4 replies to this topic

[cfreidsma]

Over on reddit I am being told that pooters are too stressful and/or lethal for catching queens. What's weird is that several ant keeping sites sell them for this purpose.

Have I been doing things wrong or is reddit being reddit?

[ArthurPencilgon]

I’ve used my vacuum to catch all my queens ever since I accidentally squished a Prenolepis trying to get her into a tube. I’ve never harmed an ant with the vacuum and they’re all happily doing their thing now.

[cfreidsma]

Like this one?


I asked on reddit and got a bunch of angry replies.

[ArthurPencilgon]

Like this one?
Screenshot_20250621-005207.png

I asked on reddit and got a bunch of angry replies.

i use this one: https://antgear.com/...uct/ant-vacuum/

reddit is easily the worst place to get any advice. Here or the AAK discord are the most active places with the most experienced keepers afaik.

[Mettcollsuss]

Stress alone does not cause ants to just drop dead, and once placed in an appropriate setup and given time, they'll get over it. There are potential physical dangers with aspirators: if the suction force is too strong, then queens could get thrown against the bottom of the vial with some force when aspirated. If substrate is inhaled with the ants, especially if it is a substrate with a lot of hard bits of debris like gravel, can rattle around the vial and harm the individuals collected. When collecting colonies of smaller ants, I often have workers run upwards and seek shelter in the narrow gap between the vial and the plug, making it near impossible to remove the plug without squishing or losing at least a few ants. The former problems, however, can be avoided with careful use, and the latter depends on the model of aspirator.

Edited by Mettcollsuss, June 21 2025 - 6:53 PM.