12 replies to this topic

[TechAnt]

So, I am creating this topic out of general curiosity. Besides crickets, mealworms, roaches, etc. what are some other protein food sources besides those general more common food sources. I was thinking I can use bloodworms as a extra food source, or some protein jelly. So I wanted to know if there were other alternatives to the average protein sources.

[Somethinghmm]

I like to flip rocks and pieces of wood on hikes to catch termites. All my ants love them.

[Nare]

I like to flip rocks and pieces of wood on hikes to catch termites. All my ants love them.

[ANTdrew]

Sorry, Nare, but termites are like crack for ants. I also feed:
Field crickets
Camel crickets
Earwigs
House spiders
Wolf spiders
Passalas beetles
June bugs
Cicadas
Katydids
Grasshoppers
Wild roaches
Various grubs
Egg yolk (hard boiled)
Boiled chicken

[ConcordAntman]

Sorry, Nare, but termites are like crack for ants. I also feed:
Field crickets
Camel crickets
Earwigs
House spiders
Wolf spiders
Passalas beetles
June bugs
Cicadas
Katydids
Grasshoppers
Wild roaches
Various grubs
Egg yolk (hard boiled)
Boiled chicken

ANTdrew, I'm getting a shipment of crickets from Rainbow in a day or two. Trying to vary my protein sources. Can you freeze them like Dubias and fruit flies?

[FSTP]

For the last few months I"ve been using "little Kenyan roaches" and I can not say enough good things about them. For me they're the perfect feeder and my ants go Nutso pututso for them .

[ANTdrew]

You can definitely freeze them, ConcordAntman.

[Ants_Dakota]

I use superworms and waxworms. when i have a big colony, i plan to use hornworms.

[OhNoNotAgain]

So I got some fly spikes to feed my jumping spiders, and guess what ... two small jumpers don't eat that much. So I've discovered that fly pupae seem to be a very easy food to provide. You just take a pupa, hold it with tweezers, and gently cut it open with a sharp knife and pull off half the covering. It's gooey and oozy in the early stages, soft and chewy in the later stages. I hate killing feeder bugs, but opening a pupa seems less horrible somehow (though it's still pretty horrible).

 

I've also fed lamb, cooked shrimp, and Gerber baby food (poultry meat and cornstarch being the only food ingredients) when I was low on insect protein.

 

Still can't kill my dubias or Kenyan roaches yet. Too darn cute. One of these days....

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, June 13 2020 - 10:09 PM.

[ConcordAntman]

You can definitely freeze them, ConcordAntman.

They like ‘em, and the boiled chicken too! Even the C. americanus went for the crickets. They were too fidgety so I didn’t keep them out to take pictures. Thanks!

[ConcordAntman]

I’ve mentioned that there are three farms within spitting distance of my house. I’m reluctant to feed my colonies wild caught insects out of concern for contamination from fertilizers or insecticides. ANTdrew gave me the idea of using frozen insects to set up a rotating protein source for my colonies. I experimented with Dubia roaches about a month ago. They kept well in the freezer and were enough to feed my two colonies for a month. I’ve just froze a shipment of 50 2-week old crickets and have a similar number of Dubia roaches on order. Add to that a culture of mealworms that I keep in the fridge and there you have it. Throw in an occasional bit of boiled chicken and you’ve got enough variety to keep even picky ants happy. I might be able to make it to fall on this supply!

Edited by ConcordAntman, June 18 2020 - 4:44 AM.

[ANTdrew]

That sounds ideal. Thankfully, I live in a lower-end urban neighborhood where the majority of yards are neglected. The closest farm to me is probably 50 miles away.
I’ll never forget visiting my uncle in southern Wisconsin and seeing miles and miles of native plants along the roadsides, but not a single pollinator. Next to the plants were toxic corn and soy bean fields.

[TechAnt]

I thought nobody was still posting here. Also Rest In Peace to all those pollinators ANTdrew.