First let me apologize for any weird writing. I'm using voice to text and if you know anything about that you're aware that it can have an interesting interpretation of what you said. I'm going to try to get on the computer in a little bit and do some editing, but right now sitting out in the sun I can't see the screen very well so voice to text it is.
I've been having the hardest time with this girl.
Despite her initial laying of eggs and raising a fruit, towards November this girl just completely stopped producing any eggs at all. Since I'm used to the pavement ants which produce eggs even into hibernation at first I didn't realize what that meant.
I put her into hibernation, figuring out finally that she needed a break and was waiting for winter to set in. Her and her children seem to do really well over hibernation. The water either evaporated or was drinking and I continued to fill it up. The sugar water didn't change at all so I figured that they were spending more time sleeping than drinking. However, this girl was easily startled and almost anything made it so she didn't want to interact with the world. The smallest vibrations, the loud noises, or even unexpected lights made them skitter to the back of the tube and curl up in a huddle. I know these girls are shy so it didn't surprise me.
What did surprise me is that a couple of weeks ago I took them out of hibernation. Despite having a nice little break they still did not seem to want to become active. While the water continues to go down, the fresh sugar water doesn't change. I tried a huge variety of foods but none of them seem to tempt them. I never see them take any of the food. I tried things like the nectar jelly, sugar, honey, Meats like hams and turkey, fruit flies, crickets, even little bits of nuts. But nothing seems to catch their attention. I know they're drinking because the water goes down even though the sugar water does not. But they must wait until it's incredibly dark and quiet with no movement for a while before they venture out.
I tried covering the tube knowing that they're kind of skittish. But the queen is not laying, the girls are not foraging, and nothing seems to change. I've tried heating them, I've tried taking them off the heat. I've tried making sure they can see light, I've tried putting them in the dark corner. They just seem to be afraid of their own shadow and don't want to move. Always huddled up into a ball towards the back of the tube.
I figure that they might be able to survive this way, but I don't raise them because I want them to survive! I want them to thrive. So today I decided to try something a little different. Well out for a walk I saw several losses growing and I peeled them off. They're very shallow roots and don't need a whole lot of work to stay alive for a while. At least I hope that Trent stays the case though I guess that's always something that might have to be dealt with again later. I use the Moss and draped it over the tube on both sides and on top. I didn't layer it thick enough to create complete darkness, though I thought I had, but I did give them a nice Shady spot. Now I know this is a huge risk! There could be mites or eggs of some kind of other insects or any number of issues with the dirt or the Moss itself. It could be pesticides or any sort of different problem. However, letting them just sit there obviously terrified is breaking my heart.
About 5 minutes after I put the Moss down I was peeking down from the bottom to see if I could still see into the tube. That's when I found out that it was still just a bit of light getting in because I could see movement around the tube. Wasn't perfectly possible to see but it was possible. To my surprise, not even 5 minutes later, despite the fact that I was sitting right there! One of the girls came out. She started to touch the mall since the dirt and explore. She climbed along the wall and climbed up on several different types of mosses. She went underneath them between the tube and the dirt and then on top of them. She explored more in the last 10 minutes then I've seen them moved since the beginning of when Scarlett adopted me.
This may have been a risk, and it still might come back to bite me in the butt! But I'm starting to think it was a really good choice. The dirt, or the moss, or the smell, or the feel, something about this is triggering them to feel safer and to explore. I hope this continues to show good promise. Peeking from below I can see movement in the tube, much more than I've ever seen before, I can actually see individual ants instead of a ball of ants that are hiding the queen behind them. This might actually save them and help them to go from survival to thriving.
