2 replies to this topic

[Flammable]

Hello

 

Recently I got a Messor barbarus and Lasius flavus colony and these are my first ants I ever got. 

Both colonies have about 6-8 workers each now and they are in a test tube setup. 

I got a couple of questions on how to continue from here...

 

Along with the ants, I bought a small start kit which contains honey dough, sugar water, fruit flys and a small outworld (circle with +/-4-5 cm diameter) . I also got some seeds for the Messor barbarus colony.

At what point do I start feeding the ants and when do I add the outworld to their setup? I think the ant colonies are about 1 month old now if that's relavant information. 

 

I am also planning on making a nest out of ytong (AAC) later on for the Messor barbarus colony and a sand/dirt nest for the Lasius flavus ants. 

Once again I would like to know roughly how many ants I would need before moving the ants out of the test tube setups and roughly how small/large I should make the nests. 

 

Any other tips or suggestions are more than welcome! 

[Mettcollsuss]

You should start to feed the ants immediately. At this stage, they should be fed every 4-5 days.

 

For the Messor barbarus, how big the nest is depends on how big the colony is. You could make a small founding formicarium and move them in now if you wanted. The formicarium should have some growing room, but shouldn't be massive compared to the colony. If it's too big the ants might leave trash in the nest or face any number of problems. If the formicarium is too small, just add a new nest to the setup. With ants, too small is better than too big.

 

I'm not sure if Messor barbarus is considered a destructive species or not. If so, then an AAC nest might not be the best choice, as it is a very soft material.

 

For the Lasius flavus, however, you can move them in at any time. They will dig more to expand the nest as they need it.

[Serafine]

Messor barbarus is a VERY destructive (and creative) species. They can (and will) chew through Ytong, plaster, sandstone, gypsum and if they can access blind-ending vinyl tubing they sometimes chew on that as well. They will also smash any decorations, relocate plants (they may end up on top of or inside the nest), dig tunnels, carve out grout/clay from one outworld and transport it into another to build tunnels and hills, cultivate small gardens where they plant and water seeds, and in general just turn their entire surroundings upside down. They are basically the MacGyvers of the ant world and can use pretty much every available materials to build their home.

 

I'd recommend to leave them in a test tube until they move on their own. For a small colony test tube conditions are far more favorable than a large nest.