59 replies to this topic

[AntsGodzilla]

(Update 10/3/2024)

 

Today, I moved the ants into a homemade formicarium.

 

 

 

 

 

When I was washing out their previous formicarium, I noticed about 10+ mites, which seem to be the cause of all the deaths. I inspected each ant before placing them in the new setup.

Edited by AntsGodzilla, October 3 2024 - 4:34 PM.

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

(Update 10/3/2024)

 

Today, I moved the ants into a homemade formicarium.

 

 

looks great!

 

may I ask, where is the hydration exactly because you said that there is a hole on the side for hydration in an earlier post

[kiedeerk]

Way too early to move imo. They should stay in a test tube. You have like 5 workers and the queen is now in a corner behind the actual nest. Not sure if they will ever move into the nest because the conditions inside ur nest isn’t better

This is a very common mistake for new keepers and leads to many colonies failing

Edited by kiedeerk, October 3 2024 - 3:41 PM.

[AntsGodzilla]

 

(Update 10/3/2024)

 

Today, I moved the ants into a homemade formicarium.

 

 

looks great!

 

may I ask, where is the hydration exactly because you said that there is a hole on the side for hydration in an earlier post

 

It's tiny only syringe sized

[AntsGodzilla]

Way too early to move imo. They should stay in a test tube. You have like 5 workers and the queen is now in a corner behind the actual nest. Not sure if they will ever move into the nest because the conditions inside ur nest isn’t better

This is a very common mistake for new keepers and leads to many colonies failing

I'm not a new ant keeper, I have been in the hobby for a few years. They used to live in a THA labyrinth, there are 10 workers rn, and are keeping all of their brood in the nest. Read the whole journal.

Edited by AntsGodzilla, October 22 2024 - 2:10 PM.

[AntsGodzilla]

 

 

 

Here begins my Pogonomyrmex rugosus journal. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colony, which used to have 40+ workers, recently got sick, and now only 11 remain.

Let's hope it does not become a journal where they just end up dying at the start.

 

Also they are very cute looking

 

Fr. If they get to 9-10 workers I'm moving them back into a THA genisis test tube and small outworld so I can clean their formicarium.

 

I would highly recommend doing this right now. That nest is fit for a colony of hundreds to thousands of ants. A simple test tube setup placed into an outworld is all you need, and the ants should grow faster that way. Alternatively, you can attempt a dirt setup, which data collected by Utah Ants makes this appear to be the most effective setup for Pogonomyrmex.

 

Yeah they seem to like the DIY more than THA lol. Thanks for telling me to move then in sooner that I was going to  

Edited by AntsGodzilla, October 7 2024 - 12:01 PM.

[kiedeerk]

Way too early to move imo. They should stay in a test tube. You have like 5 workers and the queen is now in a corner behind the actual nest. Not sure if they will ever move into the nest because the conditions inside ur nest isn’t better

This is a very common mistake for new keepers and leads to many colonies failing

Hahaha I'm not a new ant keeper, I have been in the hobby for a few years. They used to live in a THA labyrinth, and there are 10 workers rn. Read the whole journal.

That was ur first mistake. Moving. 40 worker colony into a THA labyrinth that is fit for hundreds of workers. May be the reason they did not do well and started to die off

[bmb1bee]

Hahaha I'm not a new ant keeper, I have been in the hobby for a few years. They used to live in a THA labyrinth, there are 10 workers rn, and are keeping all of their brood in the nest. Read the whole journal.

Even though you might not be a "beginner", no one is perfect and we should all take the time to learn when we make mistakes. The amount of time you keep ants doesn't matter, it's the experience you build that does.

 

I'd also like to add that maybe your heating for the labyrinth looked insufficient, since it was just a cable covering a tiny corner of the nest. If I were you I'd at least loop it around half the nest. Pogonomyrmex need high heat for proper development; without it they would inevitably fail. I also had P. rugosus, which never grew well due to the mediocre heating from my cable.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

(Update 10/3/2024)

 

Today, I moved the ants into a homemade formicarium.

 

 

 

 

 

When I was washing out their previous formicarium, I noticed about 10+ mites, which seem to be the cause of all the deaths. I inspected each ant before placing them in the new setup.

I say the mites where not the cause but other stuff. can you send pics of the mites? they could just be grain mites.

[bmb1bee]

The mites can't be the cause of death. As they weren't found on the ants, they were likely just scavengers of the seeds and debris the ants left behind.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

 

 

Here begins my Pogonomyrmex rugosus journal. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colony, which used to have 40+ workers, recently got sick, and now only 11 remain.

Let's hope it does not become a journal where they just end up dying at the start.

 

Also they are very cute looking

 

Fr. If they get to 9-10 workers I'm moving them back into a THA genisis test tube and small outworld so I can clean their formicarium.

 

I would highly recommend doing this right now. That nest is fit for a colony of hundreds to thousands of ants. A simple test tube setup placed into an outworld is all you need, and the ants should grow faster that way. Alternatively, you can attempt a dirt setup, which data collected by Utah Ants makes this appear to be the most effective setup for Pogonomyrmex.

 

Yeah they seem to like the DIY more than THA lol. Thanks for telling me to move then in sooner that I was going to 

 

I believe you may have misunderstood me. I was encouraging you to move them back into a test tube for the best growth. I know it is really fun to make DIY formicaria, you just need to be patient when moving ants into large spaces.

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

 

 

 

 

 

Here begins my Pogonomyrmex rugosus journal. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colony, which used to have 40+ workers, recently got sick, and now only 11 remain.

Let's hope it does not become a journal where they just end up dying at the start.

 

Also they are very cute looking

 

Fr. If they get to 9-10 workers I'm moving them back into a THA genisis test tube and small outworld so I can clean their formicarium.

 

I would highly recommend doing this right now. That nest is fit for a colony of hundreds to thousands of ants. A simple test tube setup placed into an outworld is all you need, and the ants should grow faster that way. Alternatively, you can attempt a dirt setup, which data collected by Utah Ants makes this appear to be the most effective setup for Pogonomyrmex.

 

Yeah they seem to like the DIY more than THA lol. Thanks for telling me to move then in sooner that I was going to 

 

I believe you may have misunderstood me. I was encouraging you to move them back into a test tube for the best growth. I know it is really fun to make DIY formicaria, you just need to be patient when moving ants into large spaces.

 

First he had them at 40 workers, then they randomly died, could of also been the stress OF moving that killed them, and I don’t think he wants to move them again because I did the exact same thing and the colony died because of how many times I moved them. (I only did it 3 times) plus moving them back AGAIN would put them in a vulnerable situation because of how they already had a die off.

 

I also don’t really see much harm of having a large space. My colony moved into a formicarium that was too big for them and decided that that was their home because they would not move back. I also have no mould problems because they try to use all of the space. Plus they might store the seeds in the nest for a period of time.

 

please don’t take me the wrong way

Edited by OwlThatLikesAnts, October 4 2024 - 5:47 AM.

[AntsGodzilla]

 

Hahaha I'm not a new ant keeper, I have been in the hobby for a few years. They used to live in a THA labyrinth, there are 10 workers rn, and are keeping all of their brood in the nest. Read the whole journal.

Even though you might not be a "beginner", no one is perfect and we should all take the time to learn when we make mistakes. The amount of time you keep ants doesn't matter, it's the experience you build that does.

 

I'd also like to add that maybe your heating for the labyrinth looked insufficient, since it was just a cable covering a tiny corner of the nest. If I were you I'd at least loop it around half the nest. Pogonomyrmex need high heat for proper development; without it they would inevitably fail. I also had P. rugosus, which never grew well due to the mediocre heating from my cable.

 

Oh I took the cord off for the pic.

 

Edited by AntsGodzilla, October 4 2024 - 8:12 AM.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

I believe you may have misunderstood me. I was encouraging you to move them back into a test tube for the best growth. I know it is really fun to make DIY formicaria, you just need to be patient when moving ants into large spaces.

 

 

 

First he had them at 40 workers, then they randomly died, could of also been the stress OF moving that killed them, and I don’t think he wants to move them again because I did the exact same thing and the colony died because of how many times I moved them. (I only did it 3 times) plus moving them back AGAIN would put them in a vulnerable situation because of how they already had a die off.

 

I also don’t really see much harm of having a large space. My colony moved into a formicarium that was too big for them and decided that that was their home because they would not move back. I also have no mould problems because they try to use all of the space. Plus they might store the seeds in the nest for a period of time.

 

please don’t take me the wrong way

 

Here is where I differ from your opinion. Firstly, no ant in nature desired to have large open spaces, this is easy to discover if you lift up a rock with an ant colony under it and don't find a cavern. While some ants CAN live in large spaces, nature proves this is not ideal. Furthermore, the colony you reference that moved into a formicarium too large for them, which I assume is your F. subsericea, cannot be used as proof that ants like large spaces because the only reason they are as successful as they are is because you brood boosted them. Alternatively, a Formica argentea colony I own has 16 natural workers and I raised her in a plain test tube. The more you keep ants, the more you observe the tendency of ants to perfer smaller spaces, such as the colony in the image hiding in the corner behind the nest. Whether the user chooses to move them or not is their choice, I just always recommend patience and waiting until the last possible moment to move ants into larger spaces, and this is why I respectfully disagree with you.

Edited by Ants_Dakota, October 4 2024 - 8:40 AM.

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

 

 

I believe you may have misunderstood me. I was encouraging you to move them back into a test tube for the best growth. I know it is really fun to make DIY formicaria, you just need to be patient when moving ants into large spaces.

 

 

 

First he had them at 40 workers, then they randomly died, could of also been the stress OF moving that killed them, and I don’t think he wants to move them again because I did the exact same thing and the colony died because of how many times I moved them. (I only did it 3 times) plus moving them back AGAIN would put them in a vulnerable situation because of how they already had a die off.

 

I also don’t really see much harm of having a large space. My colony moved into a formicarium that was too big for them and decided that that was their home because they would not move back. I also have no mould problems because they try to use all of the space. Plus they might store the seeds in the nest for a period of time.

 

please don’t take me the wrong way

 

Here is where I differ from your opinion. Firstly, no ant in nature desired to have large open spaces, this is easy to discover if you lift up a rock with an ant colony under it and don't find a cavern. While some ants CAN live in large spaces, nature proves this is not ideal. Furthermore, the colony you reference that moved into a formicarium too large for them, which I assume is your F. subsericea, cannot be used as proof that ants like large spaces because the only reason they are as successful as they are is because you brood boosted them. Alternatively, a Formica argentea colony I own has 16 natural workers and I raised her in a plain test tube. The more you keep ants, the more you observe the tendency of ants to perfer smaller spaces, such as the colony in the image hiding in the corner behind the nest. Whether the user chooses to move them or not is their choice, I just always recommend patience and waiting until the last possible moment to move ants into larger spaces, and this is why I respectfully disagree with you.

 

I respectfully agreed with you but just saying

The nest is still too big for em and they are still gaining natural workers. (Even with all the things I did, the most they fill is one corner)

 

Also my Lasius umbratus is in a founding formicarium that I find too big for them too

(probably the reason is because both are easy to keep)

 

So now I am coming to an of this discussion about nesting space thanks to Ants Dakota by saying:

it is possible but not recommended

[AntsGodzilla]

The queen moved into the nest.

[AntsGodzilla]

(Update 10/7/2024)

 

I moved then onto a test tube. 

 

Edited by AntsGodzilla, October 7 2024 - 11:45 AM.

[kiedeerk]

Good. I would leave them alone for a long while with heat. They have been through a lot of stress between the colony dying and moving multiple times in a short period of time


I just noticed why did you move them into an empty or almost empty test tube? if I was doing this I would find the biggest test tube possible and fill it to half with water

Edited by kiedeerk, October 7 2024 - 2:02 PM.

[AntsGodzilla]

I added a THA genesis test tube insert so they would have a mix between dirt and a test tube.

[kiedeerk]

I added a THA genesis test tube insert so they would have a mix between dirt and a test tube.

I just don’t understand why you would move them into an almost empty dry test tube?