30 replies to this topic

[CallMeCraven]

Started my first colony (hopefully) of Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. I caught my queen on 9/22/16 outside my work while I was preparing soil clods to be shipped for bulk density testing. She was just wandering around on the concrete, so I quickly ran inside and grabbed to only container I could find... a large plastic bag. I had just started looking into keeping ants, so my supplies where severely lacking when I caught her. I moved her into a small tupperware with a damp cotton ball and promptly order some test tubes. When they arrived, I moved her into a basic test tube set up and started looking around for help to get here IDed. Lucky I found this forum. Here are some pics of her initial set up and the ones that ultimately helped her get IDed.

 

 

After about a week with no eggs, I started getting concerned the the recent cold snap might be slowing her down so I purchased a heating cable to try to warm her up back to NV typical temps. I also starting looking around the forum and saw that lots of others supplied their POOC queens with dirt and seeds inside their test tubes. I decided it was time to give that a try, so I made a new test tube set up, gathered dirt from near by pocket gopher mounds (I assumed dirt from deeper down would be better) and some POPR and AGCR seeds. I transferred her into her new fully stocked set up and put her in my spare closet. Here are some pics (sorry for potatoes)!

 

 

As you can see in the last pic, she is placed high up in a dark shoe box. Biggest challenge now is keeping myself from messing with her for at least a week. Hoping for some eggs soon!

Edited by CallMeCraven, May 13 2017 - 4:23 PM.

[Mdrogun]

You can't force ants to not hibernate. She probably won't lay eggs until spring. I would wait a couple days to see if she lays eggs. If she doesn't I would hibernate her.

[CallMeCraven]

You can't force ants to not hibernate. She probably won't lay eggs until spring. I would wait a couple days to see if she lays eggs. If she doesn't I would hibernate her.

I understand, I am just to cheap to heat my house in the summer/early fall and we are kind of going through unseasonal cold fronts. I'm just trying to keep her at normal northern Nevada temps this time of year without turning my furnace on .

[CallMeCraven]

Update for 10/3/2016

 

I know this is pretty early for an update but what can I say, I am excited. I haven't touched this queen since 9/30, so I decided to do a quick sneak peak on her. She has carved a small pocket in the supplied dirt, and even buried the supplied grass seed. She appears to have stuck a layer of dirt against the cotton ball that is holding back the water, perhaps to reduce the humidity in her newly created chamber? I thought I spotted an egg, but it turned out to be just a speck of white sand. The excitement got to me again! She appears much happier with the new test tube over the old plain jane one, so my hopes remain high that she may start producing soon. Now that I know she is okay, I should be able to hold myself off of checking her for another week. I didn't take any pics of her this time around to avoid stressing her to much. Hopefully next update will have some good news that I have a better reason to take pics of! 

[sgheaton]

You can't force ants to not hibernate. She probably won't lay eggs until spring. I would wait a couple days to see if she lays eggs. If she doesn't I would hibernate her.

 

Sorry to jack into this conversation but I'm curious as I can somewhat relate. I've got a solo Pogonomyrmex queen. Basically have had her in a container by herself entirely too long. Bought uncle miltons farm and gave it to her. She immediately started to power dig..though she became separated from her egg grouping and I don't think that she's laid anymore since then...

 

This has all been over the summer. I realized I just wanted to see tunnels so I added the queen before I probably should have. Actually that I know -- but I realized I could extract the queen and start over....next year. 

 

Because she hasn't....well done anything really except dig... would it be a better course of action to hibernate this queen and try again next year? Considering I probably won't get nanitics from her this year, yadda yadda

[CallMeCraven]

 

You can't force ants to not hibernate. She probably won't lay eggs until spring. I would wait a couple days to see if she lays eggs. If she doesn't I would hibernate her.

 

Sorry to jack into this conversation but I'm curious as I can somewhat relate. I've got a solo Pogonomyrmex queen. Basically have had her in a container by herself entirely too long. Bought uncle miltons farm and gave it to her. She immediately started to power dig..though she became separated from her egg grouping and I don't think that she's laid anymore since then...

 

This has all been over the summer. I realized I just wanted to see tunnels so I added the queen before I probably should have. Actually that I know -- but I realized I could extract the queen and start over....next year. 

 

Because she hasn't....well done anything really except dig... would it be a better course of action to hibernate this queen and try again next year? Considering I probably won't get nanitics from her this year, yadda yadda

 

I would double check that she hasn't started a new brood. I imagine Colorado is starting to get cold, like it is here in northern Nevada (I am from Montana so I am familiar with Rocky Mountain Falls). If she hasn't started to lay new eggs, I would exfiltrate  her into a test tube setup with some sand and water and start the hibernation process. 

 

I plan to start hibernating my Pogonomyrmex queen in November by putting her in my fridge (without telling the wife of course ) and maybe sooner if she decides all she needs to do this next couple weeks is dig a little cave for herself. I am hoping for eggs but at this point, and with the variable shifts in temps outside, I realize she may be ready for a long nap, to my dismay.

[sgheaton]

Yeahh.....that's just it. I haven't seen much brood from her yet that I feel as though the big sleep needs to come before the big lay. I figure I'll downgrade(?) her into a tuppaware container for winter -- meaning I'll obtain her from the farm and tunneling she's been working so hard on. 

[CallMeCraven]

Yeahh.....that's just it. I haven't seen much brood from her yet that I feel as though the big sleep needs to come before the big lay. I figure I'll downgrade(?) her into a tuppaware container for winter -- meaning I'll obtain her from the farm and tunneling she's been working so hard on. 

Sounds like a plan to me. Just remember to keep water available to her and also check temps on the regular to make sure you don't freeze her. I would also suggest keeping her in the smaller container until she gets a few workers going (hopefully next spring  ) to try to simulate a natural claustral cell where she will feel safe to raise a brood. But hey, I am new and these are just suggestions I have picked up from some research. Do whatever works for you!

[sgheaton]

Well then I will impart my fantastical wisdom of my one year of anting onto you!

 

Adult beverages will only exacerbate any impatient feelings you have.

[CallMeCraven]

Well then I will impart my fantastical wisdom of my one year of anting onto you!

 

Adult beverages will only exacerbate any impatient feelings you have.

LOL  . Good to know, I'll try to keep the beers to a minimum. Luckily I saved a kitten from the middle of a highway, and he has been helping to distract me from being a peeping tom on my queen.

[CallMeCraven]

Update 10/9

 

I decided the check on my Pogonomyrmex queen this morning as I was doing chores around the house. Her little cave that she made for herself appears to collapsed, with no harm her. There where no apparent eggs, and she was pretty lazy about moving around the test tube. I think its time to start seriously looking into getting her ready for hibernation and hope for better luck in the spring. 

[sgheaton]

I'm in the same boat. I'm not sure what I'm even doing to this queen. Giving her a conditional training of just practicing to dig and being solo for the winter is what!!! 

[XZero38]

My Pogonomyrmex queen has started to slow down on the brood production despite the fact that the workers happily take any crickets i give them.

[CallMeCraven]

Checked on her this morning. She is still alive and doing well. She did not rebuild her little cave against the cotton ball, and still has no eggs  . Her new thermometer is on the way so I can verify my fridge won't freeze her, then its in she goes for the winter. Hopefully next spring I will become a happy ant daddy. I will also be on the lookout for new queens. O so much anticipation for spring .

[MichiganAnts]

keep up the work craven. i know the feeling. if you get bored and want to seek out hunting ants in the wild go ahead. its what i did and now i have 3 queens all hibernating and ready for summer

[CallMeCraven]

keep up the work craven. i know the feeling. if you get bored and want to seek out hunting ants in the wild go ahead. its what i did and now i have 3 queens all hibernating and ready for summer

Thanks. Unfortunately it is dumping cold rain where I am and it's not looking like we are going to get any more warm days. My field season at work is coming to an end as well. Lately I have been prodding some existing POOC hills in sites where I am working in hopes of seeing a queen but I can bring myself to dig up a whole nest for my selfish needs. I'll just jump back on the wagon next spring.

Edited by CallMeCraven, October 16 2016 - 10:29 PM.

[MichiganAnts]

and for me its a hot 74F and I'm out ant hunting in the fall in Michigan. you can always look for other species in fallen trees and such. its what i do

[CallMeCraven]

*Update 11/12/16*

I checked up on her during the course do doing chores. There has been no change with her. However, the seeds I supplied her in case she decided to eat started to germinate! Little Poa pratensis shoots everywhere. This discovery, and her dropping water supply prompted me to move her into a new test tube set up w/o any substrate. I did include some wild Taraxacum officinale seeds with her in case the mood struck and she wanted a nibble. I also removed the heating cord from her shoe box and moved her into the hibernation area. Hopefully come spring, I will be a happy ant dad!

[CallMeCraven]

*Update 12/10/2016*

She is handling hibernation well. I have been checking on her on a weekly basis and she has been resting in the same spot every time. Initially I was worried that she had died but then she gave me a reassuring twitch of her antennae. Last week I thought I saw her first egg, but upon further inspection today, the small white speck has yellowed and I believe it to be refuse. I plan on giving her a drop of honey water and seeing how she takes it, but that will have to wait for next months update .

[CallMeCraven]

*Update 03/04/2017*

She is awake and ready to go! Today when I checked on her she was furiously pulling on the cotton balls within her test tube. Since the water in her tube was just about out, I pulled the cotton plug off her tube and set her in a container with a new tube. Since she still has not produced eggs or eaten any of the seeds I provided in her tube, I chopped up some of my hedgehogs mealworms and offered them to her on a silver platter (aluminum foil) while she was deciding to move. However, when I observed her approaching the mealworm chunks, she withdrew in fear and turned and ran with her gaster between her legs. I let her continue to explore the container for about an hour before i forced her into the new tube. I dusted off her heating cable, and put it and her back into her shoe box... Lets hope for eggs soon now that she is warming up. I also need to find different seeds to try to appease her.