118 replies to this topic

[KBant]

queen and brood

 

worker feeding larvae and close up of brood

[KBant]

So, brood looks great however I’m down to two workers!! Wthhhhh

I think this all stems from when I left and the nest grew mold on old crickets during my two week trip. The mold was yellow.

Anyways I changed it right away but kept the same test tubes thinking it would be ok.

From April 5th to today, April 10, I lost 4 more workers and now only have two!

I moved them back into their original nest, which was cleaned out, and also put in two fresh test tubes. I’m praying this is the last of this colony’s troubles.

Good news is that new workers should enclose soon and hopefully help take care of the brood.

[LC3]

Hopefully that mold wasn't Aspergillus cf. flavus or something like it.

Edited by LC3, April 10 2018 - 3:21 PM.

[KBant]

update, back up to 5 workers. queen laid a bunch more eggs too. 

 

I also removed the sand i had in their nest. i wanted to remove anything unnecessary that may have been killing them.

[Scrixx]

Great journal! It was nice following alongand that's a lot of eggs.

 

Do the test tubes have substrate or a floor in them? Or is it just straight glass?

[KBant]

Great journal! It was nice following alongand that's a lot of eggs.

 

Do the test tubes have substrate or a floor in them? Or is it just straight glass?

 

its just straight glass. i poured non-sanded grout in a container from the container store. laid inside two test tubes covered lightly in vegetable oil. I removed the test tubes once the grout was hard and let it the whole thing dry. Before I poured the grout i also drilled two holes facing each other so that i could run a vinyl tube through my nest. through this vinyl tubing i run a heating cable. 

 

[Jerky93]

hope the worker count bounces back soon. Really impressive set up btw

[KBant]

I do appreciate all who keep up with this journal. Ill keep posting, and even more if i know you all enjoy my updates.

 

heres the queen with ants, eggs, larvae and pupae. 

 

 

more workers coming soon! 

 

[antnest8]

sooo.... close

[YsTheAnt]

Definitely enjoy the updates! Gotta love those purple legs...

[anttics]

Yeap. I like this colony, great pics too. I have a questions off topic. your set up is non sanded grout. what is the difference of sanded and non sanded grout?. I looked, but I could not find any info.

[KBant]

Yeap. I like this colony, great pics too. I have a questions off topic. your set up is non sanded grout. what is the difference of sanded and non sanded grout?. I looked, but I could not find any info.

Someone can correct me but non sanded works better to hold onto water vs sanded.

[Scrixx]

 

Yeap. I like this colony, great pics too. I have a questions off topic. your set up is non sanded grout. what is the difference of sanded and non sanded grout?. I looked, but I could not find any info.

Someone can correct me but non sanded works better to hold onto water vs sanded.

 

You're right. Crystals also did a test with mixing different ratios of perlite with grout. Adding crushed perlite increases water absorption. I believe it is 1perlite:2grout. 

[KBant]

now up to 7 workers!

Here are some workers opening up a cocoon.



there are eggs, larvae and pupae in many different stages of growth.



Close up





Enjoy!

Edited by KBant, April 15 2018 - 4:41 PM.

[antnest8]

how do you get so much brood?

[KBant]

how do you get so much brood?

I give the colony a daily cricket, sugar water every other day sometimes every day if their gasters are not fully expanded, and I always have my heating cable on. The surplus in protein should allow the queen to produce more eggs; it should also help feed the growing brood.

Edited by KBant, April 16 2018 - 1:12 AM.

[KBant]

came back to the modoc colony after 3 days. Now have 10 workers, 20 pupae, a of pile eggs and some larvae. 

 

the queen

 

 

eggs 

 

 

workers with pupae pile #1. there is a really fat, dark, pupae- top right - really curious what comes out of that cocoon. I just fed them red sugar water.

 

 

workers with pupae pile #2

 

Edited by KBant, April 20 2018 - 2:22 PM.

[nurbs]

how do you get so much brood?

 

NCC

[YsTheAnt]

Someday, nurbs and KB are going to want some YsCC

[KBant]

newly eclosed and my first ever MAJOR..probably a median but still happy  

 

 

 

Edited by KBant, April 22 2018 - 8:36 AM.