29 replies to this topic

[Straywolf94]

I've always liked ants and have wanted to start an ant colony but never knew how until I came across AntsCanada and this forum.  After reading up a bit, I figured I did not have the time/resources to go out to hunt for ant queens myself.

 

So I picked up 4 Camponotus vicinus queens from Nurbs about a week ago.  They came in these little round containers and 2 of the 4 queens already started laying eggs.  But I had to take a trip to the East Coast for a wedding so I asked my coworker to water them every few days while I was gone.  Came back to find out the 3rd queen laid eggs as well.  Queen #4 was much smaller and hadn't laid any eggs while in the little round container (probably because Nurbs dropped the container to the ground showing me how to make a test tube setup haha).  When I transfered Queen #4 to a test tube this morning she laid a few eggs soon after.  Unfortunately, on the ride home from work, seems like she ate her eggs due to the disturbance.  

 

I gave all 4 of them a drop of sugar water and transferred them all to test tube setups in my garage.  Hopefully, they will settle down and I'll keep you guys posted on my first attempt to raise a C. Vicinus colony - though I hear these colonies never seem to get that big....

 

All 4 queens in their new temporary founding chamber setup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nurbs]

Looks great Stray. Keep an eye on that last one with the smaller gaster, she may be infertile. But sometimes it also takes them longer to start laying eggs, so it depends. It's why I sell single dealate queens in batches, so that at the very least one will be fertile. 

 

Looking at the images, three of them look great. When they are caught, their gasters are all small and expand as they start to settle.

 

Don't be afraid to feed them a tiny drop of sweets! Once a month should be good, they don't need much. Place it near the entrance.

 

Also, antkeepers who drop or dump their ants violently are mean.

Edited by nurbs, May 19 2018 - 3:16 PM.

[YsTheAnt]

Looks great Stray. Keep an eye on that last one with the smaller gaster, she may be infertile. But sometimes it also takes them longer to start laying eggs, so it depends. It's why I sell single dealate queens in batches, so that at the very least one will be fertile.

Looking at the images, three of them look great. When they are caught, their gasters are all small and expand as they start to settle.

Don't be afraid to feed them a tiny drop of sweets! Once a month should be good, they don't need much. Place it near the entrance.

Also, antkeepers who drop or dump their ants violently are mean.

Hehehehe... Good thing I haven't watched your videos that have graphic content in them, otherwise even you might be mean! But you obviously would never even think about dropping your ants into new setups violently right?

Edited by YsTheAnt, May 19 2018 - 8:57 PM.

[Enderz]

Nurbs you sound a bit Hypocritical to me, considering some of your erm... more violent videos . Also Stray I also picked up 4 vicinus queens from nurbs, they all have around 8-12 eggs as well with one slow queen with only a few. Hope you do well with these gals, and I'll defidently be looking forward to updates

 

P.S. these are my first Camponotus aswell so hopefully we can share mistakes. Also, at what tempreture are you keeping them, and remember to turn off heating at night (keep them at around mid-70Fs at night).

[YsTheAnt]

Nurbs you sound a bit Hypocritical to me, considering some of your erm... more violent videos . Also Stray I also picked up 4 vicinus queens from nurbs, they all have around 8-12 eggs as well with one slow queen with only a few. Hope you do well with these gals, and I'll defidently be looking forward to updates

P.S. these are my first Camponotus aswell so hopefully we can share mistakes. Also, at what tempreture are you keeping them, and remember to turn off heating at night (keep them at around mid-70Fs at night).

It doesn't hurt to heat them 24/7, it's what I do, and all my colas have either dark Pupae or 2+ workers already. I have a feeling nurbs was just kidding .

[Straywolf94]

Thanks nurbs, was worth the drive lol.

 

EnderzATwar411, I have the heating cable right at the end of the glass tube, and they seem to be stacking the eggs right up against that cotton.  Took a infrared temperature gun to it, and seems like the eggs are at around 81CF.  I've been keeping the cable plugged in 24/7.  My garage is between 68-74CF ambient these days, could heat up as summer approaches, so I will have to be careful about that or move them into one of the indoor rooms.  Looking forward to following your journal updates as well!

 

 

Couldn't help taking a peek today and looks like Queen#4 has some new eggs

 

I just put together some nurbs pencilcase fornicariums today, and will move the test tube inside the case after it sets.

 

 

A question for you vets, I'm worried that my cotton plug was too tight and the water isn't seeping through to the chamber (pics below).  Is this a problem?  If so, how should I fix it?

Edited by Straywolf94, May 21 2018 - 6:24 AM.

[YsTheAnt]

The cotton plug will wick water, don't worry about it . By the way, I believe you meant 80 degrees Fahrenheit, not 80 degrees Celsius , they would be fried ants in a stick if they were that hot.

[Straywolf94]

Yes 80F.

[Shifty189]

I’ll confirm, your cotton is fine. They won’t look wet, and th ants will have to “dig” for water. This is perfect.

[Enderz]

80F is good, and yes the cotton will be fine, I'm currently keeping them at around 80F (sometimes it fluctuates).

[YsTheAnt]

I’ll confirm, your cotton is fine. They won’t look wet, and th ants will have to “dig” for water. This is perfect.

You don't want them to dig, else the tube may flood . His tube works because the cotton will graudually wick the water from the reservoir, which is best in my experience.

[Straywolf94]

5/28/18 Update:

 

I moved all 4 test tubes into their pencil case formicariums and set them up in a guest bedroom where they won't be disturbed.

 

Queen #1: seems like she is down to 4-5 eggs...  she is covering her egg pile so hard to tell if any of them hatched.

 

Queen #2: has her first pupa, can't wait til it ecloses.  Seems like she pulled some cotton and put it on the pupa.

 

 

Queen #3: has a couple of really large larvae now.

 

Queen #4: Still sitting on her egg pile which seems to have gotten larger (9-10 eggs)/

[Straywolf94]

6/15/18 Update:

 

Queen #1 not doing too good.  She still has about 3 eggs and 1-2 small larva she is tending.  

 

Queen #2 got her first nanitic today!

 

Queen #3 looks like she is going to get her first nanitic anytime too.

 

Queen#3 feeding on sugar water

 

A few hours after the initial picture, I checked back and the first nanatic had just eclosed.  I left some sugar water and 2 fruit flies for them at the entrance, but unfortunately one of the flies was still squirming around, so they did not approach.  Came back a few hours later and found the flies chomped up.

 

 

Queen #4 has a 1-2 pupa and 1-2 larva and seems to be doing well.  She was skittish at first, but got very bold when she saw the fruit fly and sugar water left at the entrance.  The fly got demolished.

 

 

I picked up a can of wingless flies at Petsmart, and plan to keep the fly colony going as a food source.  Will try mealworms and superworms in a week or two.

 

How often should I be feeding them going forward?  How many fruit flies per meal? 

[Enderz]

Yay they got nanitics, mine did aswell. I just feed them sugar water whenever they look empty (as in the workers aren't full of food), but I would just feed fruit flies every week. 

[Straywolf94]

6/23/18 Update:

 

Queen #1 laid more eggs, but wondering if she is infertile at this point.

 

Queen #2 has 3 workers total now:

 

Queen #3 has 4 workers, and seems more are on the way (my 4yr old interupted my filming haha):

 

Queen #4 has a few pupa so she is playing catch-up but should have workers soon:

 

 

I've been feeding them honey, sugar water, and fruit flies every 2-3 days.  I leave the food at the test tube entrance and when I check next day, its usually gone.   Should I leave the food outside in the pencil case out-world and have them forage for it?

 

The workers don't seem to be very active in exploring, just huddling around the queen and eggs most of the time. Is this normal?  I guess I shouldn't expect to see much activity until they get more numbers.

Edited by Straywolf94, June 23 2018 - 6:29 PM.

[Enderz]

The same thing that happened with your #1 queen happened with one of my supposed fertile queens. Out of the blue she decided to lay eggs and is now looking nice and plump. I guess I will need to wait and see if they develop in order to be sure. Also, the first few workers will pretty much just tend the brood and the queen will do most of the defense, I reccomend putting the food near or into the tube at first.

[Straywolf94]

Caught a video of Queen #2's 4th worker eclosing today.  It took 20-30 minutes in total from start to finish.  If you want to jump to the end, just go to the 2nd video.  Video is a bit shaky since I didn't have camera mount.

 

Start eclosure (10+minutes):

 

 

Completely eclosed (4-5 minutes):

Edited by Straywolf94, June 24 2018 - 6:29 PM.

[Straywolf94]

Been lazy with the updates...

 

Picture updates from: 7/29/18.

 

Queen#1 eggs not hatching - she's infertile.

 

 

Other queens doing well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rstheant]

Looks a lot like C Quercicola

[nurbs]

Was queen #1 the one dropped by that idiot Nurbs?