7 replies to this topic

[Guzzer]

I have sent this same message to THA;

 

We recently recieved our order from THA Black Friday sales and..

 

We LOVE these products - the quality is amazing and they will look fantastic as center pieces in my house.

I have a question regarding the moving  of ants in to the chambers.

Currently I have all my ants located in test tubes (Dimension - 18D x 150H mm), just wondering how I can move them in.

For the Atom Nest egss I can get the queen to relocate through the nest mate but for the Inception chamber the test tube does not fit in the Fornicatium and there is no connection from the outside barrier to the chamber.

Any idea how I can move the queens without distubring her. Currently they all have eggs - no nanitics yet.
I can wait until she has some nanitics to perfor the move. Last time I moved a Queen, we used the method of dark destination - bright light old location. We moved her from a test tube with eggs to a mini hearth - she ended up eating her eggs and having start all over again

I was thinking perhaps connect a rubber tube to the test tube and connect it directly to the chamber within the Inception formicarium.

Any info would be much appreciated.

 

[drtrmiller]

I'm sure someone here with direct experience will chime in soon.

 

Until then, I can only say that the difficulty you're experiencing is caused by a mismatch between the imperial-sized holes (probably 1/2 inch, or 12.7 mm), and the 18 mm metric test tube.  You may need to fashion some sort of adapter to convert between the two different hole sizes.

 

Your relocation technique sounds adequate.  Just be patient and observant to avoid excessive stress, and you should be fine.

[Guzzer]

Thank you for the reply.

The issue is mostly I can't lay flat the testube inside the formicarium aiming to the nest entrance

Here is a photo on what I mean:

https://imgur.com/gallery/eUWCd

So I am thinking a rubber tube from test tube to the nest.

[FSTP]

does the inception chamber have a small hole? if so you could just use a small piece of tubing that fits into the inception chamber and then connect it to the test tube using cotton.

[Guzzer]

does the inception chamber have a small hole? if so you could just use a small piece of tubing..

That's what I think I might actually do. Thanks

[Annexis]

Just use some powertools and enlarge the hole, easy. Also please don't move your queen into there untill she's got like at least 4 nanitics. You don't wanna stress her too much.

[Kevin]

Agreed with what Annexis said. If that is your "colony", wait until they outgrow the space. Moving a small colony or even just a queen is basically suicide for them in the wild.

[Guzzer]

Thank you for the advice.

 

Also did receive an email from Mack (THA) with some advice, but I will wait until they have a few workers before I attempt the move.

I will probably do the test tube / rubber hose to ant nest once they look to be needing more space.

 

1st year with the Hobby - so much to learn.