1 reply to this topic

[kimberlyhahn]

I have a c. Festinatus queen that I am trying to keep alive. She has developed three workers, but the workers have died. She appears to be shrinking in size, so I am concerned. The queen and the first two were in a test-tube setup. After the workers died, I moved her and her water reservoir tube to a 9"x5" outworld containing clean sand. I maintained moisture with a damp cotton ball placed at the rear of the outworld and I used a heat cord underneath to provide different heat zones. She raised the third worker, but within two days the worker was no longer seen. I placed small feeder tube with honey water in the outworld. She laid another egg, and I placed a dish for insects in the outworld as well. I placed fruit flies, meal worms and crickets in there, guts out as I understand they are strictly liquid feeders. I also began to place small bits of wet fruit to see if she will drink from that. I have not seen her eat anything, and now it looks like her pupae has stopped developing. Can someone help me be successful in keeping her alive? What are you feeding Festinatus?

[CheetoLord02]

My first piece of advice would be to remove the foraging area. If I had to guess, the third worker who disappeared likely escaped and got lost somewhere and died. If she still has pupae, then allow those to eclose. If she only has earlier stage brood like eggs and larvae, try getting her to eat something. A small drop of honey or sugar water. Prekilled termites also may be a good idea for a source of protein. If worst comes to worst and she ends up consuming all her brood or letting it die, you'll need a brood boost. I know there are plenty of people with C. festinatus-group colonies, so I'm sure somebody would sell you some brood.