29 replies to this topic

[soulsynapse]

Ants are scavengers. A lot of people in the hobby feed their ants freshly killed insects, but I wanted to hear what you guys feed them that aren't so typical

 

Quite a few listed here: Preferred foods by species but I wanted to start a new thread

 

Some highlights from the thread above:

 

Scrambled eggs

Egg yolk

Greasy chicken

Canned tuna

Fish food (typically made of brine shrimp, squid viscera, soybeans or other protein sources)

Cat food (wet)

Thawed brine shrimp

Sausage

Boiled egg

Cooked beef

 

v. pergandei with fish flakes (my photo)

 

Edited by soulsynapse, August 25 2017 - 1:56 PM.

[AntsMaryland]

I feed my semi-granivorous ants a wide variety of different nuts.

[drtrmiller]

Cold pressed bug guts

Edited by drtrmiller, August 23 2017 - 4:18 PM.

[MegaMyrmex]

Flies (fruit flies and houseflies) , roaches, and some crickets pr beetles

[ctantkeeper]

Cold pressed bug guts

lol, but when is that coming out btw? and also, when should we expect the dewdrop? I'm pretty eager to test both of them out

[ctantkeeper]

I sometimes use sesame seeds and tropical fish flakes when feeding my Tetramorium sp.e colonies. They are filled with naturally occurring oils and fats, making them excellent food for developing larvae. I will occasionally feed them either one of these in addition to a carbohydrate-rich food source, while feeding them a pleathora of diced insects on other days (termites, waxworm larvae and pupae, superworms, mealworms, crushed fruitflies and Dubia roaches). The tropical fish flakes also dye the larvae colors ranging from orange to red to pink. It seems as though larvae of different age groups favor different varieties of fish flakes based on their nutritional value. For anyone who is interested in doing this as well, I feed mine "Tetramin Tropical Fish Flakes". They are rich in krill oil and can be found in most pet stores. I personally don't use the green ones though due to their contents and low receptivity.

[AntsMaryland]

Thanks. How old is your Tetramorium colony?  Does this also work for Pheidole?

[soulsynapse]

Fishflakes are a good tip, I'll have to pick some up. Seem like they won't really go bad too quickly and have lots of protein so they can stay in the outworld for an extended period of time

[StopSpazzing]

Blood ...of virgins. Has to be virgins.

 

Actually wanted to try blood, seen no one testing it. Maybe they enjoy O+?

Edited by StopSpazzing, August 24 2017 - 12:43 PM.

[AntsMaryland]

ehhmm... you can try if you want I guess....

[BMM]

It's worth mentioning that fish food can contain mites, so if you aren't keen on introducing those to your colony, you may want to bake or freeze it first.

[Shaye]

Blood ...of virgins. Has to be virgins.
 
Actually wanted to try blood, seen no one testing it. Maybe they enjoy O+?

Truthfully, I cut my finger fairly deep one day and the thought occurred to me to try it. I had no receptivity from all the species I had at that time.
Veromessor pergandei, Pogonomyrmex californicus+rugosus, Myrmecocystus mexicanus+testaceus+mimicus, Tapinoma sessile (They had been an invading nuisance at the time, and were not a captive colony), Dorymyrmex insanus.

[StopSpazzing]

 

Blood ...of virgins. Has to be virgins.
 
Actually wanted to try blood, seen no one testing it. Maybe they enjoy O+?

Truthfully, I cut my finger fairly deep one day and the thought occurred to me to try it. I had no receptivity from all the species I had at that time.
Veromessor pergandei, Pogonomyrmex californicus+rugosus, Myrmecocystus mexicanus+testaceus+mimicus, Tapinoma sessile (They had been an invading nuisance at the time, and were not a captive colony), Dorymyrmex insanus.

 

Oh interesting. Good to know. I'll add that information to those species in the wiki. Thanks!

Edited by StopSpazzing, August 24 2017 - 3:23 PM.

[FeedTheAnts]

It's just grasshoppers for me

[ctantkeeper]

Thanks. How old is your Tetramorium colony?  Does this also work for Pheidole?

good question, unfortunatley, I have yet to test it on them yet. However, I have just obtained a Pheidole pilifera queen. When she produces a few workers, I will make sure to give it a try.

[ctantkeeper]

It's worth mentioning that fish food can contain mites, so if you aren't keen on introducing those to your colony, you may want to bake or freeze it first.

 

Thanks for mentioning this. I will freeze my fish flakes prior to feeding them to my ants from now on. 

[RustyShackleford]

It's worth mentioning that fish food can contain mites, so if you aren't keen on introducing those to your colony, you may want to bake or freeze it first.

Does freezing completely kill the mites?

[BMM]

 

It's worth mentioning that fish food can contain mites, so if you aren't keen on introducing those to your colony, you may want to bake or freeze it first.

Does freezing completely kill the mites?

 

 

I've seen it recommended before, although I believe baking is probably the more effective of the two.

[soulsynapse]

confirmed, v. pergandei love it

 

edit: these are fish flakes lol

 

 

Edited by soulsynapse, August 25 2017 - 2:23 PM.

[FeedTheAnts]

confirmed, v. pergandei love it

 

 

Uhhhh, ya... I'll let you guys do that.