33 replies to this topic

[The_Gaming-gate]

Good job with the new workers, looks like you're doing everything right! Protein would be great for them, especially if you want more brood, but sugar could give the workers more energy, causing extra activity in the nest. They will need protein eventually.

[AntidepressAnt]

Hi futurebird and The_Gaming-gate. I still keep the underground part of the setup hidden behind the aluminum foil most of the time to keep it dark. They drink mostly from the condensation I believe, you can see how the walls of the nest are covered in tiny droplets in the last picture. The plaster holds water very well. It was previously suggested to make a better hydration system, but I kept postponing it... Maybe I'll get to do it in the weekend. I will offer them a drop of a creamy cat treat as protein source tomorrow, see if they take it.

Edited by AntidepressAnt, February 14 2024 - 4:48 PM.

[ANTdrew]

I renamed and moved your journal.

[rptraut]

Congratulations AntidepressAnt, we’re all very pleased for you and your queen.
RPT

[AntidepressAnt]

Hi people. Not much more to tell, but there are more workers, and now they do the foraging and the queen isn't walking around outside anymore.

 

 

I've been offering them a bit of everything, cat food, peanut butter, a piece of orange, but it's difficult to tell how much is actually being eaten... Sometimes I see one or two of them close to the food.

[ANTdrew]

They should be fed pre-killed insects to truly thrive.

[AntidepressAnt]

Hello, sorry for rarely posting. My ants are eating more now. I guess they were just shy foragers and are becoming bolder as their numbers increase. For several reasons I can't keep live feeders here at the moment... I've seen some pre-killed ones, like packets of dehydrated mealworms, but since my colony is recent I'm afraid most of them would go bad before my ants eat them. Also I'm not too sure if dry ones would be good for them, as I've read adult ants have trouble consuming solid foods (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

I've recently moved them to a larger formicarium, as the old one was getting dirty. This one is made of plaster much like my others, but is bigger and with three separate chambers. The idea is that initially only one of them would be available, with the others blocked off with paper until the colony gets big enough to need them.

 

 

 

 

This one actually turned out worse than my older ones, with a very uneven messed up surface, I guess I didn't wait enough to touch and sculpt the material and it was still soft.

 

I was really sick of the aluminum foil, so to keep the chambers dark I stapled some bookmarks together.

 

 

I tried using light to make them leave their old nest. While the workers readily explored the new territory, after some days it became clear they would not move the brood and queen, so i just dumped the colony there (as delicately as I could). I also added some substrate shortly before that, aquarium stuff that could either be described as very coarse sand or very fine gravel.

 

 

 

They finally got into the new nest. They used the grains to partly block the entrance, I guess the original opening was too broad for their liking. Another thing I've noticed is that they like to dump the sand/gravel into the sugar water for some reason (better footing I guess?).

Edited by AntidepressAnt, March 25 2024 - 10:27 AM.

[Artisan_Ants]

You are very right on the fact that most ants (especially Camponotus) tend to not eat dry foods, due to the fact that it is not liquidized, which makes it harder to digest and carry around like you mentioned. I tried feeding dehydrated mealworms to my Camponotus colony before when looking for a protein source. But it didn’t work out and they didn’t touch it at all. Other species that tend to live in deserts, or dryer areas like Pogonomyrmex and I believe Messor; tend to eat dry foods at times (since the seeds that they eat are usually a little dry anyways). Some other spices that eat dry food other than harvester ants are Pheidole (or specially ones found in once again, dryer habitat like deserts). Other than that; this colony has been growing quite solidly. Keep up the great work! Ant about the sugar water thing. Sometimes they just do it when they are to full. In the wild, when they finish their food, they usually stack substrate over it when they want or when it’s present. Good luck; can’t wait to see this colony grow stronger and larger!

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I would avoid using plaster because of mold.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Upd on this colony?

[AntidepressAnt]

Hello GOCAMPONOTUS, well there's not much new to tell, other than the fact that they managed to make their way through the blockades I put on the other chambers and explored them, but didn't use them for anything - they prefer to stay all together on their original chamber - so I removed the paper plugs and filled these other tunnels with sand instead. So if they do need to expand they can just take out the sand.

 

Here's other pictures of them. The plastic isn't completely translucent which was a major oversight from me...

 

About to drink some sugar water:

 

 

Sharing food: 

 

 

For this one I removed the lid and took this pic from an aerial view, which really helped make it less cloudy-looking. They are eating a piece of shrimp.

 

 

I really wish they had soldiers though, wonder how long will it take?

Edited by AntidepressAnt, May 2 2024 - 4:27 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Well it depends on many factors for example if you force feed protein they should get them quicker the fastest I got majors was at 30 workers but those are still small compared to the ones they have know.

[AntidepressAnt]

Some time ago I decided to add springtails from my isopod inclosure (see https://www.formicul...21225-isopods/)to the formicarium. I just got a spoonful of the coconut coir and spread it here. This resulted in a somewhat strange look, with the bits of dark coir contrasting strongly with the pale sand, but not a big deal. At first some of the ants carried pieces of the coir and stuck them to the climbing barrier, which got me worried.  I cleaned it out, and they brought just a speck or two of coir to the barrier in the last few days, so I think it will be fine.

 

I wasn't too sure if the springtails would do well in a setup that is mostly plaster, so different from soil, but turned out they are thriving, and I always see them gathering around leftover food. There seems to be at least two types of springtail, one dark, and one very pale and almost translucent. Unfortunately I couldn't take any decent pictures of them in the formicarium with my cellphone. But here's my ants eating some pieces of grape. They love this stuff, really fill their gasters with the juice!

 

 

 

 

You can see bits of coir spread on the sand.

[Stubyvast]

Nice! Looks like they're doing pretty good. If they like grape I bet they'd love sugar-water (A bit less nutritious but hey, we all love junk food)! Yep nice job with the springtails they'll help clean things up, and get rid of any mold. It might be good to add some more sawdust, maybe just a bit, for the springtails to forage around and eat mold off of, but if they're doing good then don't bother. 

 

Well it depends on many factors for example if you force feed protein they should get them quicker the fastest I got majors was at 30 workers but those are still small compared to the ones they have know.

Yes in order to produce majors you need plenty of protein...I mean like gut-load these guys. Mealworms, crickets, or flies and such caught outside are great options. Just remember for outdoor-caught insects there's a chance they carry diseases, so either boil, freeze, or mayyybbbee even microwave them for the best results. I've heard that typically among Camponotus sp., majors don't appear until year 2 or sometimes even 3, but there's a chance that if you feed them well you'll get majors before that time. 

 

I also believe (and this is just my personal theory) it's possible that ants produce majors partially as a response to danger or stimulation, such as war between ant colonies, or environmental pressures, as well as access to plenty of food. I think that to encourage this, you could give your ants some live fruit-flies or something that the ants have to actively hunt and kill, thus encouraging major production? I don't know for sure, as this has only been seen in the wild, but maybe give it a try!

Edited by Stubyvast, July 7 2024 - 2:32 PM.