70 replies to this topic

[ANTdrew]

Funny how they are clustered up like that. Hope there all wearing masks! Nice colony.

They don’t need masks. They have anty bodies.

[PetsNotPests]

 

Funny how they are clustered up like that. Hope there all wearing masks! Nice colony.

They don’t need masks. They have anty bodies.

 

How did I not think of that!?!?!? Hahahaha!

[skocko76]

Thanks for your suggestions! Due to covid, I couldn't order much from abroad, due to postage restrictions. I just got a shipment from AKD I ordered almost a year ago, so it should be possible to do now. Unfortunately, in Croatia, dogs, cats, parrots and goldfish is as far as pets go. So it's hard to find stuff locally (as in the entire country haha).

[Lillyrose]

Why not buy some mealworms?

I don't have access to live feed locally. Pet shop only have dried feed for aquarium fish etc..
I tried feeding them freeze dried stuff, but that didn't work very well. I soaked the insects in water, but the reception was bad.
And I don't think growing live feed would fly with the missus. It's a wonder she agreed to my ants

If there is a trick with feeding freeze dried stuff from pet shops, please do tell

Have you figured it out?

The pet store near me sells these semi freeze dried insects .. the outside is dry but you can cut into them and it's juicy inside.

My ants loved it the first time but have shown very little interest after that. Worth looking at.

Have you been using things like chicken and egg?

[skocko76]

 

 

Why not buy some mealworms?

I don't have access to live feed locally. Pet shop only have dried feed for aquarium fish etc..
I tried feeding them freeze dried stuff, but that didn't work very well. I soaked the insects in water, but the reception was bad.
And I don't think growing live feed would fly with the missus. It's a wonder she agreed to my ants

If there is a trick with feeding freeze dried stuff from pet shops, please do tell

Have you figured it out?

The pet store near me sells these semi freeze dried insects .. the outside is dry but you can cut into them and it's juicy inside.

My ants loved it the first time but have shown very little interest after that. Worth looking at.

Have you been using things like chicken and egg?

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check for them in the pet shops around town.

I do feed them hard-boiled egg. I haven't tried chicken yet. Should the chicken be raw or cooked? Also the egg, they like it hard-boiled but I am unsure if they can ingest it that way.I did try liquid yoke, but ants get stuck in it.

I have been managing so far with odd house fly, spider and earwig, also with mazu protein powder (which they don't like much), nectar powder from French Fourmiculture and Japanese beetle jelly from AKD.

They are still relatively small so don't need much food.

[skocko76]

My photos are becoming less and less clear - the ants clump into big black balls haha

Most of the larvae have enclosed, only a few left, although it's kinda hard to see. A new batch of eggs is yet to come.

They are close to a hundred now, and I suspect they will fill the entire nest by Fall.

As they are a very tidy and clean species, I will be moving them into Aeacus Corinth medium nest I have stashed. It will be a beautiful sight.

 

 

[skocko76]

The colony has stalled development at no more than 200 workers.

I suspected they filled their nest full and stalled. I connected a larger nest to the outworld, but they wouldn't move.

An inert worker would always hang in the larger nest, perhaps keeping tabs on it, or perhaps getting far away from the nest to die.

In the end I removed the glass from their nest and placed them in the outworld.

They moved within an hour and are settling in their new, larger nest.

We'll see if they'll start producing eggs again. Currently, they have a single larvae.

 

Edited by skocko76, August 16 2021 - 6:38 AM.

[Lamarr]

Any updates?

[skocko76]

Actually.... yes!

 

In the past week, their pupae started enclosing. The colony has reached puberty! They got their first drones!

 

 

[Lamarr]

That's awesome! Seems like they are growing still

[Kristijan]

I hope you'll give us another update after diapause, Aphaenogaster epirotes is not common in antkeeping