5 replies to this topic

[kenonical]

DAY -XX to DAY -8

i caught this p. californicus queen in June. i put some seeds in her syringe, and left it there for a long while. no pics available for that btw. and still, nothing. i knew she was eating the seeds, because she was still alive. so i assumed that p. californicus needed a lot more space. so i taped another syringe to the old syringe and kept the set up for a few months. until i found eggs. and mold.

so i decided to rip off the extension syringe, and attempt to move her into a test tube with substrate. but i noticed a weird odor from the substrate. and considering that the queen wasn’t interested in the substrate setup. so i put her into a different tube with no substrate, and this time i would force her to move. so i dumped her and all her eggs into the new tube and waited. until i accidentally shook her tube. the next time i checked on her, all the eggs were gone. and i haven’t checked on her since. the next time i check on her will be eight days from now.

but i also heard that p. californicus is tough at the founding stage, so ima find out how hard it is.

[kiedeerk]

Pogonomyrmex don’t need substrate for their larva to pupate. The substrate is mainly used to help them grip because they don’t walk on smooth surface very well. They need heat and some seeds like dandelion and a quiet place. If you caught the queen in June and it’s now October the likely chance this queen will found is very small. She is either infertile or just bad genes or the conditions you have provided are not ideal.

[kenonical]

Pogonomyrmex don’t need substrate for their larva to pupate. The substrate is mainly used to help them grip because they don’t walk on smooth surface very well. They need heat and some seeds like dandelion and a quiet place. If you caught the queen in June and it’s now October the likely chance this queen will found is very small. She is either infertile or just bad genes or the conditions you have provided are not ideal.

ye i heard about the grip thing lol. but i think the reason she hasn’t founded yet is because i checked on her too often, and i didn't have heat or an appropriate set up. not my first time having a Pogonomyrmex queen tho i honestly should know better lol.

[kiedeerk]

Pogonomyrmex don’t need substrate for their larva to pupate. The substrate is mainly used to help them grip because they don’t walk on smooth surface very well. They need heat and some seeds like dandelion and a quiet place. If you caught the queen in June and it’s now October the likely chance this queen will found is very small. She is either infertile or just bad genes or the conditions you have provided are not ideal.

ye i heard about the grip thing lol. but i think the reason she hasn’t founded yet is because i checked on her too often, and i didn't have heat or an appropriate set up. not my first time having a Pogonomyrmex queen tho i honestly should know better lol.

I know people always mention of checking your queen and causing stress etc… but unless you are checking her every few minutes every day which is impossible it is in my opinion a bit of a myth. I check my queens quite often but I have great success in founding a huge variety of species without issue. So likely that isn’t the reason but maybe heat, humidity and likely infertility

[bmb1bee]

The problem is likely with heating. Pogonomyrmex require temperatures of around 85 degrees or so to found properly. If you happen to be keeping them at room temperature, that could very likely be the reason she’s failing. And about the syringe you mentioned, is that supposed to be something like a makeshift test tube that has water and is properly plugged with cotton?

[kenonical]

The problem is likely with heating. Pogonomyrmex require temperatures of around 85 degrees or so to found properly. If you happen to be keeping them at room temperature, that could very likely be the reason she’s failing. And about the syringe you mentioned, is that supposed to be something like a makeshift test tube that has water and is properly plugged with cotton?

about the syringe, yea its like a normal syringe and the water seems to be in place