11 replies to this topic

[Michiganter]

Hey all! The C. pennsylvanicus queen I caught and tubed on June 5 has her first 3 nanitics! I’m pretty excited and more then a little proud, that was my first attempt at founding a queen I caught on my own and I had a lot of doubts about wether I’d be able to leave her alone sufficiently to found. My question is about when to try feeding them, and if I should just connect them to a test tube outworld/AC test tube portal, or just use a test tube feeder to offer them in their tube?


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[Artisan_Ants]

Hey all! The C. pennsylvanicus queen I caught and tubed on June 5 has her first 3 nanitics! I’m pretty excited and more then a little proud, that was my first attempt at founding a queen I caught on my own and I had a lot of doubts about wether I’d be able to leave her alone sufficiently to found. My question is about when to try feeding them, and if I should just connect them to a test tube outworld/AC test tube portal, or just use a test tube feeder to offer them in their tube?


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Congrats on the new workers! For founding colonies (especially Camponotus as that's mostly what I keep) I tend to feed them in tubes until it becomes nearly impossible to do so (meaning almost, if not an escapee every time). This usually occurs around 7-10 workers, usually the time when this genus becomes a little more confident about exploring. But it's not wrong to give them an outworld earlier. After all, in the wild they basically have the "entire world" to forage after receiving nanitics, so giving them an AC outworld or your own wouldn't be a bad choice at all for this age of the colony. You could use that outworld for a while anyway as another benefit along with easy feeding and management. It's really up to you on how you want to feed them.

[ANTdrew]

Having any sort of outworld and a constant nectar source will greatly reduce the stress on the colony and will boost their growth. There is zero benefit from feeding ants directly in a test tube.

[AntsTx]

Having any sort of outworld and a constant nectar source will greatly reduce the stress on the colony and will boost their growth. There is zero benefit from feeding ants directly in a test tube.

Except for saving money

[RushmoreAnts]

 

Having any sort of outworld and a constant nectar source will greatly reduce the stress on the colony and will boost their growth. There is zero benefit from feeding ants directly in a test tube.

Except for saving money

 

Pencil cases make excellent founding outworlds, and last time I checked they were going for $1 at Walmart.

[AntsTx]

 

 

Having any sort of outworld and a constant nectar source will greatly reduce the stress on the colony and will boost their growth. There is zero benefit from feeding ants directly in a test tube.

Except for saving money

 

Pencil cases make excellent founding outworlds, and last time I checked they were going for $1 at Walmart.

 

If you're like me and have over 200 founding colonies that isn't the best option

[TheGamblingAnt]

Having any sort of outworld and a constant nectar source will greatly reduce the stress on the colony and will boost their growth. There is zero benefit from feeding ants directly in a test tube.

Except for saving money

Pencil cases make excellent founding outworlds, and last time I checked they were going for $1 at Walmart.

If you're like me and have over 200 founding colonies that isn't the best option

Jeez 200 founding colonies? Do you sell them I'm assuming? Can we see pictures ?!

Edited by TheGamblingAnt, July 22 2025 - 6:40 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

 

 

 

Having any sort of outworld and a constant nectar source will greatly reduce the stress on the colony and will boost their growth. There is zero benefit from feeding ants directly in a test tube.

Except for saving money

 

Pencil cases make excellent founding outworlds, and last time I checked they were going for $1 at Walmart.

 

If you're like me and have over 200 founding colonies that isn't the best option

 

It is for the ants' wellbeing.

[AntsTx]

 

Jeez 200 founding colonies? Do you sell them I'm assuming? Can we see pictures ?!

 

Yea I sell most of them. I'm posting pictures of some of them in my journals rn.

[TheGamblingAnt]

Jeez 200 founding colonies? Do you sell them I'm assuming? Can we see pictures ?!

Yea I sell most of them. I'm posting pictures of some of them in my journals rn.

Nice I'll check them out. Where do you sell them out of curiosity? I've got a few I could sell. I caught more than I want to keep cause I really thought more of the queens id catch would die or be infertile but so far that just hasn't really been the case. So if I could make a little cash that'd be nice otherwise I'll probably just let some of these go in the woods in my backyard.

[AntsTx]

Stateside ants, Buckeye, maybe antgear, maybe antlantis, whatever you do don't sell to vern, and just random people that want to buy in bulk

[ANTdrew]

If price is an issue, do this:https://www.formicul...g/?fromsearch=1