13 replies to this topic

[AntsMAN]

I have a camponotus pennsylvanicus colony. So far I have been feeding them natural unpasturized honey, and cesar wet dog food.

Will the dog food be enough to sustain them far as protein, or will I need to feed them insects to survive?

[Crystals]

I would try tossing in some insects, as the dog food may be lacking certain nutrients they get from insects.

 

You can buy and freeze mealworms or crickets, just thaw what you need, cut them in half, and toss them in the outworld.

[Foogoo]

I would stay away from dog food. Someone had mentioned they experienced a die off after feeding dog food plus, your goal is to simulate what they eat in nature. Dog food has lots of ingredients ants will never touch in nature. I'd stick with insects if I were you.

[AntsMAN]

Ok, great. Have you had any expierence with www.supercricket.ca?

 

Thank you for the fast reply.

[Foogoo]

Ok, great. Have you had any expierence with www.supercricket.ca?

 

Thank you for the fast reply.

I personally haven't, but I've had great success with crickets in general. I usually pick up a few small ones at the petstore and stick them in the freezer when I get home. I then cut them in half (easier while frozen) to make it easier for the ants to eat. I've also had great success with flightless fruitflies which you can also order online and on Amazon. 

 

I'm experimenting now with freeze dried insects recommended by Retroman (All Living Things brand from Petsmart). 

[Crystals]

I have heard of people who had good success with them.

Personally, for my location, it is cheaper for me to buy them at a local pet store due to shipping.  Some places have bulk buys if you buy more than 100.  I just freeze extras.

I breed mealworms, fruit flies, and a few other species for feeders as well.

 

There are a couple of ant food recipes on this site that may interest you.  Also a thread on how to breed your own food.  All those threads are on the top 1/4 of this list of handy links - http://www.formicult...of-handy-links/

[cpman]

Try getting some wingless fruit flies. They make a great protein source and are really easy to raise. My Camponotus species love them.

[AntsMAN]

Thank you guys for the great advise. I'm going to order 100 crickets to freeze, and 50 flightless fruit flies to try to raise.

[BrittonLS]

Insects are surely your best option, but when I asked Terry about dog food he said cat food was much more preferable because it typically contains more meat ingredients than dog food which apparently supplements more vegetables, rice, etc.

[Foogoo]

Interesting, I'd be worried about all the byproducts and preservatives. I did try offering wet cat food once, my ants didn't touch it, which I found surprising.

[Vendayn]

I'd probably avoid cat food too.

 

The dry cheap brands, have ash in it (why would I want to give an ant colony, let alone a cat, food with ash in it? xD Why would you even feed an animal ash? Might as well put it in human food too...) Unless you go for the better more natural brands, but of course, that is a bit more expensive. Dry dog food has a ton of ash too, so it isn't just cats. No wonder so many dogs/cats get sick and die early.

 

The wet cat food has tons of junk in it too. If I wouldn't eat it (I'd eat insects to survive ), I'm not gonna feed any of my pets with it lol. Unless you go for the natural, more expensive wet cat food brand that isn't full of junk.

 

Maybe ants don't care as much about all the junk, but I'm not gonna give them or any of my pets that nasty stuff.

 

And a bit not ant related...

 

Milk is the same. Its been so manufactured, no wonder so many people get sick from it. I was buying costco milk for years. Decided to go for a more natural, healthier brand of milk (and the cows are supposedly more healthy and live outside, not in a factory or crowded pen) and it tastes like how milk used to taste! It tastes amazing, nice and creamy with very good flavor. I also don't get sick from it like I started to with regular milk. For some reason milk over the past 3 months was giving me tons of stomach issues (even tried various brands from vons and what not), but the natural milk I got has no side effects with me at all. Tastes better too. Wheat is the same, no one barely ever got sick from eating wheat stuff. But its been so modified, that more and more people are allergic to it.

Edited by Vendayn, June 29 2015 - 2:46 PM.

[Foogoo]

It's kind of like what they say about alcohol, it's literally a byproduct and a disinfectant, yet I still can't resist drinking it.   

[Vendayn]

Well, alcohol has been used in ancient times to cure sickness in children. Its helped a lot in many things. In ancient Egypt (and probably other places) they gave children alcohol that were sick.

 

Of course, do that now and you'd go to prison. But, it worked far better and more "natural" than medications.

[BugFinder]

I've experienced huge die offs after feeding very high quality dog food to my ants.