26 replies to this topic

[TennesseeAnts]

Well $hit. You say your not the only one that has had this issue? I have never heard of it until know. What is it that he is using exactly? lol

 
Not sure. Could be a combination of the paint and/or proprietary substrate he uses.
 
Positive there are others who've had this issue. They've just never put 1 and 1 together.
 
Consequently, there is a Youtuber Paul Juhl from Arizona (anyone know if he is on Formiculture?) that I follow who makes videos of his ants. His videos aren't the highest quality, but they are always fun to watch. He only uses THA. He would mention a few times in his videos how some of his Myrmecocystus are never successful when he transfers them into a larger THA formicarium. His reasoning was because they were honeypots and honeypots are just hard to raise.
 
Someone needs to tell that poor man it is also because his brand new THA formicarium needs to be aired out.

 
Never heard of that guy before, but sounds like your the guy for the job to tell him. I also like those type of channels like yours, and a guy named Anthony Turner. He also uses THA alot. Calls himself a tarheelants fanboy.   Like he made this pretty cool video here. I don't think he uses anything but THA. Wonder if he has had issues with tarheelants.

 
Yeah, seen his stuff on Facebook.
 
Just to add to the conversation, this issue only happens with the "Type II" substrate.
 
The Ytong formicariums apparently do not exhibit this behavior. Had two buyers who ordered an Ytong formicarium, and when they transferred their C. vicinus there were no issues.

I ordered a Ytong fortress and all I smelled was fresh paint. Does anyone know what the type II nests are made of?

[nurbs]

 

 

 

 

Well $hit. You say your not the only one that has had this issue? I have never heard of it until know. What is it that he is using exactly? lol

 
Not sure. Could be a combination of the paint and/or proprietary substrate he uses.
 
Positive there are others who've had this issue. They've just never put 1 and 1 together.
 
Consequently, there is a Youtuber Paul Juhl from Arizona (anyone know if he is on Formiculture?) that I follow who makes videos of his ants. His videos aren't the highest quality, but they are always fun to watch. He only uses THA. He would mention a few times in his videos how some of his Myrmecocystus are never successful when he transfers them into a larger THA formicarium. His reasoning was because they were honeypots and honeypots are just hard to raise.
 
Someone needs to tell that poor man it is also because his brand new THA formicarium needs to be aired out.

 
Never heard of that guy before, but sounds like your the guy for the job to tell him. I also like those type of channels like yours, and a guy named Anthony Turner. He also uses THA alot. Calls himself a tarheelants fanboy.   Like he made this pretty cool video here. I don't think he uses anything but THA. Wonder if he has had issues with tarheelants.

 
Yeah, seen his stuff on Facebook.
 
Just to add to the conversation, this issue only happens with the "Type II" substrate.
 
The Ytong formicariums apparently do not exhibit this behavior. Had two buyers who ordered an Ytong formicarium, and when they transferred their C. vicinus there were no issues.

I ordered a Ytong fortress and all I smelled was fresh paint. Does anyone know what the type II nests are made of?

 

 

It's not disclosed. It's not epoxy, hydrostone or plaster. Looks like some kind of cement?

 

What species? How many workers? If you can afford to spare one or two workers, put them in and see how they do.

[Darkly_Innocent]

It arrived yesterday!    I didn't notice a smell to it myself, but I do have a cold so that could be a factor. Now just counting down till Springtime and hoping to have good luck finding myself a queen!

[Connectimyrmex]

I've never had problems with Tar Heel Ants (type 2) except for the occasional leaks from the water tower.

 

@Darkly, Good look with queens! Prenolepis might be good, even though foundlings are tricky to care for. At least the queens can be severely neglected for a while (apparently, even checking on them for updates, can incite them to eat their brood!)

[Ellie]

My Husband is Anthony
He's been buying from THA since 2012
Never had an issue with colony death at least not because of the products
There was probably some other issue involved.
He owns 2 type 2 fortress with colonies of Camponotus put in both immediately
No deaths or die offs.
As for Fan boy
More like long time friends

[nurbs]

Follow this thread for latest updates. THA is working to resolve any issues:

 

http://www.formicult...i-formicariums/

[Jamiesname]

Well, the reason it would smell is because it's put in a small box with no ventilation. So it builds up. A few hours sitting out, you wouldn't be able to pick up any noticeable scents just walking around in your room.

Wish it was that simple. I have three Atoms with the built-in mini outworld that still has the scent. Been airing them out for nearly a year. Every time I put a colony in there, it kills them.

M. navajo, P. rugosus, Forelius sp., and V. pergandei were the casualties.

I ordered a THA fortress and I moved my Formica Pacifica colony into it right away with no deaths. Even though it had a strong odor to it fresh out of the box. A few weeks later, and the odor is gone and the colony went from 20 to 155 workers in 3 months!

Right, it is a hit or miss, you got lucky. Just because you didn't have any issues doesn't mean it won't happen to others. Had three buyers who killed off their entire colony (All of them were N. cockerelli) within 15 min of putting them into a Fortress - which incidentally also took over a month to receive. You can tell by the workers behavior that they won't make it. They drag their antennae on the ground, twitch, walk around in circles, and move very strange.

Needless to say, I was on the "tech support" end and trying to help them recover whatever they could. Wasn't fun.

I would caution all buyers about this, especially if they spent the time or money to raise a colony.

At the same time, had buyers with C. modoc that moved into a brand new Fortress with minor issues (a number of dead workers). Some species are also much more sensitive to chemical smells (like Acromyrmex in plastics) than others.

I submerge everything in water and let air it out now. Did this to the last three Fortress that was ordered, and had zero deaths in transferring the colony (C. sansabeanus, Polygnyous C. vicinus, and M. mexicanus).

Just to be patient. Don't just dump the entire colony into the formicarium once you receive it (it's understandably hard to do because it takes him so long to get them delivered in the first place)

I had this happen to me and my m. Mexicanus colony. I left their mini hearth hooked up to the same formicarium you pictured (mini fortress I think?) and they wouldn't move in. I thought they were just being stubborn, as they can be when moving, so I finally just dumped them in. The next day half the colony was dead. Two days later they were all dead (27 little corpses in all) except the queen and, thankfully, 3 pupae. It's been about 2 months and I'm back up to 8 workers, lots of larvae, pupae and eggs. I almost gave up on them but left them alone to see which direction it was going to go. Thank God it turned out OK because I absolutely love this colony.

I'm fairly new to the hobby, but I did think it was more than coincidence that they all died off within 2 days of moving into the new formicarium, but I pushed that thought out of my head and blamed my lack of experience. I wish I would have went with my original thought now.

Edited by Jamiesname, March 11 2018 - 6:29 PM.