132 replies to this topic

[Gregory2455]

Do you use a heat lamp or mat generally because now its getting quite cold.

LAnt, I happen to be in the Mojave Desert right now. Last night, it dipped into the twenties, and this afternoon, I saw Pogonomyrmex californicus bicolor foraging, and actually got a video which I will be uploading soon. Point is, desert species are not affected by cold, but they still may grow slower.

[LAnt]

And to all those people outside southern california, cold is 50°. Last winter was nicer; I went to the beach on Christmas, only 80/90 degrees F.

Edited by LAnt, December 28 2014 - 11:41 PM.

[dspdrew]

Here's what happens when you give Pogonomyrmex liquid feeders. They will try to bury it, and won't stop until all the liquid is gone.

 

[dspdrew]

Update 12-30-2014
 
So far one colony has already moved into their new nest, and the other has started working on theirs.
 
This colony is working on their nest.
 

 

 
 
This colony has actually moved into their nest already. I saw them carrying brood, workers, and even the queen into the new nest, so it's pretty clear they've moved in.
 

 
 
They dug out so much dirt, I had to take some of it out before they ended up stacking it higher than the sides of the out world.
 

 

 
 
Here is one of the workers carrying the queen into the new nest.
 

 
 
Here is one of the workers carrying another worker into the new nest.
 

[dspdrew]

Update 1-27-2015
 
All three of my test tube/foraging container colonies have finally laid new clusters of eggs. I saw new eggs a while back in my two dirt nest colonies, so they seem to have been producing all along.

[BugFinder]

Here's what happens when you give Pogonomyrmex liquid feeders. They will try to bury it, and won't stop until all the liquid is gone.

 

 

Thanks alot for sharing that.  I guess I won't try to use the liquid feeder I just bought, lol.

[dspdrew]

Update 3-6-2015
 
First of all I sold my smallest test tube/foraging container colony. Now I have two of those left, and the two large colonies living in the ant farm boxes I made for them.
 
All the colonies are doing great, and producing. The two colonies in the ant farm boxes are exploding in size. I really can't count them because of the visibility in those things, but I can tell there is probably over 200 workers in each one. I can also tell they have a huge amount of brood, and I usually also notice a huge clump of eggs being carried around by one of the workers under ground.
 
My small test tube/foraging container colony
 

 
 
My large test tube/foraging container colony
 

 
 
Ant farm box colonies
 

 

 
 
If you look closely you can see almost every tunnel is packed with brood. Mostly pupae along the top one.
 

 
 
This is how I have the lighting set up. These are track lights I can aim any direction I want. The 20 watt halogen bulbs heat the surface up to about 110 degrees.
 

 

[Chromerust]

Which colony got the big brood boost from me?

[dspdrew]

The big one in the test tube.

[Jonathan21700]

Amazing!

[dspdrew]

[dspdrew]

Update 5-25-2015
 
I sold both colonies I had left in test tubes, leaving me with just the two large colonies in the ant farm boxes. Both of those colonies are doing great, and both have a very large amount of brood.
 
I'm in the process of moving one of the colonies into a two foot wide, inch and a half thick, 50 pound ant farm that was given to me by Retroman in a trade.
 
I cleaned it all out, and put in new substrate. I had to do this in layers to keep it from pushing on the glass too much, wetting it down little by little as I went. As long as the dirt is wet (not liquid mud!), it holds itself up pretty well and doesn't push too much on the glass. I also used a c-clamp to hold it as well.
 

 
 
I made a few modifications to it. Instead of the black construction paper and velcro covers/shades he had on it, I made some out of black foam board, and attached it with magnets. I added a larger board to the very bottom of the base, to stable it even more in case of an earthquake or something. I would NOT want this thing to fall over; that would be really bad. I also drilled two 3/8 inch holes in one side. One hole is at the surface of the dirt, and the other is at the very bottom.
 
Gluing the magnets on.
 

 
 
Here it is all setup and ready for use.
 
With the cover/shade on.
 

 
 
With the cover/shade off.
 

 
 
I set it all up with the ant farm box attached via a 3/8 inch OD piece of vinyl tubing. I setup an 80 watt bulb shining on the surface of the ant farm, and a bright florescent light shining on the sides of the ant farm box. I also put a fan on top of it to create a little bit of air movement, and vibration to help convince the ants to move. Also, there is a heating pad underneath the ant farm box to help dry it out faster.
 

 

 

 

 
 
Within 10 minutes, they were already digging a new nest in the far back corner of the ant farm. I hope I catch them when they're moving all of their hundreds of brood and the queen into their new nest; it should be interesting to see.

[Lamarr]

Fantastic looking dirt setup. What I can only imagine it as most ant keeper's dream, at least mine anyway. Keep us update with their new nest.

[Wamdar]

Lamarr said it best, Ant keepers' dream!! Great stuff

[Jonathan21700]

 That move will be interesting!

[Gregory2455]

That one ant farm does look a lot like mine drew.

[kellakk]

That's really nice, I'm envious. How do you hydrate it?

[dspdrew]

Just pour some water into it a couple times a month apparently.

[cpman]

I'd love to have a large nest like that. These ants are looking good and will probably do great in there. Good luck with them!

Drew: if I were you, I'd put a Veromessor colony in something like that. I've heard they can get pretty big. Also a large colony of Liometopum would look great in a display on your wall or something, if you could get a colony to that size.

[dspdrew]

Yeah, I used to want to have a large colony of Liometopum occidentale since they are also diurnal, but I would rather go with Camponotus leavigatus if possible. They would both live in wood and have forest out worlds.