5 replies to this topic

[CozmoDog]

Hey everyone I was kinda busy and I wasn't very active with the forum So it's spring now and almost May which is the big Camponotus month I was very sad to see that my ants are still not doing anything ... they are active in their nest just going about their business 2 workers guarding the larvae/egg pile at all times and yet the larvae/eggs don't seem to grow at all i haven't had any papae since very late summer I am very concerned they had some honey which i tried to place abit more inside the nest since they won't forage at all and they drunk all of it sadly I can't afford to do that alot because at the place where i placed the honey some greenish/grey mold has grown(any ideas how to clean i can get to it with some toothpick or barbecue skewer) my biggest fear is that before they start producing or the brood starts to develop again they might be waiting for some protein aka insects(even tho i heard somewhere camponotus sp aka Honey ants can convert honey or sugar whatever to protein i could be completely wrong someone with more knowledge pls confirm)the problem is the ants(7workers total) won't come outside the nest to forage so if i am to feed them any insects i might have to drop them inside the nest which they way i built the nest i might be able to take out again with a barbecue skewer but the question is will anything bad grow on it if lets say i live it in there for 5-10 hours ? should i do it ? what should i try to do? please help me its my first colony again i don't want them to die off. i really like this species.

[Mdrogun]

When did you take your colony out of hibernation? When my Camponotus pennsylvanicus colonies have about 7 workers it takes them a while to wake up and want protein. When you stick food directly in their nest the ants are worried about it molding and they consume as much as they can, that is why it seems like they want carbohydrates but aren't foraging. While Camponotus have special bacteria in their gut that makes carbohydrates much more nutritious, the bacteria does not convert carbohydrates to protein. When your ants need protein they will go foraging for it. There is no need to put food directly next to them. If you put food in an outworld you can leave it for multiple days at least. Ants are good at being ants, you should let the colony do their thing and not worry about them foraging or not eating food right away. You might have to move the colony into a test tube or something while you clean their nest. You don't need to clean their nest right away but don't let the mold spread to the whole nest. Hope this helps

[CozmoDog]

I see thank you for the information you have provided me with one more thing if you could go check on my journal Cozmodogs camponotus sanctus journal and you can see the picture of my formicarium its one thing like the nest and the outworld is one big tank so if i were to leave lets say a dead mealwork ontop of the outworld will the ants smell the food and if they want protein they will go and check it out ? because atm the ants don't even want to live their nest.

[Crystals]

If anyone else is looking for a link to his journal, it is here - http://www.formicult...nal/#entry32560

 

A general rule of thumb is to ants into a nest where they fill at least 30% of it. 

With a colony under 10 workers, they do not tend to forage very far.  if possible, I would try to relocate them to a smaller nest with just 2-3 chambers and less than a 6" distance between the furthest chamber and the foraging area.  If that is not possible, they are likely eating during the night and you are not seeing them.

 

Do you see them near the entrance?  They should be able to smell it any food if it is fresh.

 

Be forwarned, skewer a pin through it so they can not drag it into the nest.  Camponotus are famous for leaving leftovers in their nest to mold if they have any extra room.

 

As for slow growth, Camponotus are one of the slowest growing species to start with.  They depend heavily on extra heat for brood developement.  How warm is your nest?  I have spots up to 34C (93F) in a corner of my nests and they often stack the pupae there.

[CozmoDog]

Well I'm not really an expert as i said it's my first colony so the first think that I though to myself was to let the colony grow "naturally" incase i did something wrong with it resulting in their death so I don't have any warm place or any cables and during the winter I let them hibernate in room temperature since they are a native species i thought that room temperature would be enough to let them hibernate which i assume they did since before winter they were active and they produced brood/scavenged but stopped at winter presumably to hibernate in room temperature again. I will try buying some mealworms i guess see if they smell a dead one.

[CozmoDog]

So I ordered a bunch of mealworms and dubia roaches but sadly being easter and all the are due to arrive on monday or after it. I was boiling some eggs for my diet and it came to me eggs have protein so why not try it I cut a very small piece of egg white and egg yolk and placed it near the entrance to their nest right before I went to bed. I checked on them this morning and they brought their brood closer to their nest entrance and one of the larva already seems bigger and more bright they also have some yellow clutches next to their eggs and a big clutch right down where the queen lives, so i thought that maybe they are eggs which I've heard of being yellow before but I'm not sure it could just be egg yolk i will try to get some pics they are a bit blurry sadly but couldn't get better, on another note my messor wasmanni queen which i caught late summer and was hibernating the winter has a decent clutch of eggs and 2 larvae yay do u know how long messor species need

From egg to pupa?

 

Edit:I just noticed a worker ant outside her nest for the first time since forever and was working on the egg i placed

Edited by CozmoDog, April 29 2016 - 3:23 AM.