13 replies to this topic

[durant]

i'm a lurker who's been obsessed with insects my whole life. although i've been reading up and watching ant channels on youtube for a while, i've never raised them before and i'd really like to get into it. the problem is i live in a good old fashioned dorm. i've tried but i haven't been able to convince my entomology professor to establish a school colony, and my dorm has pretty strict rules about pets. but we're allowed to keep aquatic animals in tanks, and there's sort of a gray area for other tank-confined things like hermit crabs. i've raised odonate nymphs and some aquatic hemiptera with no trouble, and i bet i could get away with antkeeping, especially if i pretend like it's for an entomology study (the way i did when people gave me weird looks about having pet damselflies). but i can't control the temperature in the room, and it's fairly small (but my roommate's going abroad next semester so i think i could set up a formicarium using her desk space). 

 

as if that wasn't enough, my school is a couple hundred miles from home, and it's across a state line. so i think i wouldn't be able to keep the same colony any longer than one semester.

 

i'd like some advice! do you think i should try establishing a formicarium in my dorm this spring, or wait until i'm out so i have a little more freedom and time? if you've ever been in a similar situation, what did you do? thanks!

[JasonD]

I was on board until you mentioned state lines. Pretty easy to keep a colony in your dorm if your roommate doesn't mind and if you're responsible, but restarting every year doesn't sound appealing. I'd say stick with something that can cross state lines until you have a more established location. 

[T.C.]

Maybe you could find someone to take it off your hands when you head back. ( ya know, because taking them across state lines is illegal anyway.) I am very curious though, that username, "durant" sounds very familiar. Are you on some sort of other bug forum with that name?

Edited by T.C., November 28 2017 - 8:28 PM.

[durant]

thanks for the input! i guess i will keep my eyes out just in case i come across someone from my school's area who could ant-sit over the breaks.. but i understand trying to rehome a colony every finals week might be too much of a hassle for the few months i'd get out of them. i'd better stick to odonates for now; those i release immediately when they metamorphose anyway.

 

&oh! no, but i bet i'm not the first person in these circles to go by durant. it's the name of an ant-based species in pokemon.

[Zeiss]

I'm keeping my few ant colonies in my dorm even though I am not supposed to.  I haven't contacted my entomology department yet, haha.  I just keep them in a box hidden from prying eyes.  

[durant]

nice! 'what's in the box?' 'uhh, weed!' i think having a school colony would be a great idea, and my professor even mentioned once that he feels his curriculum is limited because it's too focused on dead specimens. but he never answered my email....

[dermy]

thanks for the input! i guess i will keep my eyes out just in case i come across someone from my school's area who could ant-sit over the breaks.. but i understand trying to rehome a colony every finals week might be too much of a hassle for the few months i'd get out of them. i'd better stick to odonates for now; those i release immediately when they metamorphose anyway.

 

&oh! no, but i bet i'm not the first person in these circles to go by durant. it's the name of an ant-based species in pokemon.

I know I knew it from somewhere, it has really bad type, since it's 4x weak to fire......

 

But like the other members mentioned crossing state lines with ant colonies is illegal. I wouldn't really risk it at all, since you could really screw up your schooling or something [get kicked out among other things] if they ever caught you. I'd say just get a close friend near by to take care of them for you.

[Noah Norman]

Well, depending on the colony you could just make a nest using an aquarium, and nothing else. About state lines if you aren't flying, you could just put them in your car and take them with you as long as they don't escape it should be fine.

[Spamdy]

Well, depending on the colony you could just make a nest using an aquarium, and nothing else. About state lines if you aren't flying, you could just put them in your car and take them with you as long as they don't escape it should be fine.

I hope you don't mean that we can legally bring ants across the border as long as we are driving...

[Noah Norman]

It's still illigal, but there isn't anyone that's going to get you. I know that this is a big debate, but as long as the species you have is in that state then it should be fine, and the ants are obviously contained good enough so that they can't escape.

[JasonD]

nice! 'what's in the box?' 'uhh, weed!' i think having a school colony would be a great idea, and my professor even mentioned once that he feels his curriculum is limited because it's too focused on dead specimens. but he never answered my email....

Protip about professors: They get a million emails a day. Sometimes you have to email them a few times before they manage to respond. Just don't be disrespectful.

You can also find when his office hours are and talk then.

[T.C.]

nice! 'what's in the box?' 'uhh, weed!' i think having a school colony would be a great idea, and my professor even mentioned once that he feels his curriculum is limited because it's too focused on dead specimens. but he never answered my email....

Protip about professors: They get a million emails a day. Sometimes you have to email them a few times before they manage to respond. Just don't be disrespectful.
You can also find when his office hours are and talk then.

I had a teacher a few years back who apparently got hundreds of emails a day. So we had to send him even more just to get a response. And he would reply with something very short.

[Klassien]

Well, depending on the colony you could just make a nest using an aquarium, and nothing else. About state lines if you aren't flying, you could just put them in your car and take them with you as long as they don't escape it should be fine.

No, no, no. You can't justify transporting ants across a state border. You can't justify and make exceptions to laws.

Say no and run away, kids.

 

 

On the other hand, I don't see a problem with it as long as you do your civic ant duty when it's time for you to head home. Depending on your major/year in college, you could say it's a capstone thesis (or idea) test. As long as you maintain professionalism (with your purpose as to keeping them) and prove that it cannot escape and/or cause disruption within the living quarters, I think the RA could be lenient.

Going to go against the grain here, but if you keep having doubts or will be tempted to take them with you from your school, don't do it. Wait for your own place that you can live in year-round.

[sgheaton]

And here I am thinking back at the fake IDs we made to get into the bars freshman year....

 

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