3 replies to this topic

[Derek451]

Hi everyone,

 

I am very new (this is my very first post), so I am sorry if this is in the wrong section or however you guys organize this forum

 

I have only one colony (my first colony). Tetramorium sp e. with only about 20 workers in a small test tube. I have a small outworld filled with sand that I connect the test tube to where I feed them honey and fruit flies.

 

Problem:

 

My fruit fly cultures had recently accumulated a ton of predatorial mites in them, and I'm afraid they may have spread to the ants' nest. So I tried to move them. The first time I have ever made my ant colony move was about a month ago, (I had tried many times before but they never budged) I made them move by dripped about two drops of water into their test tube and exposed them to a very bright light. This made them immediately run out and they found and moved into the other test tube completely in about half an hour.

 

This time, though, I think I put too much water. I have a picture link here, It shows how soaked they are. I am so scared they might drown! there is one sticking to the side of the tube motionless in the picture.  Even if the workers and the queen get out safely (they are STILL not budging!), will all of their brood drown?

 

I am so scared...

 

Thank you guys so much

 

Also do you guys have any tips for whatever I am doing? I am also looking for a better substrate for my outworld (the sand makes the workers keep tripping, and it always takes them a long time to drag the fruit flies home because of the lack of traction) Any substrate products online that you would recommend?

 

Picture:

https://imgur.com/gallery/DwTMk

[GeorgeK]

Just clean old test tube and move them back. Also, never use water when trying to move colony, just use bright light to make them move

[Batspiderfish]

Don't do this to your ants. Your ants know way more about when they should move than we do. Soak up what water you can with a cotton swab, or tilt the tube into a dry cotton plug if there is a lot of water. From there, you'll just have to pray that human meddling won't kill the colony.

[Connectimyrmex]

If the brood dies, it often isn't too much of a big deal unless you have a social parasitic or inquiline queen. I often pick up the brood with a toothpick and gently place them on a paper towel to get the water off the brood if my tube floods.