7 replies to this topic

[TechAnt]

Alright so I failed drastically creating a journal on May 14th, 2020 as I only posted one entry. The reason why, I had something called: real life saying “Sorry, you won’t get the time for that.” Also, probably doing all my species in one journal would be a lot, so I’m going to try a fresh start and update on my P. californica. So, this entry will probably be longest entry, as I will talk about from when I got them to the present.

So I begin with buying the colony off Formiculture from Vern530 (with a excellent price and shipping time I might add). They arrived in the mail in a test tube set-up, where I put them in a tubs and tubes set-up for a few days. Then my Mini Hearth arrived for them, which is where things get complicated, where the tubing that I would connect from the outworld would not fit. So I used a non-toxic hot glue gun to stick the vinyl tubing to the Mini Hearth. So I tried that, and apparently there were small tunnels for the workers to get out, and so they did. Where I had to scoop up the escapees into the outworld once again. Meanwhile, the rest of the colony did not move into the Hearth, I tried using light, trying all kinds of moisture levels in the Mini Hearth, and they never moved in, just dumping waste in there, and leftover food. I kept trying for many days, dealing with escapees by vinegar to deter them, Vaseline to hopefully fill in the tunnels, cotton stuffing the thing, even just taping it. But, NOTHING worked, THEY KEPT ON ESCAPING, so I eventually gave up on that, and used a left-over baking tray, and filled it with water. Then I posted the outworld and Mini Hearth on bottle caps to keep them out of the water, but I had another problem now that the escapees were gone.

There was a big tray of water I can easily knock over in a room of carpet, and multiple ants died in the water too. So I had to disconnect the Mini Hearth, and now I intend to use it for one of my C. Vicinus queens. But then, essentially my salvation arrived in the mail which was a Aus Ants Starter Kit from Ant Keeping Depot. I wanted THAT to be for one of my C. Vicinus Queens, but I took a look at it, and it would be good for the Pheidole. The tubing fit really well with the founding Formicarium but it was not perfect, so I used a little cotton to stuff it a it into place. They moved in instantly after I connected it, they had nearly no hesitation to shove all 4 queens, the brood, and the workers in there.

I decided to use the Aus Ants Outworld for them too, so I swapped out the custom outworld for the Aus Ants Medium one. Somehow they found holes in the corners which I found three workers climbed out. But I was watching them for a few hours after I put the outworld in, as I was sick of any escapees at this point. So I taped the corners to prevent anymore escapees. They have now been cooperative, and I have had no issues for now.

NOTE: I’m a newbie, feel free to give advice, I legit have no idea what I’m doing compared to the experienced ant keepers I know are on this forum. Also, I plan to add no photos of the place I’m housing them in as the lighting is bad.

Edited by TechAnt, June 2 2020 - 6:12 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Mounting putty is good stuff for sealing gaps.

[TechAnt]

Mounting putty is good stuff for sealing gaps.

Thanks for the tip!

[Canadant]

Best of luck! Instead of trying to patch up a smaller hose on connection, perhaps a larger size of tubing would be better. Tubing is really cheap at home building centers. You can dip it in really hot water where it becomes more malleable. Jam it in. Less mess and most times you don't even need to reinforce it. Good news that your ants moved in quickly.

[TechAnt]

Best of luck! Instead of trying to patch up a smaller hose on connection, perhaps a larger size of tubing would be better. Tubing is really cheap at home building centers. You can dip it in really hot water where it becomes more malleable. Jam it in. Less mess and most times you don't even need to reinforce it. Good news that your ants moved in quickly.

I tried using hot water to fit it in, but it would not fit. Also, I probably could have put more effort into finding a solution. But the Mini Hearth seemed a bit big as I previously said. I’d rather actually have them in the formicarium I have them in now, even though the Mini Hearth is a brilliant piece of technology.

Edited by TechAnt, June 6 2020 - 8:04 AM.

[TechAnt]

UPDATE:

I am a little concerned now, I found one of the four Pheidole queens curled up in a ball freaking out in the vinyl tubing connecting the nest to the outworld (images below). I don’t know what she is doing, but she eventually got back up. Then she did it again, curling up in a ball, the workers surrounded her seemingly not knowing what to do. I did not know what to do either. Right now she is walking around normally in the tubing, which is covered in black paper, so that is probably why she is there. Later the majors came along, then I did a quick post on Formiculture and thanks to Ants Dakota I found she was really just laying an egg. Once again I have shown myself as a complete noob once again, one of many mistakes I probably will make in ant keeping.

(This all occurred on June 4th)

Attached Images

• 
• 

Edited by TechAnt, June 6 2020 - 8:00 AM.

[ANTdrew]

I find with ant-keeping that it’s best to take a big picture view. If you scrutinize every detail of what they’re doing all the time you’ll see a lot of things that don’t make sense from our perspective, like ants eating their own brood or other creepy/stupid things. The key is if the colony keeps feeding well and growing. Good luck!

[TechAnt]

I find with ant-keeping that it’s best to take a big picture view. If you scrutinize every detail of what they’re doing all the time you’ll see a lot of things that don’t make sense from our perspective, like ants eating their own brood or other creepy/stupid things. The key is if the colony keeps feeding well and growing. Good luck!

Oh ok, thanks!