5 replies to this topic

[Jean]

Have had these ants for four months and it's my first colony. Bought a queen and five workers, and now have 23 workers with a huge pile of eggs (50+) and a dozen (maybe) pupae. I would expect another 15-20 nanitics in less than a month based on the pace so far - oh these are crematogaster cerasi. Despite my lack of know-how, experience and intrinsic patience, this queen is producing like crazy ... but now I have a dirty test tube and this will be the third move! Neither of the other moves has gone particularly well because they don't want to move.

 

The current test tube has cotton that is 80% black and the water is tinged slightly brown. Right now I have taken off the paper cover on their home test tube and am shining a light on it, while covering their destination test tube next door with paper. The test tubes are connected by an A/C portal with sand in it, so it's pretty easy for them to get to the new test tube without any climbing.

 

It's been about four hours and no sign of ant migration ... how long should I wait - a day, two days? 

 

In the past, have tried pulling the cotton forward to motivate them, which worked until it didn't with a minor flood situation. Second time, they moved but left the eggs behind so I used a tiny paintbrush to move the eggs. 

 

In videos I see, the ants just saunter over to the new test tube with a bounce in their stride, but I try not to believe everything I see on TV.

 

Thanks for any advice ... or commiseration.

 

 

[AntsBC]

Patience is key when moving ant colonies. Most species won't move right away, (Especially in four hours), so you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Give it a day or two. Some colonies can take days to weeks to move. If they haven't moved in 3-4 days and light hasn't seemed to affect them, you could try tapping on their test tube. I find vibration works quite well to move stubborn colonies. But really, just wait a few days. There shouldn't be any real thing to worry about unless you start to see deaths. From what you have explained, the colony seems to be quite healthy so I wouldn't get uptight about it. Rushing their move will only be negative for them. Try to be as patient as possible.

[Jean]

Patience is key when moving ant colonies. Most species won't move right away, (Especially in four hours), so you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Give it a day or two. Some colonies can take days to weeks to move. If they haven't moved in 3-4 days and light hasn't seemed to affect them, you could try tapping on their test tube. I find vibration works quite well to move stubborn colonies. But really, just wait a few days. There shouldn't be any real thing to worry about unless you start to see deaths. From what you have explained, the colony seems to be quite healthy so I wouldn't get uptight about it. Rushing their move will only be negative for them. Try to be as patient as possible.

Ants BC, that is extremely helpful. Sometimes I need to get permission to be patient. This ant keeping hobby seems designed to finally teach me some patience.

[Wa.Va]

Also,Crematogaster spp. can live for a very long time without water. With this colonie u don't have to worry to much. But u can always put a small tube filled with water in a outworld. Just keep in mind that this colony will grow fast, almost not to compare with other species of ants.

I also have a colony, mid move. Its been a week now since they have another tube attached. But just to not stress the ants out i let them be. If they rlly have to move, they will(Temnothorax n.)

[YsTheAnt]

Personally I have way too many ants to let them move on their own so I forcefully move most of mine and it doesn't seem to have noticeable affects on the colony.

[Jean]

Also,Crematogaster spp. can live for a very long time without water. With this colonie u don't have to worry to much. But u can always put a small tube filled with water in a outworld. Just keep in mind that this colony will grow fast, almost not to compare with other species of ants.

I also have a colony, mid move. Its been a week now since they have another tube attached. But just to not stress the ants out i let them be. If they rlly have to move, they will(Temnothorax n.)

I kind of got this species by happenstance, because there were two other options and the c. cerasi only had four workers so I thought it best to start small. I have been amazed how fast they've grown which I was expecting, sort of. Still - it's a cool first colony to have because there is a lot of activity. I didn't know they were so adaptable to lack of water but makes sense as they do well in the desert.