306 replies to this topic

[T.C.]

How much time do you put into each individual nest? I mean from start to finish including carving, hydration, color, etc.

[CrazyLegs]

How much time do you put into each individual nest? I mean from start to finish including carving, hydration, color, etc.

I made the Gecko casually in about 4hrs from start to finish. It's the prototype so I was mucking around a bit. I guess you could say that would make them quite expensive. If I knew I was going to make a lot of them, I would do each stage separately with a bunch of them to speed it up a bit. I'm sure I could shave some time after making a few. I don't intend on running a sweat shop though. 

Edited by CrazyLegs, February 24 2017 - 3:54 AM.

[CrazyLegs]

The smell of maple syrup filling the air was too much for Big Red and she came out to get her own dinner this evening.

You can see her here slightly larger than Ol Original.

That's not very royal behavior. She looked pretty casual so I thought I'd try to feed her directly.

She seems fine with it. Maybe I need to feed them more.

 

 

 

Edited by CrazyLegs, February 14 2017 - 3:22 AM.

[sgheaton]

I must say those are some really great pics.

 

The detail in them is fantastic. I'm able to experience alien-like creatures somewhat face to face from the comfort of a computer screen. 

 

Edit: Ok I'm 3 pages back and thus late to be reading. I'm at the point where one of the gnarly looking trapjaws has another ants thorax in its jaws! "Oh no..." has been said.. DON'T RUIN THE SUSPENSE!

Edited by sgheaton, February 14 2017 - 6:15 AM.

[CrazyLegs]

I had a male alate running around the outworld yesterday, crash tackling the workers and trying to mate with them. He was all alone in his endeavors and nobody was taking him seriously. Knowing that my queens were very light sensitive nowadays I removed the nest covers and sure enough one came out. I plugged the nest so I didn't have to deal with any more ants and prepared to grab these two creatures. The moment I lifted the lid the antsy male flew out across the room and landed on a window screen. I grabbed him by the wings with a pair of tweezers. I used my modified BBQ tongs to grasp the queen. She wasn't too keen on this and her 3mm stinger was clearly visible trying to sting anything and everything. I thought to myself "That's the last place I would want to place my genitals" but went ahead anyway and touched the tip of her gaster with the males a few times.

Nothing seemed to happen so I placed them both back in and replaced the lid. For obvious reasons I couldn't get any pics of this.

The next day the male was in the outworld coming to terms with his own mortality. He was writhing around on the ground in what looked like agony so I put him in the freezer.

Here he is starting to defrost.

Edited by CrazyLegs, February 17 2017 - 10:59 AM.

[Leo]

the guy obviously has problems, nice try though 

[sgheaton]

and touched the tip of her gaster with the males a few times.

 

This is exactly how I pictured this going down: 

[CrazyLegs]

Hahaha, sgheaton. Hilarious. The unimpressed look he had at the end is probably right.

[antgenius123]

Maybe if you tried freezing them beforehand? It slows them down quite a bit.

[CrazyLegs]

Sounds like it could lessen their aggressiveness if they were cooled. However my opportunity has passed for now.

[CrazyLegs]

This thread, being about Hebel formicariums, I thought I should probably post a picture of the range I have to date. As you are all aware I am still in the testing phase and have kept ants in "The Crocodilian" now for about 6 weeks without a serious issue. I will continue testing and as soon as I have proven success with these models I will be looking at making them to order for anyone who is interested. 

"The Crocodilian" - For the big ants

"The Gator"          - Medium ants

"The Gecko"         - Small ants or medium founding queens.

 

The moss in the center of The Crocodilian is a different species to the others and looks darker because It was just filled with water. I changed to a much brighter and fluffier species. I will also be upgrading the nest covers to black acrylic with magnets as the tearing of the velcro seems to startle the ants. The Gecko will be getting some upgrades soon.

Edited by CrazyLegs, February 17 2017 - 2:55 PM.

[Guzzer]

Loving the natural look!

[PTAntFan]

Has anyone asked where you acquired the AAC and what tools you used for sculpting?  Sorry, the thread is a bit long now to go page by page and I don't remember it coming up specifically.

[CrazyLegs]

Has anyone asked where you acquired the AAC and what tools you used for sculpting?  Sorry, the thread is a bit long now to go page by page and I don't remember it coming up specifically.

The hebel came from "Bunnings" which holds the monopoly of hardware in Australia, I'm not happy about having to go there for everything but they pretty much wiped out all the competition. They sell it in handy sized blocks 600mm long. The sculpting is done with a diamond saw and a cordless drill.

[CrazyLegs]

There hasn't been a lot of action since the last update. The remaining males haven't left the nest but the queens often come out at night for a look around.

I went out for a quick look at the 12 Myrmecia brevinoda nests I've been watching lately and one of those nests had male alates gathering at the entrance.

This was the only nest of the 12 that showed any signs of this kind of activity. Hopefully nuptials have just begun for this species.

I sat and watched this nest for about half an hour. No queens emerged in this time and unfortunately I had to go to work. I will be going out every day for the next week or so. Hopefully I get lucky. This forest is pretty darn thick and finding one of these girls is going to be a needle in a haystack kind of deal. You gotta be in it to win it though right?

 

 

[Leo]

good luck 

[antgenius123]

A little rain should do the trick in getting those queens to emerge.

[CrazyLegs]

Yes we have had a dismal rain season, but there may be a little on the way. The ants always know when it's due.

Edited by CrazyLegs, February 20 2017 - 9:20 PM.

[Leo]

oh well

[CrazyLegs]

I spent some time this week thinking about the Gecko and have come up with a portable feeding globe to address access issues. Currently I have been just removing the acrylic screen to add food for my Anonychomyrma sp. but that will not work for long as her nanitics are nearly due and I don't want to squish them.

This sphere will make a mini outworld where you can place your protein offerings or sweet liquids.

This Gecko has been colored with a natural dye made from plant extracts.

Believe it or not I am still not finished yet and have another upgrade coming soon.

When I have completed the Gecko Protoype 2 project I will be giving this very model away in a competition through Gamergate.

Oh yeah and of course it has to glow in the dark.

 

 

 

Edited by CrazyLegs, February 24 2017 - 4:08 AM.