36 replies to this topic

[Chickalo]

Hello,

 

I'm in school right now so I don't have any photos, however the queens did lay a nice batch of eggs over night.  Once they fill up the test tube I'll give them an atom or something (a mini-hearth seems to big in my opinion).  I don't know species, and I'm kind of scared to give them an outworld in case they attempt to nest in it, but I'll try to find a good container for that.  Hopefully they'll accept mealworms and honey for now.  I also hope heat is enough to convince them to stay in the tube, since I'm trying to get them adjusted to light.

 

Until a few hours from now maybe, your best friend maybe,

Chickalo

Edited by Chickalo, May 24 2021 - 7:57 AM.

[ZTYguy]

Can’t wait for pictures!

[Chickalo]

Made this video of them ^

Sorry for the shaky hand at times, this is in a small bookshelf so I can't really have a lot of room to place my hand, I'm probably getting a macro lens soon so hopefully quality will improve.  Also, at some point, some more queens came out, but I guess the workers didn't like that so they dragged the queens back in the nest 

Also since they weren't even touching the mealworm I gave them I'm gonna pick up some flies at petco soon and try that.

Edited by Chickalo, May 4 2021 - 12:00 PM.

[Chickalo]

I gave them a termite last night, and they didn't even touch it!  Picky eaters, I guess.  If I buy fruit flies and they don't like it that might be the biggest waste of 20 dollars I've ever spent lol.  Anyways, they laid some more eggs last night:

[Chickalo]

Do you think a mini-hearth is an okay size for them?  it's probably okay if it's a little to big since I have a feeling they're gonna grow in size soon considering they already have a nice batch of eggs with heat.  Even if it's too big I will still have it for when they're ready

[TacticalHandleGaming]

Do you think a mini-hearth is an okay size for them?  it's probably okay if it's a little to big since I have a feeling they're gonna grow in size soon considering they already have a nice batch of eggs with heat.  Even if it's too big I will still have it for when they're ready

 

Depends on how many workers you have. 20ish should be fine to move into a mini-hearth however. 

[Chickalo]

 

Do you think a mini-hearth is an okay size for them?  it's probably okay if it's a little to big since I have a feeling they're gonna grow in size soon considering they already have a nice batch of eggs with heat.  Even if it's too big I will still have it for when they're ready

 

Depends on how many workers you have. 20ish should be fine to move into a mini-hearth however. 

 

There's anywhere between 10-20 with one larva and lots of eggs

[Kaelwizard]

I would move them if I were you. It just makes it easier to feed them and such. My preno group is doing fine in one and they don't even have workers yet.

[Chickalo]

I would move them if I were you. It just makes it easier to feed them and such. My preno group is doing fine in one and they don't even have workers yet.

That's another one of the reasons I want to move them.  The AC Test Tube Portal is great an all (a little pricey though), but it's hard to feed them without disrupting the nest.  I was just worried about size since the ants themselves are smaller.  I'll ask my mom to order the premade ones tonight (with museum glass for photos ) and then once arrive I'll get it set up for them, which will probably be like in a week or something.

[Chickalo]

I bought the mini-hearth (i also spelt bought wrong)!  I take pics of them moving in (won't be very exiting since, you know, it's only a test tube), and after school I'm going to get some flies for them, hopefully they like it so I didn't just waste about 75% of my usable money.  If they don't like it I guess I'll now have a culture of fruit flies?  Anyways, I can also ask a friend who has a Beardie (uwu) for some crickets for them to try.

Edited by Chickalo, May 6 2021 - 7:13 AM.

[Chickalo]

I guess they do like mealworms because today they ate one lol.  This time instead of cutting it in half for them to pick at, I made a cut halfway in multiple areas and squeezed it, allowing all the goods to be exposed.  A couple minutes later they were at it, getting whatever they could.  

[Antcatcherpro3]

I like how the title of this journal is menacing mediocre myrmica, otherwise known as MMM.

[Chickalo]

When I got back from school, they calmed down about the mealworm.  They layed another batch of eggs, too (:  Forgot to mention, yesterday on my Chestnut Chums Hunt, I found a lot of the same Myrmica.  It got to the point where I just decided "These obviously aren't rare, might as well get another colony", and so I did.  If I ever meet up with MinigunL5, I'm giving them to him either for money or another colony.  Until then, just gonna feed them try to keep their size to up to four test tubes.  They have less queens (3-5 I think), but more brood, so that's exiting.  Once they moved into their tube, I'm going to de-attach their current portal to wash out the dirt.

[Chickalo]

Here’s the one I’m keeping eating a mealworm (the other one got the other half). I also gave them a sugar water test tube to give them a longer and safer source of sugar

They also got some more brood!

This is the other colony.

Edited by Chickalo, May 8 2021 - 7:15 AM.

[Chickalo]

Last night I gave my colony (gotta come up with some clever name for them ) two cricket legs (originally they didn't eat their cricket half, they didn't seem very hungry, so I gave it the the very hungry other colony).  In the morning, they dragged one of the legs into the nest haha!  The other colony emptied out their cricket, too.  Also, as it turns out, ripping legs of crickets is a hard, tedious task.  Who would've thought?

[Chickalo]

Gave them a honey water test tube for a long time sugar source, and they loved it!  For some reason a queen and was walking around the outworld and the worker there wasn't pulling her back in.  Dunno if queens still forage even after founding, but since I could see her in the light she was thick!  Also, this colony doesn't like water.  I hear Myrmica loves moisture, but they stay away from the water tower and when I moved the nestmate to where they were so I could attach another nest easier (they're growing quickly!), the nest sucked up some of the water, and they kinda ran away from it.  

[AntBoi3030]

Myrmica queens are Insane and forage and hunt even when they have a huge colony.

Edited by AntBoi3030, May 24 2021 - 5:29 AM.

[NPLT]

Myrmica queens are Insane and forage and hunt even when they have a huge colony.

Can attest to this, I once randomly stumbled on a mature-looking Myrmica colony and the first ant to try to climb and attack me was the queen, what an absolute mad lass.

Edited by NPLT, May 24 2021 - 1:36 PM.

[Chickalo]

I gave them a Camponotus pennsylvanicus alate.  They sucked the head and the gaster, and didn't appear to take to the thorax.  They did drag all the pieces into the nest and when finished covered it in loose sand from the nest, at least now it blends in with the nest as apposed to seeing a random giant head on the floor   !  Seeing them enjoy the sand so much gave me an idea.  I removed their beloved honey water test tube (for now), and the ants in the connecting tube went a bit crazy but after a bit of flicking into the outworld they were safe and sound in the comforts of their nest.  After that I took a cheap acrylic container from Target and begun drilling a hole using scissors, a screw, a screwdriver, a drill bit with no drill, a pencil, and a cardboard cutter  .  Not very efficient but hey, it's what I had at the time and it worked!  I connected the tube, and with that tube there's a T-Connecter which I attached the tube to.  I plan on filling the outworld with a thin layer of sand for them to enjoy!  I might also add some extra nest space with hydrostone or wood or something since they are quickly growing.  Sadly at Petco they only have caclium sand, would that work?  IK Reptile keepers hate it because indigestion or something, but it's not like the ants are gonna eat it or anything...

[NPLT]

I gave them a Camponotus pennsylvanicus alate.  They sucked the head and the gaster, and didn't appear to take to the thorax.  They did drag all the pieces into the nest and when finished covered it in loose sand from the nest, at least now it blends in with the nest as apposed to seeing a random giant head on the floor   !  Seeing them enjoy the sand so much gave me an idea.  I removed their beloved honey water test tube (for now), and the ants in the connecting tube went a bit crazy but after a bit of flicking into the outworld they were safe and sound in the comforts of their nest.  After that I took a cheap acrylic container from Target and begun drilling a hole using scissors, a screw, a screwdriver, a drill bit with no drill, a pencil, and a cardboard cutter  .  Not very efficient but hey, it's what I had at the time and it worked!  I connected the tube, and with that tube there's a T-Connecter which I attached the tube to.  I plan on filling the outworld with a thin layer of sand for them to enjoy!  I might also add some extra nest space with hydrostone or wood or something since they are quickly growing.  Sadly at Petco they only have caclium sand, would that work?  IK Reptile keepers hate it because indigestion or something, but it's not like the ants are gonna eat it or anything...

Pretty sure calcium sand will be alright, at least here in Poland most ant shops sell it as the "default" substrate.