45 replies to this topic

[justanotheramy]

[justanotheramy]

Accepted that 3Q was habituated to the light and not budging, so I tipped her into a new tube — not only was cotton green, but mould was starting to form on the mud.

Attached new tube to the AntKit AntHome, and while I doubt they'll leave the tube for a while they seem to be settling in well. They've brought sand in from the entrance and piled it up around the larvae, and seem generally untraumatised.

[justanotheramy]

5Q and workers have demolished a freshly killed mosquito they were given, so I guess I'm going hunting… 

[ANTdrew]

I strongly recommend against feeding directly in tubes except when colonies are very young. Once you have even a few workers, I'd give them a small out-world where you can give constant access to nectar and just drop in food items without stressing anybody out.

[justanotheramy]

They're just so tiny that I've been putting it off because… what's escape-proof?
My medium AusAnts outworld is empty now that the chaos ants have moved out, but that seems like overdoing it.

I'm feeding 5Q in the tube using the Tar Heel Ants tube insert feeder because I'm curious about how that goes — but they're deconstructing the tube insert and filling the feeder dish with the bits, so… that's… information.

Trying maggot pieces today.

[justanotheramy]

5Q has died

Donated 5Q's last surviving worker to one of the 2 unproductive queens.
Made them a small container outworld with soil, a nectar feeder, and a smaller test tube with water reservoir  — dumped them both in.
They seem to have adopted each other and have moved into the tube. Might try to find them some brood.

Black specks of mould growing on the clean cotton at the reservoir end of 3Q's new tube, although she otherwise seems happy enough.
Don't know if I should move her again or not, as her and her workers have made a clump of… something… using sand from the entrance to the outworld, which they move to vary proximity to the moisture source so I'm hoping it's more eggs?

I'm very bad at this

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Mold growth is not good...I would keep an extremely close eye on it because of the ants size and mold easily kills colonies of larger ants if left unchecked so I would get a second opinion, but if it gets worse I would move them...You can give them the option to move now and they can move if they dislike the mold, or stay if it's not bothering them

[RushmoreAnts]

Well, ants are actually very adept at dealing with mold. I would worry if it covers the entire surface of the cotton, but specs should be okay for now. But yes, keep an eye on it.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Give them substrate! They'll suffocate the mold if u give them substrate!

[justanotheramy]

They have "ant sand", but I think it's too sterile and inert.
Been thinking about switching to dirt, but that would mean disrupting her… again.

[justanotheramy]

The unproductive queen and her adopted worker have definitely hit it off — huddled together all the time — but they are sitting out in the open on a small stone.
I thought maybe if I make them a starter hole in the dirt…? And they did sit in there for a few hours.
But then, nope, back to the small stone.

Not holding out much hope for the pair of them, really.

[ANTdrew]

Wow. It seems for reading all these various journals that Australian ants are rather tricky and slow to get going. I would’ve assumed the opposite.

[Temperateants]

Amazing species! I've never heard of this genus before, but they made workers! These ants look very pretty. I've fed my ants fruit fly maggots, if you have feeder fruit flies. If these ants are attracted to heat, you can use heat to lure the ants to the new tube. Just put it under the new tube halfway between the water cotton and the dry cotton. I've used this method to move crematogaster ants. Or, if that doesn't work, you can use the "tarheel ants method". It's more suited for larger species, but my dad has helped me move tetramorium. 

https://www.youtube....h?v=enqPOe-ELaw

[justanotheramy]

I just haven't set things up for them right
There are colonies of the same species right outside my back door (literally), and they're going brilliantly.

Maybe she's… cold?
But they're cold outside, too, and that's not stopping them.

[justanotheramy]

I've fed my ants fruit fly maggots, if you have feeder fruit flies.

I'm in South Australia, no fruit flies. 
This is A Very Big Deal.

I did catch them an even tinier ferment fly, but… nope, huddled on rock.

Eventually, if I can keep them alive long enough, they should make major workers. Those are enormous and beautiful.

[Temperateants]

I did some research, Melophorus tuneri are pretty heat resistant. Here: https://www.gamergat...s/melophorus-sp You should dig deeper, as I only used one source. But for most ants, 75-80 degrees are good. You should give them a "gradient". WHich means you run the heating cable "widthwise" under the tube. So only under the side that is dry. Here's Tarheel ants to explain it better: https://www.youtube....ature=emb_title. 

[justanotheramy]

I have the queen with the adopted worker in a glass container, so maybe should try a heat pad.
I'm just worried about steaming her, since there's no sensible way to get a thermostat in there without the very tiny ants getting out.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

well test out your heating pad! That's what I did, and I marked it up to know where I should set it to. It doesn't take that long and is a huge help

[Temperateants]

I'd recommend a heating cable, since it is thinner, so you can fit more ant colonies on it- with a heating pad you can't do anything with the center. But You just need to run it under the test tube.

[justanotheramy]

I think since I have multiple small containers that need heating it might be easier to stack them all off the floor within an aquarium and heat that, with a thermostat measuring air temp.