HA!
Interesting because I brought up the same question somewhere else about this very subject. And for one whole month too.
Edit: Since your very first nanitics are still developing and Carpenter ants are a rather slow developing ant, if you lower the temperature to their minimal comfort level and keep the cotton intact, I think they might be fine until you come back. The queen feeds them for awhile and it takes a little bit until the workers actually pull on the cotton and want to go out to forage for food. You can try to gently pull out the cotton and put a drop of sugar water for her and wait until she slurps it up, feed her until she's full and clean up the leftover. That should help her survive and feed her ants for the month.
The bottom is more for colonies already with workers that are out and about, foraging for food - I'll tell you what I gathered but I'll also wait for more experienced ant keepers to come and have a say about it:
1. Put the test tube into a small enclosure that has breathing holes, but not enough for the ants to escape OR utilize a barrier like FLUON to prevent them from climbing out. If you click on my journal in my signature, that's what I did.
2. Make a test tube with cotton and water (like how you made the founding chamber) specifically for fresh water and put it a tiny bit away from the main nest in case of mold passing around etc. This takes care of water. Make sure EVERYTHING is sanitized to avoid mold.
3. For ur sugar source, I heard someone recommending hard candy or granulate sugar. Not sure what species of ant u got. So this sugar source doesn't seem to go bad like if you leave sugar water in there (which goes bad within days, so don't)
Another option is Formica Nectar that you can find on Amazon, I hear that lasts a long time before going bad, but I'd check with Formica about that. They're the ones that sell those auto water feeders for ants which you want to grab for the nectar. However, some people cautioned me saying some ants pile up stuff onto the auto feeder and cause floodings. But since you only will have a few ants, I don't see the issue. Search term "sunburst ant" on amazon and you'll see it, seller : Byformica, click on the seller's name and look at their storefront and you'll also see their auto feeders.
The above should take care of ur sugar issue
5. For protein, someone told me about beetle or pet protein jelly they also have on Amazon, said it'll last for quite awhile. They said to also feed them a lot of protein before you leave (and after cleaning up the excess), but since ur nanitics aren't out yet...)
That should take care of protein.
6. Lower your temperature down to the lowest comfortable temperature for your ant. This way, their metabolism will be low, they'll eat less, need less water, and growth rate will be slower. Basically, slow down everything so you get the chance to get home.
That also being said, try to search around forums, FB groups and whatnot for possible folks that can babysit your ant for you while you're away. This would be the most ideal, hope you find someone trustworthy.
Edited by BleepingBleepers, July 10 2023 - 11:18 PM.
