2 replies to this topic

[shAnt]

Hi, first year ant noob here. I'm having trouble with a camponotus pennsylvanicus queen who had her first worker arrive with her about a month ago when I first got her. The problem began when I accidentally injured the fragile worker while trying to attach the tube into its micro outworld cabin. I know now that one worker wasn't enough but the problem is after that worker died a few days after being hurt, the queen quit eclosing the pupae and lets them get fully dark and hardened and die in their cocoons. She still cares for her eggs and larva and is very very defensive about her brood, but hasn't had a single worker hatch alive since the incident a month ago. I've removed 6 dead workers and I'm afraid she will let all of them die instead of helping them eclose. She still is laying eggs and has a few cocoons left. I think I might have to try to take them out and eclose a few myself, before she lets them all die. Does that ever work? I have tried giving her sugar and protein in case she is running out of her natural claustral storage but she didn't want anything and just got freaked out. Trying to leave her undisturbed in the dark has only resulted in half a dozen dead still cocooned workers.

Edited by shAnt, Today, 1:32 PM.

[cooIboyJ]

I would personally get some tweezers or something and try and take the workers out, you might be able to find a helpful video on YouTube. Tho I would wait for a more experienced member to respond. I hope this helps!

[Artisan_Ants]

Hi, first year ant noob here. I'm having trouble with a camponotus pennsylvanicus queen who had her first worker arrive with her about a month ago when I first got her. The problem began when I accidentally injured the fragile worker while trying to attach the tube into its micro outworld cabin. I know now that one worker wasn't enough but the problem is after that worker died a few days after being hurt, the queen quit eclosing the pupae and lets them get fully dark and hardened and die in their cocoons. She still cares for her eggs and larva and is very very defensive about her brood, but hasn't had a single worker hatch alive since the incident a month ago. I've removed 6 dead workers and I'm afraid she will let all of them die instead of helping them eclose. She still is laying eggs and has a few cocoons left. I think I might have to try to take them out and eclose a few myself, before she lets them all die. Does that ever work? I have tried giving her sugar and protein in case she is running out of her natural claustral storage but she didn't want anything and just got freaked out. Trying to leave her undisturbed in the dark has only resulted in half a dozen dead still cocooned workers.

Very odd behavior. Does she have enough water? I mean If she's defending her brood properly, and acting aggressive when you check up on her, I doubt she's dehydrated, but this could be the cause. I once had a Lasius neoniger queen with some pupae and she lacked water and didn't eclose her pupae (of course, different genus but animals, especially ants I find, usually act the same when it comes to dehydration). If nothing else works I think the best you can do is eclose them yourself except this is exceptionally risky as the pupae inside and fragile and one wrong move could end up injuring or killing the developing ant.

 

What about living space and heat? I genuinely don't think heat is the issue especially if pupae are darkening and a worker has already eclosed before that but make sure they are getting at least 77-81 degrees Fahrenheit (least that's what I keep my colony of the same species on. They develop just fine at that temp) and to not exceed about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Living space is another factor I also doubt especially if she's caring for her brood, but the ants can't do anything about it if their living space is bad, rather the keeper manages it.