6 replies to this topic

[jdsaunders1390]

Hello all! This is my first anting season (I started in April of this year) and I now have a lot of queens (around 20 now, though I have had more that have died or were not reproducing) that I am looking after. Most just have brood, though I have had a few with workers and have a couple of issues getting them from the stage of only having a few workers, to the stage where the colony is big enough (at least 50 workers) to put into a formicarium.

 

1. When a test tube setup runs low on water, or becomes very moldy, I cannot get the ants to a new setup. I have tried taping a tube to the end, covering up the new tube and putting a light on the old tube. I have tried this at least 5 times with different colonies (most were Solenopsis, though I have tried with Pheidole as well) and it never works for me. I have tried leaving the other tube in the light for multiple days, I have tried tilting the tubes so that the old tube is upside down and the new one is below it right-side up, it just never works. I have tried shaking them into a new tube. I have tried gently moving the eggs, queen, and workers to a new tube. Both of those techniques have typically ended poorly. (They either stop reproducing, many workers die over the next few days, or the queen actually dies.) How do you handle moving queens and/or workers to a new test tube setup, and when do you decide that they actually need a new setup?

 

2. When a queen only has 1-8 workers, I can easily pull out the cotton plug and add food on a piece of wax paper. When she has 8-30 workers, it becomes much more difficult making sure that I have no escapees. How do you feed these small colonies in the tube? I have also tried putting these tubes in small tupperware containers (like an outworld) and putting the food just outside of the tube. Typically, I will end up with a bunch of dead workers that got stranded outside of the tube.

 

Thank you in advance for your help!

[Gabraime]

http://www.formicult...test-tube-move/ you need to move ur colony to a new test tube when the cotton is dirt or when the tube is out of water

[FeedTheAnts]

1. If nothing else works for you then you can put the tubes in Sunlight and from my experience, this works every time for me. Just know that this is a little more stressful for the ants but it's what happens in the wild when their nests get disturbed so it can't be that bad. Yoy can also try slowly increasing the amount of light by covering the tube you want to move them out of with increasingly lighter paper every minute or so. I hope this helps.

 

2. Putting the tube in a small container is what I do with all of my colonies and it works great for me. Perhaps the dead ants in the outworld are just ants that were just carried out of the nest because they died of natural causes. I can't imagine an ant getting lost and dying, especially in a small container.

[Loops117]

1. I normally don't swap out tubes if they become dark and discolored, none of my colonies have done bad due to that. 

I normally make sure i have quite a bit of water in my tubes, and less space for the queen. In the wild, the queen is sitting in a claustral chamber that's 4x her size and that's it. She'll expand her chamber as space is needed. Because we can't do that, we give them enough space to live out the first season of their life. Which usually isn't that much more space.

 

As for the amount of water and how long it lasts. I only use glass tubes as plastic absorb water which causes it to go quicker.

Here's an image to show how much water compared to dry area i leave it my tubes for new queens.

As you can see, the water takes around 60% of my tube with an extra 10% being water soaked cotton.

 

now with pre-existing colonies, they're going to want space to expand, so no need to give large amounts of water for a simple expansion. When the colony has multiple tubes to choose from, they'll either move out, or continue to use the tubes as they dry out. Either of which you wouldn't want to stop as they've chosen that spot to be a great spot for their young.

As you can see here, i have significantly less water in the tube. Around 30% water with another 10% being water soaked cotton. This allows the colony to have more space to utilize. And since i'm not worried about adding more tubes to the setup, having a lower life expectancy on the water reservoir does not hinder my situation.

 

Also, I try my best not to force move, but sometimes it is required to save a colony. What i've always used and have never had a problem with is a fine tip paint brush. I use it to nudge workers and queens along, and the bristles can move and lift the brood without injuring them.

 

2.Companies offer easy solutions to swapping tubes which allow you to hook multiple tubes up. They also usually have a lid which makes feeding and maintaing a colony in a tube easier. (2nd image has one hooked onto an outworld)

For me, i normally feed using a small piece of tin foil and preparing the food on there. I then open the plug and pop it in. Most species (except formica) have gone running back to the queen in the tube once i lightly blow on the open end of the tube.

Edited by Loops117, August 7 2017 - 11:12 AM.

[jdsaunders1390]

Thanks everyone. When you put these small colonies in an outworld, what containers do you all use? (Amazon link?)

[FeedTheAnts]

Ya, I just have a lot of old small plastic Rubbermaid totes, they are nothing special really. 

Edited by TennesseeAnts, August 7 2017 - 4:54 PM.

[Russell]

I have put them in sun light any it works every time. It has almost never worked under a lamp. That being said i may move from 150mm tubes and try 200mm tubes long term for more water to min moves in the future.