4 replies to this topic

[futurebird]

The general wisdom is that for most ants you want to keep their nest rather moist. It will vary by species, but I'm finding that when possible it's better to not wet their nest and just give them a water source that's always available and full. 

 

This is working OK for my camponotus sp. but also lasius neoniger. 

 

I keep my Pogonomyrmex's sand watered since they are in a natural nest. Same for my formica ants. 

 

But I wonder if as a colony grows they can make their own micro climate in the nest and so don't need it watered as often. 

 

This has solved many mold problems, and frankly my camponotus discolor only "took off" after I got them in a wood nest and stopped worrying about if it was damp enough. 

 

I will mist the outworld if I see a lot of ants on the water feeder at once. 

 

Do you water the nests of all of your colonies?

[Boog]

I noticed this with my Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony so stopped hydration in all my nests except for the main queen's nest. This is with 4 DIY nests and I had to stop even with the queen's for the last couple of weeks due to an escape attempt that I stopped and the queen seems fine. The first two nests I built with hydration in mind and the next two were meant to be dry satellite nests. The three year old colony is about a thousand workers strong so easily fill out their chambers now and I'm sure their respiration builds enough humidity for their comfort. I always keep their water feeder tower full in the outworld and change frequently, even if there's still some water left because I didn't change for awhile once and noticed them agitated despite half a tower full. I changed their water and they seemed so thirsty storming the tower I felt bad not realizing they needed some fresh water. I'm rethinking the hydration plans I had for their future expansions and am worrying more about providing enough outworld space for an expanding colony in the coming years. I haven't had any mold issues either with my DIY nests made mainly from grout.

 

I've got a Pheidole sp. colony in a duo THA bifurcated Mini-hearth setup and I fill up their nests' water towers about once a month.  Both outworlds have a mini water feeder each too. I think smaller ants are probably more sensitive to humidity issues in general.

[ANTdrew]

Please update your thread, Boog!

[AntsMaryland]

The general wisdom is that for most ants you want to keep their nest rather moist. It will vary by species, but I'm finding that when possible it's better to not wet their nest and just give them a water source that's always available and full. 

 

This is working OK for my camponotus sp. but also lasius neoniger. 

 

I keep my Pogonomyrmex's sand watered since they are in a natural nest. Same for my formica ants. 

 

But I wonder if as a colony grows they can make their own micro climate in the nest and so don't need it watered as often. 

 

This has solved many mold problems, and frankly my camponotus discolor only "took off" after I got them in a wood nest and stopped worrying about if it was damp enough. 

 

I will mist the outworld if I see a lot of ants on the water feeder at once. 

 

Do you water the nests of all of your colonies?

I have a water tower in all my nests, but they're pretty small and off to the side, so most of the nest is rather dry. It works great for tetra and aphaenogaster. 

[Formiga]

One of my Formica Fusca colonies is on a DIY plaster formicarium that has 4 areas: top, front, left and right sides. It has hydration sponges on both sides and on the top. They have a small outworld, with a 2.5ml syringe with water and a cotton stopper.

 

Queen + 5 nanitics, so small family but with lots of brood on it's way, I'm expecting my 1st population boom soon and can't wait for it.

Never thought about a thousand ants bringing enough moisture to the nest, but it makes sense. And since I only have 6, I have to give them their water.

 

Me's still a noob and I was guessing how much of a moist environment they would like and now I'm realizing they like it somehow moist. Yesterday I saw the nanies moving around a lot and most of them were in the outworld inside the water syringe and nearby the cotton. They're thirsty, I thought, and I should grab a syringe and inject some water on their nest's water chambers.

Looking closer I've realized they had already moved a lot of brood into that water syringe. So their nest was sure feeling dry. The queen was still there but she even took a walk outside of her chamber on the left side of the formicarium into the top chamber but then returned back. But she was already planning to move since she gathered a massive pile of brood and tried lifting it. I got impressed!

I've started injecting water but the nanies were still carrying brood after that. I've injected some more water and the queen stayed put and after some hours most brood was brought back. I don't know if there are still some left back by the water, the eggs and larva are pretty confusable with sand grains.

So I ended up injecting a total of around 7 ml of water (2ml on the queen's side, 2.5 on the opposite side and another 2.5 on the top) for a 5cm tall x 8.5 wide x 8.5 deep formicarium.

 

So yeah these few small kids need water in their home. I'm planning to give them 3ml on the queen's side and on the top, alternatively every 3 days and lets see how it goes from there.

 

I was planning to do some alternate hydration on the left and right side, but the entrance for the right side got blocked by a dead fly! And I start to suspect they've done this on purpose. The formicarium is way too large for them, so blocking that hole will block access to the front and left side (they were using it a bit as a fly cemetery). So a smaller home is easier to defend and safer, I understand that.

So I'm not putting water on the blocked right side and that's one less area I have to worry about mold. If in the future they want to reclaim those areas, let them unclog that entrance.

 

And I even think they've dumped some larva on top of that fly's cadaver. Personal dead fat security guard and feeding the kids. How useful!