64 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

So I just adopted a starter colony of ants.

I do not want to have this thread devolve into a discussion about "some people are idiots", let us just accept the fact, sigh, and move on.

 

The story-

so on the German Amazon page, you can buy starter ant farms and ant colonies.

Some kids in Germany get presents for Easter (the holidays were just a couple of weeks ago) and gifting animals to kids still seems to be an issue.

Since time immemorial, kids also quickly lose interest.

Long story short, since I share my enthusiasm about my new ants on Facebook, people are aware of my new hobby.

"Oh, I have seen you are now into ants. And your ants seem to be doing well. We have gotten this ant colony, but the ants are not doing much and they are just not as interesting to the kids as we thought. They also do not like their sugar water. Maybe you would like to try your luck? Here you go. See you!"

 

Right.

So I inherited a small starter colony.

The company who sells the ant farms on Amazon is "Anthouse", a Spanish company, which also made the acrylic nest which my main Messor colony absolutely loves. When they send out ant farms and colonies, they most of the time send some type of harvester ant (Messor).

So the colony I inherited is probably Messor barbarus or similar.

The queen has a red head, which is a bit different from the Messor barbarus queen in my main colony, which is completely black.

But I have read that there are some colour variations.

 

From having a quick look at the colony, there is a queen and around 10 workers and a few larvae.

 

 

 

 

"The ants are not doing much"- yeah, that much was right. The queen is still alive, but was positively catatonic (probably with fear). The water reservoir of the test tube the colony came in was nearly empty, the cotton black and rotten, and there were several quite dead ants baked into the black cotton.

So I got a new tube with new cotton and fresh water ready and quickly transferred the colony, together with some seed and sand and a few larvae (there was some brood) into a new glass tube. I also covered the tube with some red foil and put them in a quiet, not frequented (no vibrations!) place.

 

Together with that colony, I also got a small out-world box as well as a clean, unused acrylic nest.

For now, I will just do a tube setup, and have the tube with the colony in the small out-world, together with another tube with water.

 

 

If these ants survive, and if they grow, I can connect the out-world to the acrylic nest. It is similar to the nest I got for my first Messor colony, and they love it, so I think that acrylic nest will be totally fine for them.

 

 

 

For now, I have offered a few seed (in some cute tiny food dishes that came with the delivery), I also gave them a tiny piece of chicken meat and two small fruit flies.

 

 

Now these girls really have to calm down.

No idea if the queen will survive the ordeal (as I said, she was pretty catatonic and probably had had a series of heart attacks).

I better leave them alone completely for now.

 

I never had a small starter colony before, and I know a lot of things can go wrong, especially with a species as prone to stress as Messor barbarus.

This will be a learning process.

[antsinvirgina]

Best of luck too you Ernteameise

your lucky to have such a cool sp. 

[Ernteameise]

Best of luck too you Ernteameise

your lucky to have such a cool sp. 

Thanks.

Yeah, I am totally in love with my main, larger Messor colony. I think they are fantastic. 

 

So far, today evening, I only did a very quick hands-off check on these poor new ladies, and I am happy to report they are still alive.

So I am not giving up hope just yet.

Edited by Ernteameise, May 2 2023 - 10:49 AM.

[Ernteameise]

Yay, they are still alive.

Queen, her 10ish workers and some larvae.

They are not taking a lot of food, though.

Only a couple of seeds, mostly ignore the fruitflies.

I still do not want to disturb them too much, so no more pictures (not that pictures would show anything terribly new and exciting anyways).

[Ernteameise]

So finally I dared to take some more pictures of these girls.

Today was "ham day" and all my girls got a piece of ham.

The rescue Messors took the small piece of ham (the pink bit) immediately and stashed in right on top of the queen!

 

 

I also removed the red foil covering the test tube and replaced it with a piece of toilet roll carton- this way, it is easier for me to remove it and have a very quick peek without causing too many vibrations. (by the way, that radiator is off; supposedly, it is now spring time, and the landlords are saving energy, so heating period is over; so now worries that the girls get too hot)

 

 

The girls were also busy carrying small seed into their test tube. I can also see a bit of brood in there and a few pupae- so I might get a few more workers soon.

 

 

 

I actually do not think this does look too bad, after all this colony has been through.

I have heard that Messor queens are extremely sensitive to stress, but this queen may be a bit more resilient. Knock on wood.

Edited by Ernteameise, May 11 2023 - 12:08 PM.

[Ernteameise]

I am sad to report that I found a dead worker in the arena of these girls today.

I am aware that early workers do not live as long as workers that were born later in colony development, and I am aware that this colony had been stressed a lot.

But when there are so few workers anyways, any dead bodies make you worry.

I gave them some egg together with a few small seed today so at least they should be well fed.

[Ernteameise]

The colony is continuing to hang on.

I also have the feeling I might have a couple more adult workers?

Sadly, not a lot of fresh new brood to be seen.

The also seem to eat well and dump their refuse outside the glass tube.

Sadly, I also have some mold/ gunk growing on the relatively new cotton.

 

[Ernteameise]

I cooked some chicken liver for my ants today, since some members on here swear by it.

Of course the Rescue Ants also got a tiny piece.

The Rescue Ants continue to camp out in their test tube.

They hardly ever leave the tube- but I assume the colony is just too small (and traumatized).

 

[Ernteameise]

Here are some follow up pictures.

Since a root of a sprouted seed grew into the cotton, the rescue colony was in danger of drowning.

 

Here is the offending root:

 

 

So I offered them a fresh tube with cotton, covered it with the cardboard, and let them move into the new tube.

It took them 30 mins to get all their stuff into the new tube.

Now they have settled in, and are still hanging on, despite all the stress.

Maybe this is an extra resilient Messor colony?

 

All fresh and clean- I hope they do not stash the seed directly at the cotton again!

 

 

[antsriondel]

Wow that is incredible how you revived this colony! Great job! Now I want Messor species. 

[Ernteameise]

Here are the rescue girls today.

They enjoy their seeds, they readily take tiny pieces of egg and chicken, they have quite a few larvae, and so far, they seem to keep the seed away from the cotton (that is where the larvae are stored) and the cotton still looks nice and clean.

I carefully get my hopes up that this colony is on the way up and will be growing.

 

 

I will keep them in this tubs and tubes setup for a whole while longer, until they are much more numerous.

I think that tube might fit 5 times the number of ants they have now!

 

Anyways, I know, I had planned the 3D acrylic nest for them (see above) but I actually also very much like the look of the Tarheel Ants nests.

I decided to take the plunge and just check these nests out.

So I ordered an XXL Mini Hearth and will find out first hand how well Tarheel nests will work with Messors.

 

I decided on a 2 chambered nest.

Here is a picture on what I decided on- (the picture is from the Tarheel Ants Website).

 

 

I am not sure how this will work out and if it will be a never ending battle with mould.

I do however still have the 3D acrylic nest, as a backup and possible extension when the colony grows.

Plus, I will have the outworld where the test tube is sitting right now connected to the nest.

 

What I actually could try-

when the colony has grown, I could connect both the acrylic nest AND the Tarheel nest and let the ants themselves decide which they like better.

Would that idea even work?

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

gotta say i really like Mack's work (TarHeelAnts), it is practically 50% of why i have ants at all in the first place. His work is just aesthetically pleasing art i'd have on a shelf to enjoy, no ants needed.

I been using the smaller version of that nest for my colony for almost 6 months now. No molds or fungus going on that i've noticed.

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, June 8 2023 - 11:43 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Yeah, mold will not be an issue. Mold does not grow on the actually nest, but can appear on old trash inside. This is a possibility with literally any kind of ant nest. Proper sizing of the nest will help prevent trash storage inside.
On the other hand, most mold is quite harmless. The mold phobia in this hobby is overblown in my opinion. Many people blame mold for killing their colony, when poor husbandry and neglect is actually the problem.

[Ernteameise]

Got the email today from Tarheel that the formicarium has shipped.

I am very excited.

I really hope the girls will do well in there.

 

I will post unboxing and preliminary reviews when the product arrives (might take a couple of weeks).

[Ernteameise]

The rescue girls have by now sorted through their tiny food dishes and stashed the seed they liked in their tube.

So far, the queen and the brood are sitting right next to the cotton, so no further seed sprouting.

I also always get the impression that there are more ants each time I check on them (twice a week).

 

[Ernteameise]

Right.

So my Tarheel Ants formicarium has already made it to Germany!

Arrived last night from the US.

But now it is held in German customs at Frankfurt Airport.

Meh.

This means, I have to pay extra duty.

Most of the times when you order something from the US, it actually gets though and I only have to pay extra duty in maybe 20% of cases.

 

I think ordering a formicarium was REALLY weird and it must have pinged on their X-rays or something.

Or they still have me on file.

I was fined a couple of times before for some really silly animal related stuff.

Like the one time I came back home from Australia, having meat in my luggage- this was exactly 2 weeks before the law changed, and crocodile meat from a farm was allowed into the country.

It was not illegal meat, and the customs officer explained I was really unlucky because the law was about to change, so sadly, he had to confiscate my crocodile meat (I was allowed to keep my kangaroo meat, though).

[liamsantics]

oof that sucks

[Ernteameise]

oof that sucks

Oh well, such is life.

Could be worse, could have gotten lost in transit.

As I said, most of the time, my US products arrive without customs involvement, so I have already saved on several occasions.

I still order from the US, even if there is the odd chance that I have to pay extra duty.

At least now I am extra sure this formicarium will arrive save and sound because customs will insist on the payment.

[Ernteameise]

Ah bummer.

The nest is still stuck at customs at Frankfurt Airport.

Probably something missing in the paperwork.

Knowing German institutions, this can take a while.

 

Oh well, at least it is not urgent. The rescue ants still have some growing to do.

Edited by Ernteameise, June 17 2023 - 1:28 PM.

[Ernteameise]

The girls enjoying some organic egg yolk for breakfast