17 replies to this topic

[gnr_zhao]

I received camponotus turkestanicus three days ago.now I put them in gypsum nest.they do not eat anything,neither honey water or shrimp.I do not know how to add pictures.Would someone tell me the habits of this kind of ant?Thanks.they are so beautiful and big.waiting for reply.

[gnr_zhao]

I do not know what details I should offer.and i would like to know how many people keep camponotus turkestanicus here.

[Martialis]

They like insects and greasy chicken.. not so much shrimp. Try feeding sugar water or syrup water if you can, too.

[gnr_zhao]

Thanks Martialist.
Don't they like honey water?
It looks like they did not have any honey water.i will find insects for them.
Thanks again.

[T.C.]

I recommend sugar water, and fruit flies for a protein source

[gnr_zhao]

I recommend sugar water, and fruit flies for a protein source

I've already intended to buy fruit flies.thanks for reply.

[gnr_zhao]

Where can I find raising experience of camponotus turkestanicus in this forum?

[T.C.]

All Camponotous species require similar care. Specifically turkestanicu species, I am not aware of on this forum.

[benjiwuf]

Being a European species you won't find much (if any) first hand experience on this forum for your specific species. Americans cannot trade beyond state lines.

[gnr_zhao]

Being a European species you won't find much (if any) first hand experience on this forum for your specific species. Americans cannot trade beyond state lines.

Yes.You are right.

[Serafine]

From what I've read about them they are one of the more relaxed and slower Camponotus species (you gonna appreciate that once you've seen Ferrari racing ants like Camponotus barbaricus which can rival black crazy ants in terms of running speed).

 

How are their gasters looking? Are they big or thin? If they look rather bloated they may just not need anything right now.

My knowledge from reading sience stuff (and from personal experience as well) is that young Camponotus colonies are most active during the night and drink sugar water in bursts, so putting their nest into an outworld and add a sugar water tube close to their entrance might be a good thing.

Also most people are saying Camponotus workers only drink sugar water or honey water, not raw honey (my C. barbaricus however were just fine with raw honey).

And if they're in a nest where they do not have direct access to water you MUST add a water tube as well.

 

Shrimp might not be the best food for ants.

Fruit flies are usually the food of choice for young ant colonies, however the cups you can buy them in usually look very messy and my Camponotus outright refused to eat them (they did eat the ones from the wild colony in my kitchen though).

The best you can get are probably mealworms, young crickets or superworms. You can also go out and catch some wild spiders (my ants LOVE those) but you should freeze them for a few hours just to make sure there are no mites on them (and of course NEVER put them into your ant setup alive!).

 

Also don't forget to feed them some fruit bits from time to time (like strawberry, raspberry, apple, peach - ants need vitamins as well), frozen raspberries and frozen strawberries work great as you can offer them in small portions without the rest rotting - just make sure they aren't sprayed/poisoned (bio products like the ones form Alnatura usually aren't).

 

I hope that helps a bit.

Edited by Serafine, February 22 2017 - 5:01 AM.

[gnr_zhao]

From what I've read about them they are one of the more relaxed and slower Camponotus species (you gonna appreciate that once you've seen Ferrari racing ants like Camponotus barbaricus which can rival black crazy ants in terms of running speed).

How are their gasters looking? Are they big or thin? If they look rather bloated they may just not need anything right now.
My knowledge from reading sience stuff (and from personal experience as well) is that young Camponotus colonies are most active during the night and drink sugar water in bursts, so putting their nest into an outworld and add a sugar water tube close to their entrance might be a good thing.
Also most people are saying Camponotus workers only drink sugar water or honey water, not raw honey (my C. barbaricus however were just fine with raw honey).
And if they're in a nest where they do not have direct access to water you MUST add a water tube as well.

Shrimp might not be the best food for ants.
Fruit flies are usually the food of choice for young ant colonies, however the cups you can buy them in usually look very messy and my Camponotus outright refused to eat them (they did eat the ones from the wild colony in my kitchen though).
The best you can get are probably mealworms, young crickets or superworms. You can also go out and catch some wild spiders (my ants LOVE those) but you should freeze them for a few hours just to make sure there are no mites on them (and of course NEVER put them into your ant setup alive!).

Also don't forget to feed them some fruit bits from time to time (like strawberry, raspberry, apple, peach - ants need vitamins as well), frozen raspberries and frozen strawberries work great as you can offer them in small portions without the rest rotting - just make sure they aren't sprayed/poisoned (bio products like the ones form Alnatura usually aren't).

I hope that helps a bit.

Thank you so much for such a long and serious reply.
It is too cold now.i would buy fruit flies later.
I also do not know how to determine whether the humidity in the nest is appropriate for them.
I can not figure out how to test the humidity.

[Serafine]

Camponotus (especially the mediterranean ones like, turkestanus, barbaricus, vagus or compressus) are pretty dry-loving ants. As long as the nest doesn't run completely dry and they have access to a water source (test tubes work very well as water depots) they should be fine. For most of them room humidity is perfectly fine - they don't need condensation in their nest like Myrmica ants do - Camponotus brood usually starts to develop deformations at humidity levels below 20% which is WAY less than any indoor room will ever have, unless you use an air dryer or heat the room extensively (like with a gas heater). That also means there's less issues with mold outbreaks with Camponotus than with other ants.

Best is to water the nest only from one side so they have a humidity gradient. If you see them all hurdled next to the hydration chamber you know you have to water more, if they move away to the drier parts of the nest you know you can water less.

Edited by Serafine, February 23 2017 - 3:25 AM.

[Serafine]

As an additional advice when you make a sugar tube, press the cotton ball in so deep that some of the sugar water leaks out in front of the cotton, then put the tube into the outworld slightly vertical (like at a 15-20° angle) so that there's a small sugar water lake in front of the cotton. My Camponotus seem to vastly prefer this to sucking the sugar water directly from the cotton - they generally seem to prefer "open liquids" compared to liquids bound to cotton (may be species or individual colony taste though).

Don't try this will smaller ants though as these will most likely drown.

Edited by Serafine, February 23 2017 - 5:41 AM.

[Alabama Anter]

If you want to learn more, I suggested you go to a European forum, as they will have more knowledge on exotics.

[gnr_zhao]

Thanks Serafine.That is really help me a lot.
Alabama After,could you recommend European forums to me?I am from China,and could speak English a bit,but not German.

[Alabama Anter]

Ant Keeping Forum is good. It is all English so no problemo!

[Serafine]

http://www.antkeepingforum.com/