13 replies to this topic

[Works4TheGood]

Thanks for taking the time to review my post!

 

Today I refreshed my olive oil barrier.  A few minutes later, I found many ants huddling around the barrier and sucking on it the same way they do with sugar water.  The colony appears to have plenty of sugar water and water, so why would they be attracted to the olive oil?  Would this mean that they're having trouble actually getting at the sugar water (it sometimes hardens, but I don't believe that that's the case here)?  Or perhaps the olive oil is providing some nutrient that the meal worms and sugar water do not?

 

Thanks again for listening to me!

[Ricardo]

Have you thought maybe they think if they drink enough they will be able to get through the barrier. And it's possible your ants might like it. I hope I helped , good luck.

[Foogoo]

Ants need fats and oils in their diet, usually from insects and seeds. You might want to try changing up the food options. I usually stick to crickets but occasionally feed fruit flies, fish food, cat food, and chicken.

[Serafine]

Mealworms aren't very nutritious and insufficient as a diet. You need to feed them other stuff like fruit flies, crickets, superworms, cat/dog food (in sauce, not the dry one), cooked meat, boiled egg yolk, etc.

You can also try fruits (apples, banana, strawberries, cherries), nuts (unsalted) and seeds (sesame seeds are quite popular among ants that are semi-granivorous).

 

Your ants need variety and you'll see how exited they will be when you drop them a cricket, some egg yolk or a banana slice.

You couldn't live off coke and peanut flips forever either, right?

Edited by Serafine, January 19 2017 - 9:06 AM.

[sgheaton]

cat/dog food (in sauce, not the dry one)

And here I've been using the dry stuff because I didn't think about it enough. Wet food makes sense. 

[Serafine]

If they have enough big larvae it doesn't really matter. However the adult ants can't really digest solid protein, that's why the wet version is better (as they don't have to process it through the larvae first).

Edited by Serafine, January 19 2017 - 9:08 AM.

[AntsMAN]

Meal worms are very nutritious and great as one of the staple foods in their diet, but I agree a varied diet is best. I currently rotate meal/super worms and crickets, I used to use boiled eggs but they mold really quickly. Also some natural unpasteurized honey is really good.

I wouldn't use dog or cat food. There are a lot of things that get mixed in that aren't good for ants. I've been told by a few knowledgeable people that it

can cause a colony to die off.

[Shareallicu]

Meal worms are very nutritious and great as one of the staple foods in their diet, but I agree a varied diet is best. I currently rotate meal/super worms and crickets, I used to use boiled eggs but they mold really quickly. Also some natural unpasteurized honey is really good.

I wouldn't use dog or cat food. There are a lot of things that get mixed in that aren't good for ants. I've been told by a few knowledgeable people that it

can cause a colony to die off.

How can you tell if the honey is pasteurized or not?

[Connectimyrmex]

What ants do you have? Some ants love eating oils. For example, olive oils are a special treat I give to my Pheidole.

[Serafine]

I wouldn't use dog or cat food. There are a lot of things that get mixed in that aren't good for ants. I've been told by a few knowledgeable people that it

can cause a colony to die off.

I guess that depends on your country. In my country the regulations for dog and cat food are actually stricter than for human food. The major issue I see could be salt (and some cat/dog food has vegetables mixed into it but they aren't even good for cats and dogs so forget about these), but the amount of salt in the food is noted on the can and if the ants have enough water they should be able to deal even with more salty food it. Someone in the forums (forgot who) has a giant invicta colony and feeds them half a can of dog food per day and they're doing fine.

[AntsMAN]

 

Meal worms are very nutritious and great as one of the staple foods in their diet, but I agree a varied diet is best. I currently rotate meal/super worms and crickets, I used to use boiled eggs but they mold really quickly. Also some natural unpasteurized honey is really good.

I wouldn't use dog or cat food. There are a lot of things that get mixed in that aren't good for ants. I've been told by a few knowledgeable people that it

can cause a colony to die off.

How can you tell if the honey is pasteurized or not?

 

 

It will usually say raw honey on the jar, I get mine from a local bee keeper.

[Alabama Anter]

Meal worms are very nutritious and great as one of the staple foods in their diet, but I agree a varied diet is best. I currently rotate meal/super worms and crickets, I used to use boiled eggs but they mold really quickly. Also some natural unpasteurized honey is really good.
I wouldn't use dog or cat food. There are a lot of things that get mixed in that aren't good for ants. I've been told by a few knowledgeable people that it
can cause a colony to die off.

How can you tell if the honey is pasteurized or not?

It will usually say raw honey on the jar, I get mine from a local bee keeper.

Same. Very expensive too.

[AntsMAN]

 

I wouldn't use dog or cat food. There are a lot of things that get mixed in that aren't good for ants. I've been told by a few knowledgeable people that it

can cause a colony to die off.

I guess that depends on your country. In my country the regulations for dog and cat food are actually stricter than for human food. The major issue I see could be salt (and some cat/dog food has vegetables mixed into it but they aren't even good for cats and dogs so forget about these), but the amount of salt in the food is noted on the can and if the ants have enough water they should be able to deal even with more salty food it. Someone in the forums (forgot who) has a giant invicta colony and feeds them half a can of dog food per day and they're doing fine.

 

 

Which country are you from? I find it hard to believe that your government would put animal food safety before human food safety.

It's not the salts its the contaminates that make their way into the food during production/handling, or the neglect of the companies when sourcing the ingredients.

They do not use the best materials to make the food, they use the scraps and leftovers, anything not fit of human consumption.

You said yourself they make cat/dog food that isn't even healthy them. A lot of the cat/dog foods are heavily contaminated with unhealthy things and I personally don't think it is a good idea to use as ant feed, or animal feed for that matter.

That's not to say there isn't any good cat/dog foods, if you want to spend the money you can get all natural healthy foods but if your going to feed them chicken cat food, why not feed them actual chicken?

The person with the invicta colony, may feed them some dog food but half a can a day seems a little excessive, and a doubt it is their only protein source. And that's not to say there aren't a few exceptions in the ant world that can sustain on unsatisfactory foods.

See here: http://www.littlebig...d-contaminants/

[Serafine]

Which country are you from? I find it hard to believe that your government would put animal food safety before human food safety.

Germany. The country were tap water is usually of better quality than the water you can buy in supermarkets (we have very very strict laws on tap water).
And yes, we have very strict laws for animal food as well. Cat/dog food here is definitely safe for humans to eat (which I wouldn't advise though unless you like liver and other animal guts, but then you could as well just buy an entire pork liver, a pack of complete chicken hearts or a whole cow stomach at the local supermarket).