80 replies to this topic

[Antapoloosa]

Also I have done a metaphorical ton of research and I know full well that ant colonies need much less care and attention than say a dog or a cat but still need more care and attention than I am currently able to provide for them, so don't go assuming that I don't have a full understanding of my situation. But I really really really really really want an ant colony of my own, so I am trying to rationalize and create a solution so that I have my circumvent my unfortunate dilemma. So far every attempt to come up with a creative solution to solve my dilemma and escape this unfortunate situation is looking like failure. The only thing I can really do at this point is to either convince my spouse to assist in the care of my any colony or throw caution to the wind and bring them on board my truck.. and the latter option would be illegal.

Edited by Antapoloosa, December 13 2017 - 1:43 PM.

[Antapoloosa]

The third and probably the best option to solve my dilemma would be to patiently wait another year or so until I have a local or regional job and I can be home at least every weekend.

[Hunter]

 

you could even try easy Zootermopsis sp.

I think he was telling me to buy a cactus lol

 

no that's the largest termite species

[Antapoloosa]

you could even try easy Zootermopsis sp.

I think he was telling me to buy a cactus lol

no that's the largest termite species

I know that, the other guy was telling me to just buy a cactus.

[dermy]

The third and probably the best option to solve my dilemma would be to patiently wait another year or so until I have a local or regional job and I can be home at least every weekend.

I would go with this plan of action, and just keep learning so when you finally can have a colony you have some knowledge about them. Learn about when species around your area fly, what species you have and which ones specifically you want to keep/collect.

[Hunter]

 

 

 

you could even try easy Zootermopsis sp.

I think he was telling me to buy a cactus lol

no that's the largest termite species

I know that, the other guy was telling me to just buy a cactus.

 

o yea that works

you could get this seems up your ally

Edited by Hunter, December 13 2017 - 3:30 PM.

[Hunter]

 

 

 

 

you could even try easy Zootermopsis sp.

I think he was telling me to buy a cactus lol

no that's the largest termite species

I know that, the other guy was telling me to just buy a cactus.

 

o yea that works

you could get this seems up your ally

 

Edited by Hunter, December 13 2017 - 3:33 PM.

[123LordOfAnts123]

Ants can definitely require more maintenance than one would assume, particularly colonies past founding and those of species that grow fast and have larger nests. Forget to water them by their schedeuled day and half the worker load dies within a day or two. Not enough protein and the offspring start to look awfully delicious. Neglecting a colony - whether that be 3 days or 3 weeks - can easily cause a setback from weeks to several months, if not outright death.

That’s not to say there aren’t exceptional cases for certain species. More often than not, the colonies I’ve been able to ignore for weeks at a time normally belong to species of small size, with low worker count at maturity, or those in well hydrated compact formicaria. I’ve had luck with 2 species the past couple years, those being Crematogaster minutissima and Odontomachus brunneus. Your mileage will vary depending on husbandry and the species available in your area.

Edited by 123LordOfAnts123, December 13 2017 - 4:17 PM.

[Serafine]

No ant can be cared for without monitoring for problems at least every few days. For a hobbyist with no experience successfully keeping ants, such attempts will be guaranteed to end in failure very swiftly.

That's nonsense. Ants aren't going to suddenly kill themselves when the setup is stable (enough dry food, multiple test tubes with water which can also act as emergency nests), especially when they're still in a test tube.

I left my Camponotus colony alone for over a week when I went to Vienna to visit my sister and absolutely nothing happened. They didn't even eat a significant protion of the food I gave them before I left.

In fact some ants (especially Messor harvester ant species) even grow BETTER when left alone as much as possible.

Edited by Serafine, December 13 2017 - 4:25 PM.

[drtrmiller]

The most important reason why one must tend to one's ants every few days isn't necessarily to perform some type of regular maintenance, but to perform a visual inspection of the colony and determine if anything is critically amiss. If there is a critical problem that is hindering regular development, then that could take a catastrophic toll on the colony if not remedied for several weeks.

You're giving an apples to oranges comparison. A rare one week away versus regularly being away for up to a month at a time are not at all the same thing. My comment had nothing to do with the rare exception of being unable to care for the ants for a short time, but rather the rule of only interacting with them once or twice a month.

If you are going to advocate that it is acceptable for an inexperienced user to only tend to his or her ants once every 2 to 4 weeks, then how about you, as a moderately experienced user, try it on your own ants so you can offer some pointers to this guy based on experience instead of speculation? It would be fantastic if you could document the types of problems that you observe, and what actions you took to be able to go 2 to 4 weeks between interactions with the colony.

Edited by drtrmiller, December 13 2017 - 5:04 PM.

[Reacker]

One of the most notable ant related sites on the web in the very early 2000s was Myrm's ant keeping journals. He was throwing single freshly mated queens that he captured into aquariums filled with dirt and then alternating between months at home and months abroad as part of the UK navy  I think. His colonies seemed to do well enough despite the long periods away so it seems that it is possible to keep ants in captivity without tending to them for long periods. I'm not sure how he managed food and water during his away times but whatever he did was working.

Edited by Reacker, December 13 2017 - 5:59 PM.

[Serafine]

The most important reason why one must tend to one's ants every few days isn't necessarily to perform some type of regular maintenance, but to perform a visual inspection of the colony and determine if anything is critically amiss. If there is a critical problem that is hindering regular development, then that could take a catastrophic toll on the colony if not remedied for several weeks.

And what probelms should these be?
 
When you place your setup carefully (in a room with a mostly stable temperature and not in direct sunlight) there's basically only 3 things that can happen:
- Lack of food and water
- Lack of nesting space
- Mold
 
All of these can be prevented by adding food sources and several test tubes with water spread across multiple outworlds (this is most easy with harvester ants but even for regular ants there are sugary substances that do not mold like Sunburst, inverted sugar syrup or sugar water with parabene).

If the nest dries out or molds the ants can simply move into another tube - case closed.
 

You're giving an apples to oranges comparison. A rare one week away versus regularly being away for up to a month at a time are not at all the same thing. My comment had nothing to do with the rare exception of being unable to care for the ants for a short time, but rather the rule of only interacting with them once or twice a month.

No I'm not. I do take a look at my Camponotus every few days but just because I'm interested in their growth. They only thing I EVER had to do (aside from adding food, water and sugar water) was adding new nests when they started to grow out of the test tube/nest.

EVERYTHING ELSE they can manage quite fine on their own (they even moved on their own, and they properly dispose their dead in the additional waste container).

 

Since I've added test tubes to my nests that are sufficient for months I don't even need to water the nests (obviously this wouildn't work with moisture-loving ants like Myrmica but when you're away a lot you shouldn't keep that kind of ants anyway).

 

If you are going to advocate that it is acceptable for an inexperienced user to only tend to his or her ants once every 2 to 4 weeks, then how about you, as a moderately experienced user, try it on your own ants so you can offer some pointers to this guy based on experience instead of speculation? It would be fantastic if you could document the types of problems that you observe, and what actions you took to be able to go 2 to 4 weeks between interactions with the colony.

This has nothing to do with being experienced or inexperienced, but with properly doing your homework (aka research) - like you should do with EVERY pet.

Someone who has no idea about keeping ants will make stupid things no matter if he's looking at his ants or not, in fact most newbie mistakes are clearly caused by giving the ants TOO MUCH attention - I've talked to lots of people who disturbed their queen twice every day and were wondering why she kept eating her eggs or with people who had their test tube a bit flooded due to condesation and some eggs were lying in the water, then they panicked making the situation even worse by trying to move the eggs into a new tube with q-tipps after shaking out the colony and other terrible stuff.

 

In fact overattention and stupid panic reactions are a way bigger threat to a young colony than underattention. You shouldn't encourage people further to overcare their ants, it will only make things worse. Most ants are very versatile and can thrive even in subpar conditions, especially the durable pavement ant species (aka the classic beginner species).

 

 

 

p.s. I can't report any problems because I never had any - and if there were any I'd just wait for my ants to solve them on their own, like when mold grew in my Lasius niger tube because they thought it was a great idea to stick waste onto the cotton and then used sand (lots of sand) from the outworld to successfully suppress the mold - there was never any need for me interact with my ant colonies aside from feeding them (and periodically taking out the waste they dispose in the outworld).

You cannot report about something that doesn't exist, so case closed.

Edited by Serafine, December 14 2017 - 3:17 AM.

[KBant]

No ant can be cared for without monitoring for problems at least every few days. For a hobbyist with no experience successfully keeping ants, such attempts will be guaranteed to end in failure very swiftly.

Do what you like, however. 99% of ants kept in captivity die within the first year anyways.

 

what is your source for this claim of 99% of ants kept in captivity dying within the first year? 

[Antapoloosa]

One of the most notable ant related sites on the web in the very early 2000s was Myrm's ant keeping journals. He was throwing single freshly mated queens that he captured into aquariums filled with dirt and then alternating between months at home and months abroad as part of the UK navy I think. His colonies seemed to do well enough despite the long periods away so it seems that it is possible to keep ants in captivity without tending to them for long periods. I'm not sure how he managed food and water during his away times but whatever he did was working.

Is that website still running? I would love to read all about that. I have also heard of other people in the Navy having ant colonies and leaving them alone for weeks at a time with no issues.

[nurbs]

 

No ant can be cared for without monitoring for problems at least every few days. For a hobbyist with no experience successfully keeping ants, such attempts will be guaranteed to end in failure very swiftly.

Do what you like, however. 99% of ants kept in captivity die within the first year anyways.

 

what is your source for this claim of 99% of ants kept in captivity dying within the first year? 

 

 

Most likely his personal experience. I'd have to agree with Terry on that. Maybe not 99%, but it's very high.

[Antapoloosa]

No ant can be cared for without monitoring for problems at least every few days. For a hobbyist with no experience successfully keeping ants, such attempts will be guaranteed to end in failure very swiftly.

Do what you like, however. 99% of ants kept in captivity die within the first year anyways.

what is your source for this claim of 99% of ants kept in captivity dying within the first year?

Yes, I would also like to see him cite is source because his claim seems to be completely fictitious and utterly nonsensical.

Edited by Antapoloosa, December 14 2017 - 4:26 AM.

[Antapoloosa]

The most important reason why one must tend to one's ants every few days isn't necessarily to perform some type of regular maintenance, but to perform a visual inspection of the colony and determine if anything is critically amiss. If there is a critical problem that is hindering regular development, then that could take a catastrophic toll on the colony if not remedied for several weeks.

And what probelms should these be?

When you place your setup carefully (in a room with a mostly stable temperature and not in direct sunlight) there's basically only 3 things that can happen:
- Lack of food and water
- Lack of nesting space
- Mold

All of these can be prevented by adding food sources and several test tubes with water spread across multiple outworlds (this is most easy with harvester ants but even for regular ants there are sugary substances that do not mold like Sunburst, inverted sugar syrup or sugar water with parabene).
If the nest dries out or molds the ants can simply move into another tube - case closed.

You're giving an apples to oranges comparison. A rare one week away versus regularly being away for up to a month at a time are not at all the same thing. My comment had nothing to do with the rare exception of being unable to care for the ants for a short time, but rather the rule of only interacting with them once or twice a month.

No I'm not. I do take a look at my Camponotus every few days but just because I'm interested in their growth. They only thing I EVER had to do (aside from adding food, water and sugar water) was adding new nests when they started to grow out of the test tube/nest.
EVERYTHING ELSE they can manage quite fine on their own (they even moved on their own, and they properly dispose their dead in the additional waste container).

Since I've added test tubes to my nests that are sufficient for months I don't even need to water the nests (obviously this wouildn't work with moisture-loving ants like Myrmica but when you're away a lot you shouldn't keep that kind of ants anyway).

If you are going to advocate that it is acceptable for an inexperienced user to only tend to his or her ants once every 2 to 4 weeks, then how about you, as a moderately experienced user, try it on your own ants so you can offer some pointers to this guy based on experience instead of speculation? It would be fantastic if you could document the types of problems that you observe, and what actions you took to be able to go 2 to 4 weeks between interactions with the colony.

This has nothing to do with being experienced or inexperienced, but with properly doing your homework (aka research) - like you should do with EVERY pet.
Someone who has no idea about keeping ants will make stupid things no matter if he's looking at his ants or not, in fact most newbie mistakes are clearly caused by giving the ants TOO MUCH attention - I've talked to lots of people who disturbed their queen twice every day and were wondering why she kept eating her eggs or with people who had their test tube a bit flooded due to condesation and some eggs were lying in the water, then they panicked making the situation even worse by trying to move the eggs into a new tube with q-tipps after shaking out the colony and other terrible stuff.

In fact overattention and stupid panic reactions are a way bigger threat to a young colony than underattention. You shouldn't encourage people further to overcare their ants, it will only make things worse. Most ants are very versatile and can thrive even in subpar conditions, especially the durable pavement ant species (aka the classic beginner species).



p.s. I can't report any problems because I never had any - and if there were any I'd just wait for my ants to solve them on their own, like when mold grew in my Lasius niger tube because they thought it was a great idea to stick waste onto the cotton and then used sand (lots of sand) from the outworld to successfully suppress the mold - there was never any need for me interact with my ant colonies aside from feeding them (and periodically taking out the waste they dispose in the outworld).
You cannot report about something that doesn't exist, so case closed.

Wow, you really know your stuff! It does seem quite logical to let ant colonies solve their own problems instead of always playing God by giving them way too much attention and intervention.

[nurbs]

That's true, they do need protein 1-2 times per week depending on colony size. My girlfriend is a little squeamish when it comes to bugs but she wouldn't let them starve if I buy crickets and gut load them. Also I will be starting with either a very small (queen + 1-5 workers) colony of camponotus p. or camponotus h. or a. rudis from my local AntsCanada GAN farmer or waiting until nuptial flight season and catching a queen. So either way they would be in a test tube setup for about the first year. The biggest hurdle will be convincing my girlfriend as she thinks we don't have room for ants until we have a bigger house which won't happen until next year. Right now we live in a small one bedroom cabin in the woods on 100 acres lol

 

You own 100 acres of land?! And have just one bedroom? Build another room for the ants. Zoolander size 

[Antapoloosa]

That's true, they do need protein 1-2 times per week depending on colony size. My girlfriend is a little squeamish when it comes to bugs but she wouldn't let them starve if I buy crickets and gut load them. Also I will be starting with either a very small (queen + 1-5 workers) colony of camponotus p. or camponotus h. or a. rudis from my local AntsCanada GAN farmer or waiting until nuptial flight season and catching a queen. So either way they would be in a test tube setup for about the first year. The biggest hurdle will be convincing my girlfriend as she thinks we don't have room for ants until we have a bigger house which won't happen until next year. Right now we live in a small one bedroom cabin in the woods on 100 acres lol

You own 100 acres of land?! And have just one bedroom? Build another room for the ants. Zoolander size

If I owned the land then I would just tear it down and build a new, bigger, better house. We are renting the cabin and the land for $600 a month lol

[nurbs]

Just read through the entire thread. Looks like you've already made up your mind and answered your own question?

 

The type of care you need will depend on the species.

 

Tell the GAN farmer your schedule and how long you will be gone. If they are a knowledgeable and experienced ant keeper, they can sell you a species that will work with your schedule.