16 replies to this topic

[CozmoDog]

Hey everyone, so my Camponotus is in desperate need of protein I ordered some mealworms and dubia roaches but they are due to arrive on Monday, I fed them some boiled egg yolk which helped but it only allowed the larvae to grow slightly, I feed them honey but they need protein is there something else I can give them that will allow the brood to grow?

[noebl1]

I'm going to follow along this as well.  I see a lot of different proteins foods out there; 

 

http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/B00X4S6M0C

http://www.mazuri.co...perkg-5sv7.aspx

etc

 

And wondered if these mixed with some honey/sugar water/nectar could be used as a good supplement (assuming the ants eat it)?  From what I understand Formula Blue was really popular, but no longer available.  Thanks!

 

EDIT: Assuming these are safe, what got me thinking about it is (especially with the Mazuri), keeping ants OUT of the food is usually a problem for reptile keepers.

Edited by noebl1, May 6 2016 - 3:41 AM.

[CozmoDog]

Let me rephrase I'm looking for something temporary that is easily accessible to me in like food markets and stuff as I said I want to feed them some protein that will help the brood grow, I will return back to feeding them with mealworms/dubia roaches on Monday when my order arrives.

Edit:Will other ants from the wild be a good protein source? Like harvester ants?

[yen_saw]

It shouldn't be difficult to buy crickets. They are usually available at every pet shop.

[Rattus]

Well, I have tried freezed ants from a grassland. It was an immediate response from my Lasius niger colony and more than 9 ants from my ~20 ant colony were moving it in no time.

I assume that Camponotus would eat some too.

[CozmoDog]

What about if I go right outside my house squash 2-3 majors and place them in the outworld outside their nest I don't know about freezing them first never done it.

[Rattus]

I would suggest freezing them overnight, because you can never know what that ant in your backyard has eaten nor if that colony is infested or not.

[CozmoDog]

Right I see freeze them then how do i prepare them ? Do I just let them thaw out in the outworld?

[Rattus]

Preferably, put them on a petri dish or a metal/plastic piece. Afterwards, remove the bodies when your ants dump them out.

[Barristan]

Why don't you kill some flies?

[antsinmypants]

Pardon me for responding to a question with a question, but has anyone bought live wingless fruit flies, frozen the leftovers, and fed them later to their ants? I have a Camponotus Modoc queen with 9 workers, 30 larvae and 8 eggs. They only need a few flies at a time so I hesitate to breed my own cultures.

[dermy]

Do you make any sort of cooked meats? if so feed them a very small junk of it. It seems to work well for some species, not sure about Camponotus though....

[Runner12]

I wouldn't feed any other hymenopterans, that is ants, wasps, bees, or their larvae.  They could potentially be carrying disease, I've actually wiped out a colony this way. 

 

They were doing fine, fed them a crushed wasp, whole colony was staggering and seizuring a few days later, all dead two weeks later.  I'd go for house flies if you want to feed something right away.

[CozmoDog]

Hmm what about cooked chicken ? For us humans chicken is crazy good protein intake but dunno about ants.

[Runner12]

They might take it, might not.  Even with the same species some of my colonies will accept certain things, others won't touch it.  It's worth a shot though.

[dspdrew]

Nearly every species of ants I've ever had liked cooked chicken.

[CozmoDog]

I see how about waiting till mealworms/dubia get here.. I assume they will arrive on Monday. How long can ants go without protein?