Nothing will kill a colony faster than dehydration. Healthy colonies have access to water at all times. This makes failing water feeders a matter of great distress for new keepers. Not all feeder designs work for all kinds of ants, and ant behavior, always a wild card can cause surprising problems. I'd like to summarize the problems I've observed, some solutions and what I currently consider to be the most reliable solutions to keep colonies hydrated.
Giving ants liquid might seem as simple as filling a dish with water and offering it to your ants, but this can end in disaster. Due to the limited space in outworlds for captive ants, your ants will explore all parts of their world relentlessly. Eventually some will try to "explore" the center of the water dish (in case there is a portal there to another dimension, I suppose) so using a dish can lead to drowning.
For a temporary fix, a sponge or small stones can be placed in the dish to make it safer. Though, even after solving the drowning danger the water will still evaporate in a few days. So you'll want a more long term solution.
A test tube filled with water and blocked with cotton can work, though don't be shocked when your ants move some of the brood and workers in to the tube. Enclosed and/or moist spaces in the outworld will become part of the nest in the mind of your ants. If you don't want this keep the outworld free from hiding spots.
That brings us to the commercially available feeders. There are many designs that look similar but they aren't all equal. With smaller ants you must find a feeder with holes small enough that the ants won't climb up into the water reservoir. The best feeders come with a fine metal mesh screen blocking off the water from the feeding holes. It's possible to buy mesh and add it to feeders that don't come with this feature. I've found that, given enough time, at least one ant will manage to make it into the glass unless it's blocked off.
The next issue is flow. When trying a new feeder design monitor it carefully to ensure that the ants are able to drink. Ants with larger heads may need bigger feeders with larger drinking holes. Very small ants with access to sand or soil may find the droplets of water scary and feel compelled to cover them with sand, which can cause some feeder designs to spontaneously empty.
For water get the largest feeder you can comfortably fit in your colonies outworld. Small feeders are fine for founding colonies but a big colony can drain a feeder in a few days.
- The best off-the-shelf feeders are probably the "mega" feeders "by formica" which have mesh built in and a design that accommodates a wide range of ants. https://www.amazon.c...s/dp/B07S8Y7949
- Underground City also makes a quality feeder with mesh that allows ants to drink upside down. It isn't suitable for ants that can't climb glass such as Pogonomyrmex, but for smaller ants who like to put sand on everything it solves many problems. (I wanted to link to the underground citi store on etsy, but they don't seem to have this one in stock at the moment)
- This cloth and test tube feeder from ali-express is very reliable, if you have a place to mount it so the test tube is vertical. (It's basically a kit to assemble a style of feeder that you'll see many keepers in China using-- if you look at it you may have the materials at hand already-- the absorbent blue loop is essential to keep the flow going) https://www.amazon.c...s/dp/B07S8Y7949
What are the most reliable liquid feeders in your experience?
Edited by futurebird, June 22 2023 - 11:12 AM.
