29 replies to this topic

[cooIboyJ]

Wow those are fast growing

Heat cable + multiple queens= lots of nanitics and fast growth. My five-queen colony has around 40 workers now, with still five more to eclose from the first batch!

[Zhuge]

 

Wow those are fast growing

Heat cable + multiple queens= lots of nanitics and fast growth. My five-queen colony has around 40 workers now, with still five more to eclose from the first batch!

 

Me: Heat cable+queen ant=heat death

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

 

 

Wow those are fast growing

Heat cable + multiple queens= lots of nanitics and fast growth. My five-queen colony has around 40 workers now, with still five more to eclose from the first batch!

 

Me: Heat cable+queen ant=heat death

 

Thermostat.

I happen to live in a no climate control home, and have big temp swings form cold at night/early mornings, to hot days.
So i couldn't leave a heat cable on them without some control for it to not overheat them during the day while i am at work.

 

 

I got one that had two temp probes each controlling one heat source. I only needed the one up front but they grew into the 2nd one in short order.

the cable keeps "top of the nest" at about 85f, while the other one holds "bottom of the nest" at 72f. Unless room ambient is higher then the cable is off, and then the nest is whatever ambient is.

The third power port is a timer only port that I use to emulate a day/night cycle for them.

I highly recommend one these. It was $40 USD
https://www.digiten....om-fermentation

this one can run one big colony or two separate ones, and they have lots more at different sizes and features, like one that includes humidity probe if it was needed.
The automation of temp control gives me some peace of mind when not at home, and just takes some of the effort of keeping off the top too.
I just look at the temp readout once a day to assure things are as expected.
 

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, October 1 2025 - 8:31 AM.

[cooIboyJ]

 

 

 

Wow those are fast growing

Heat cable + multiple queens= lots of nanitics and fast growth. My five-queen colony has around 40 workers now, with still five more to eclose from the first batch!

 

Me: Heat cable+queen ant=heat death

 

Thermostat.

I happen to live in a no climate control home, and have big temp swings form cold at night/early mornings, to hot days.
So i couldn't leave a heat cable on them without some control for it to not overheat them during the day while i am at work.

thermox2.jpg

 

 

I got one that had two temp probes each controlling one heat source. I only needed the one up front but they grew into the 2nd one in short order.

the cable keeps "top of the nest" at about 85f, while the other one holds "bottom of the nest" at 72f. Unless room ambient is higher then the cable is off, and then the nest is whatever ambient is.

The third power port is a timer only port that I use to emulate a day/night cycle for them.

I highly recommend one these. It was $40 USD
https://www.digiten....om-fermentation

this one can run one big colony or two separate ones, and they have lots more at different sizes and features, like one that includes humidity probe if it was needed.
The automation of temp control gives me some peace of mind when not at home, and just takes some of the effort of keeping off the top too.
I just look at the temp readout once a day to assure things are as expected.
 

 

Next time I need another heat cable or my current one breaks I will be sure to get one of these! They seem so useful, especially if your colonies need a specific temperature.

 

EDIT- Do they also cool? Like if the nest were at 90 degrees and I wanted the cable to make it 60 would that work? (Just example, I would never do this extreme).

Edited by cooIboyJ, October 1 2025 - 8:39 AM.

[Zhuge]

 

 

 

Wow those are fast growing

Heat cable + multiple queens= lots of nanitics and fast growth. My five-queen colony has around 40 workers now, with still five more to eclose from the first batch!

 

Me: Heat cable+queen ant=heat death

 

Thermostat.

I happen to live in a no climate control home, and have big temp swings form cold at night/early mornings, to hot days.
So i couldn't leave a heat cable on them without some control for it to not overheat them during the day while i am at work.

thermox2.jpg

 

 

I got one that had two temp probes each controlling one heat source. I only needed the one up front but they grew into the 2nd one in short order.

the cable keeps "top of the nest" at about 85f, while the other one holds "bottom of the nest" at 72f. Unless room ambient is higher then the cable is off, and then the nest is whatever ambient is.

The third power port is a timer only port that I use to emulate a day/night cycle for them.

I highly recommend one these. It was $40 USD
https://www.digiten....om-fermentation

this one can run one big colony or two separate ones, and they have lots more at different sizes and features, like one that includes humidity probe if it was needed.
The automation of temp control gives me some peace of mind when not at home, and just takes some of the effort of keeping off the top too.
I just look at the temp readout once a day to assure things are as expected.
 

 

I'm still too young to work a job so i can't afford 40 usd. I will buy it once i have the money though (fix child labor laws)

Edited by Zhuge, October 1 2025 - 2:28 PM.

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

@cooIboyJ

 

Not cooling specifically. The power is turned on/off at whatever temperature you set. So it adds heat or turns off the heat, but has no way to remove heat.

With a two temp probe/power control system you could rig up cooling by powering the heat with one and the cooling with the 2nd.

You would want to place the probes in the same place, and dial in the temps so there is a couple degree window in between the on/off of the heat/cool so they are not both on at the same time. But with two separate temp contorted power outlets you could set up for both heating and cooling if needed.


I worry a little now and then that temps might get too high some days, but i think i'd just place an ice cube on the glass if i was worried about it during especially hot times.
 

 

[cooIboyJ]

I have decided to do a test with my single queen colony and my other three queen colony. I gave them the same outworld, seeing if they will combine, live peacefully, or fight (if they fight, I'll remove one colony). This test will mostly be testing what happens if two colonies of Brachymyrmex patagonicus were founded near each other. I also covered one colony and put it next to heat, while leaving the other unheated without any cover, so as to entice them into combining if that's a possibility.

 

Pics:

Edited by cooIboyJ, October 3 2025 - 10:40 AM.

[cooIboyJ]

I have decided to separate the colonies, and I made a water moat outworld for the single queen colony. I will send pictures with next update.

[cooIboyJ]

Since on my table I have so many colonies of the species Brachymyrmex patagonicus I have released my two smallest ones, the one with the moat outworld and the one with the tiny outworld (the ones I was doing tests on before) so sorry no pictures for the moat outworld. But to give you an idea on how it looked I got a large-sized and medium-sized planter trays for collecting water drainage. I filled the larger one with water, and the smaller one with sand. The ants were not able to cross the water, therefore no escapees. If you ever do try this, make sure the ant species you have cannot float. Ants like RIFAs will escape almost immediately with an outworld like this. My five-queen colony is doing very well, with about 30 more pupae, and what looks like 100 eggs, which is very exciting. They also have around 50 workers or so. The three-queen colony has a modest worker amount of about 30 workers along with 10 more pupae coming. I gave these ants 5 fruit flies 3 days ago, and they ate them up in 2 days, so now I will feed them again soon (today or tomorrow) and I will include pics this time. I will be giving them some hard-boiled egg yolk next time, because I heard that they really like it, and it is cool to see them holding the little yellow bits. Also, these ants have started forming trails during feeding time, which is really satisfying to watch.

[cooIboyJ]

    Since I wasn't able to get on here for the past few days, I have a big update. The 5-queen's test tube started molding, so I moved their original test tube away from the heat, took off the light blocker, removed the vinyl tubing held in with cotton for a smaller entrance, and shined a light on them. After this I prepared them a new test tube and put it in the original test tubes position. After shining a light on them for a few hours as I was at the park they moved themselves into the new test tube. The 3-queen killed off one of their own queens, and I think it was because she was infertile, as I wasn't starving them or anything. So now they are a 2-queen colony. The 5-queen colony has a large number of pupae about to eclose, so soon I will not only have around 50 nanitics, but some full-sized workers as well. The 2-queen colony also has some pupae about to eclose, and that should bring their worker count to around 35. I have given the ants some 2ml water feeders from antgear.com full of sugar water. Besides this I have been feeding the ants friutflies and mealworms.