10 replies to this topic

[BaconPancakes]

So I have a Novomessor Cockerelli colony that is growing pretty well and I am about to move them to a new nest made by Tar Heel Ants.  It is the 4x8 Nucleus nest.  Right now I am heating their nest by taping a 50w heat cable to the glass of the formicarium.  And let me tell you, these things love the heat.  They put the eggs on the glass exactly where the heating cable is and sit by it all day. 

 

So I guess the question I have is if there are any better ways to heat the nest other than taping a heat cable to the glass...  Maybe a heat pad and set the nest on top of it?  The nest is made out of Ytong and I don't know how well it absorbs heat.  

 

I also am wondering if the ants are not getting enough heat if they are literally spooning with the heat cable right now.  Any suggestions here would be great too.

[dspdrew]

How many workers does the colony have now? I didn't end up with any good ones myself.

 

I find that enclosing the nest in a cabinet along with something that gives off heat to be the best way to heat them up.

[Inlineants]

Medical heating pads work great. Most people have one laying around the house.

[BaconPancakes]

How many workers does the colony have now? I didn't end up with any good ones myself.

 

I find that enclosing the nest in a cabinet along with something that gives off heat to be the best way to heat them up.

 

I lost a few workers with the first nest I had but now I am up to 7 workers and like 30 eggs once I got them into a better nest.  They hated the ants canada nest and flipped out every time I opened the cover.  I now have them in the mini hearth from tar heel ants and they love that thing.  Queen has been laying eggs like crazy.  I also have been giving them a lot of dead bugs. Once I got them crushed dubia roaches it seemed like the eggs started flowing.

[dspdrew]

Yeah it seems like most ants just do a lot better the more natural the formicarium is.

[BaconPancakes]

Here is a video of the colony Drew.

[Barristan]

I use heating pads for most of my colonies. However I only heat the nest not the outworld. Most ants don't care much about outworld temperature as long as it is at least room temperature.

 

I bought two heating pad (7 Watts, 14 x 28 cm) from ebay. It shipped from Singapore and one was 3€.

Edited by Barristan, April 5 2016 - 11:39 AM.

[BaconPancakes]

I use heating pads for most of my colonies. However I only heat the nest not the outworld. Most ants don't care much about outworld temperature as long as it is at least room temperature.

 

I bought two heating pad (7 Watts, 14 x 28 cm) from ebay. It shipped from Singapore and one was 3€.

 

So would you happen to know how to tell if you are using too much heat or not enough heat?  If you can see in the video above they literally stack all the eggs and pupae on the glass where it is touching the heating cable.  Does that mean there is not enough heat?

[Barristan]

Different stages of brood require different temperatures. If you look at your video you see that they store pupae and large larvae (which will become pupae soon) directly at the glass. This type of brood requires the most heat. But you also see that they stored smaller larvae not directly at the glass. So for this stage of brood it is too warm at the glass. 

I think overall the temperature is quite ok. If it'd be too hot they'd not sore pupae or large larvae near the glass. if it was too cold they would store all brood at the glass.

Edited by Barristan, April 6 2016 - 10:14 PM.

[Socalfireants]

I like to use a small heat pad under above one part of the nest. Lets the regulate tempurature. Advantage of a cable is you can heat multiple colonies with one cable

[Crystals]

I use a 15 watt reptile heating cable under all of my picture frame style nests, one cable can work for 3-20 colonies depending on size of nest/test tube.  I put it in a corner to start, playing with the location until they have a warm area and a cool area while avoiding cooking them.

 

When my ants come out of hibernation, I put the heating cable on the new nest and they usually move over pretty easily.