4 replies to this topic

[goliat314]

Hi!

 

So I recently built myself a new formicarium made out of plaster (end product looks very similar to this guys , check around 29:45) and I really thinks it looks good and natural. I decided to move my Formica cinerea into it yesterday, and they love their new home! I natually decided to make another but smaller one for my Temnothorax nylanderi colony of around 150 workers, since their old formicarium had lots of big chambers and they weren't quite comfortable in that.

 

So I made a new small one chamber formicarium to try and mimic a natural nest for them, however there was a hole no bigger than half a centimeter in diameter, and i'd guess the inner volume of this hole is around 1 cubic centimeter. I didn't think much of it and I washed off the clay like the last one. I went to watch TV as I connected the old formicarium to the new one while shining a bright light on the old formicarium like usual. I then couldn't find many ants when I came back, and very little brood. They have actually moved the entire colony into this tiny hole and I am having trouble finding a good way to get them out of there without cutting the entire thing open and having tons of escapees. Does anyone have any Idea how I may go about fixing the issue? I can provide pictures if necessary, all I can say is that the hole looks packed full of ants.

 

Thank you in advance!

Edited by goliat314, December 27 2016 - 3:09 PM.

[Connectimyrmex]

Keep them in there! That is probably the most natural thing if they like it. You also could just dry out the hole and get them to come out into a humid spot.

[goliat314]

Keep them in there! That is probably the most natural thing if they like it. You also could just dry out the hole and get them to come out into a humid spot.

Eeeeeh I guess I can, but I want to observe them as well

 

I'll try drying them out I guess, but yeah it is the most natural nest for them I suppose. 

 

Thank you!

[Serafine]

Let them be there, they will soon have grown enough to expand into the rest of the nest. The early founding stage is a very critical phase in a colony's life and I wouldn't disturb them if it's not absolutely necessary (which it isn't obviously they like where they are).

[antgenius123]

Just keep them in there. They'll eventually need to expand and fill the formicarium glass so you can view them. You just preserved your formicarium by them entering the hole. They won't have to move out as soon because of crowding