39 replies to this topic

[nurbs]

Grapes! Have discovered they also love grapes.

 

These ants are interesting because they don't take to the normal sweets such has honey water or hummingbird nectar, but love the sweets in fruits.

[nurbs]

my novomessor cockerelli are still dying and some brood is still developing nicely while some larvae look like they are rotting, like previously pictured. i thought the problem had resolved itself but I'm back down to three workers. they should be thriving but something isn't sitting well with them. ill be patient for now. lets see what happens.

 

What kind of setup do you have them in? Are you still using the original formicarium they came in? If you are, clean it out (vacuum it), and give them a fresh clean test tube.

 

For sure something is killing them. From experience, this species is more sensitive to the environment than others.

[YsTheAnt]

The way the larva looks, it's almost as if it has been either eaten, poisoned, or dried up. I doubt they would dry up unless you put them in extremely hot conditions, as they have a humid test tube. I think it would be wise to clean the setup out, and if I were you, feed them a bit more, maybe one whole small cricket instead of half, as the larvae may be cannibalizing (I'm not sure of this, but it seems possible)

[KBant]

I cleaned out the formicarium, which is a two 20mm tubes on a grout floor formicarium. I also changed out one of the test tubes that were starting to turn yellow. I’ll feed them a cricket tonight and a grape as well. I have hope!

[nurbs]

For your viewing pleasure! Grapes were washed and peeled.

 

[KBant]

dude first off, you have the best videos! such good lighting and quality macro videos. also your test tubes are far more yellow than the one i had taken out and exchanged and your colonies are thriving. maybe its something I'm feeding them.. they have plenty of heat so i think they are ok there.

[anttics]

KB any updates on this colony. how they doing. did you find out why they died.?

[KBant]

Nope, I think the queen is just stupid. These guys will keep decaying crickets with their brood. Anyways I have 3 workers a couple larvae and a couple eggs. Hoping they’ll make a comeback.

[nurbs]

Nope, I think the queen is just stupid. These guys will keep decaying crickets with their brood. Anyways I have 3 workers a couple larvae and a couple eggs. Hoping they’ll make a comeback.

 

Yeah, sounds like it. You could be doing everything right and just have a fail mom.

[CoolColJ]

For your viewing pleasure! Grapes were washed and peeled.
 

what do you use to video?

[KBant]

He uses a cheap macro lens from amazon, anyone will work, and his iPhone

[anttics]

sorry to hear. what kind of set up do you have?. I had these ants for 2 days. what I notice is they bring the larva to their food tray in out world. they even forgot one larva at the tray. I move the nest. the queen came out to pick up the larva that look a bit dry, and took it to the humid nest. to fix these. I heat up the nest. while the out world it's cold. they have not taken the brood out to the trash or food tray so far. they bring it all inside the nest. which can be open easily, and pick up old insects. the dry up larva looks more healthy from some pics my bro sent. if you are using test tubes in a container. try to change it. I'll post a pic of the set up my bro has. it's too early to call it successful, but I fixed the larva left outside issue.

[KBant]

they're in the same setup as my camponotus modocs i posted in my modoc journal 

 

[MarcSquires]

Nope, I think the queen is just stupid. These guys will keep decaying crickets with their brood. Anyways I have 3 workers a couple larvae and a couple eggs. Hoping they’ll make a comeback.

Dude! My Novomessor Cockerelli queen and workers did the same thing with the first cricket I gave them. Unfortunately, their situation has steadily deteriorated, so I am now just left with the queen. I hope you have better luck than I do.

[anttics]

these Seen very picky.
here is the set up. it's a bit too big. but they are big ants.



When cleaning is needed. just change the heat pad to the other compartment. in 15 min they usually move. seal the connection clean all crap. my idea was for only 1 container. with the test tube to introduce food. and hopefully they will use as trash. but my brother argue in case they need to cool down they need the cold compartment. I hope it works for him. a good thing about this set up. you can apply heat from above instead of the side. or worst from below. try it might help with them.

[anttics]

KB. good news so far. this set up I did for my bro works. what he did he kept their nest at 88 to 93 degrees 24 7. he change their apple slide every 2 to 3 days. these ants are dirty. so he clean up their left overs every 2 days. change their container by moving them with heat to the other once a month. when the heat wave came a few days ago. he over heated then and kill the weakest of the group. he is down to 4 now. with 2 brood days from waking up. and 6 big larva healthy, and growing big every day. and maybe 50 eggs. growing fast as well. try this set up. these ants are amongst the coolest species that cali has to offer. better than camps and harvester ants in my opinion. I'll get one from Nurbs one of these days it will cost you 2 dollars for the little containers. go to eBay and type beat containers. good luck.

[KBant]

I am down to the queen, 1 worker, 1 larvae and about 8-10 eggs. I put them back in a test tube. Hopefully their numbers can go back up soon but we’ll see. Not expecting a lot from them.

[anttics]

its shame. they are cool ants. here is my bros colony. he sent pics of his fists born workers.









the last 2 pics is there new nest. he changed them once 2 weeks. or if they live decomposing food for days with out throwing it away.

Edited by anttics, April 18 2018 - 9:18 AM.

[KBant]

So I euthanized the queen a couple weeks after losing my last worker. I do have another queen with about 12 workers that I picked up from nurbs. Hopefully I have better luck with them.

[Enderz]

That's too bad, hope you have better luck with the new colony.