1 reply to this topic

[Antz1818]

Newbie here!

Small camponotus consobrinus colony with 1 queen and 5 workers that came with her. Quite a few eggs, a few larvae and 2 pupae! They are still living in the outworld and haven't moved to the nest area yet.

They were doing great for the first month but I suddenly found their small water tower leaking and they had covered the underside where they access the water and around the outside with sand.

We've tested the tower outside of the outworld and it doesn't leak, so we've assumed it's the ants covering the tower first, and sand drawing water our from the small access holes which they continue to cover.

It's strange because they have no issue with the smaller feeding tower...

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! I'm struggling to keep them hydrated and not let the outworld grow mould!

[ANTdrew]

Newbie here!

Small camponotus consobrinus colony with 1 queen and 5 workers that came with her. Quite a few eggs, a few larvae and 2 pupae! They are still living in the outworld and haven't moved to the nest area yet.

They were doing great for the first month but I suddenly found their small water tower leaking and they had covered the underside where they access the water and around the outside with sand.

We've tested the tower outside of the outworld and it doesn't leak, so we've assumed it's the ants covering the tower first, and sand drawing water our from the small access holes which they continue to cover.

It's strange because they have no issue with the smaller feeding tower...

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! I'm struggling to keep them hydrated and not let the outworld grow mould!

Some photos of the setup would help us diagnose the problem. A lot of ants really freak out with open water near their nest. Their instinct is to cover it up with debris, so it is not a drowning hazard. This can cause liquids to wick out unfortunately. My suggestion would be to try moving it farther away from the nest if you can. They may need a larger outworld to do this, and perhaps one without sand that they can do mischief with.