purpose

https://www.thomassc...LTURE-TUBE-CAPS
https://www.thomassc...aps/_/Foam-Plug

 

 

 

 

On mite prevention i have assumed a cleaner environment is the base of a good defense, that's part of why i clean so regularly.
But also a well sealed up environment,  nice fine mesh screening for ventilation, that can keep things out as much as in.
And then on advice form here, i also boil any feed insects for about 3-4 seconds to kill off any mites or mite eggs they might have on them. Making sure they get full submerged.



 

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, May 18 2023 - 8:09 AM.

[Ernteameise]

I have also seen the Messors placing sand on top of the cotton in their water tube in the arena.

No idea why they are doing this?

Certainly ants have a different opinion about hygiene that we have.

 

[ANTdrew]

That cotton is a lot cleaner than any of my tube colonies. I see no reason to be concerned.

[Ernteameise]

That cotton is a lot cleaner than any of my tube colonies. I see no reason to be concerned.

Thank you.

Sigh of relief.

As I said, I have no experience and I might be a bit too paranoid.

[WealthyCow]

 

That cotton is a lot cleaner than any of my tube colonies. I see no reason to be concerned.

Thank you.

Sigh of relief.

As I said, I have no experience and I might be a bit too paranoid.

 

Looks fine to me too. I would only see more cause for concern if the cotton was VERY mouldy, and even then, I typically take the approach of just adding a new clean test tube to their outworld, and letting them decide if they want to move. In general, I find a bit of planning to allow expansions at the ants' leisure without intrusive manual/forced moving is much less stressful for the ants.

Edited by WealthyCow, May 24 2023 - 12:26 PM.

[WealthyCow]

In terms of cleaning, honestly it just depends how lazy I'm feeling

Keeping the outworld cleaner is generally a benefit, with less risk of mite infestations etc., but I would not clean it too often with smaller colonies as they don't produce much garbage, and tend to be more timid/easily stressed by movement and vibration. Also, the increased mite risk would more likely come from things that could be food/food waste, rather than seed shells. From what I've seen from other Messor sp. owners, they are messy    ants regardless. IMO you definitely don't need to be a clean freak for your ants to thrive, it's more about feeding them enough, not stressing them too much, and having the correct environmental conditions (temp. and humidity mainly).

Edited by WealthyCow, May 24 2023 - 1:01 PM.

[AntsCali098]

I have also seen the Messors placing sand on top of the cotton in their water tube in the arena.
No idea why they are doing this?
Certainly ants have a different opinion about hygiene that we have.
 

I think they do this as a precaution to soak up extra water to avoid the cotten getting too wet.

[WealthyCow]

 

I have also seen the Messors placing sand on top of the cotton in their water tube in the arena.
No idea why they are doing this?
Certainly ants have a different opinion about hygiene that we have.
 

I think they do this as a precaution to soak up extra water to avoid the cotten getting too wet.

 

Yeah on top of this, some species of ants have this behaviour with anything remotely moist, and can be for a variety of reasons (i.e. prevent drowning, food preservation)

[Ernteameise]

Thanks guys!

 

Concerning the rescue Messor colony.

It appears that one of the seed sprouted, and a root grew through the cotton and the cotton is now pretty black, too.

There is a water tube right next to their covered nest tube, so they could move in an emergency.

But they still hold out in the nest tube.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[WealthyCow]

Thanks guys!

 

Concerning the rescue Messor colony.

It appears that one of the seed sprouted, and a root grew through the cotton and the cotton is now pretty black, too.

There is a water tube right next to their covered nest tube, so they could move in an emergency.

But they still hold out in the nest tube.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

Hmmm the main risk imo would be flooding, but it may be fine? Maybe someone who's had this issue can clarify. I would think about adding an extra empty test tube with no water, most harvester type ants will try to store their seeds in dryer areas for exactly this reason.
 

Edited by WealthyCow, May 25 2023 - 11:59 AM.

[Deanmontague]

The root sapling is an issue. As it grows and matures it will likely affect the cotton and move it - possibly flooding the chamber. I’d move them asap. I saw the same thing happen on an antscanada video recently, not sure how he resolved it, worth a check

[Ernteameise]

Thank you.
Yeah, that is what I gathered.
What I did was adding a fresh tube nest to the old one, putting the cardboard cover over it and the exposing daylight actually made them move quickly and cleanly ( took 30 mins) and now they sit in a fresh new covered tube.
They even moved quite a few larvae and I hope these survived since Messors are known to eat the brood when stressed.
I am not going to take pictures just yet just to prevent stressing them even more.
This colony surely goes through the wringer. Hope they hold on.