4 replies to this topic

[Rozema]

Hello,

 

Can I give sugar water in a test tube with cotton wool in it? (like you keep a starting colony in)

Or will this attract to many bacteria? 

 

I have Formica fusca and because they are known for their stress and eating their own eggs when stressed, I want to disturb them as little as possible. Opening the lid of the feeding area causes them to run around in panic all the time

[drtrmiller]

You shouldn't keep a colony in a test tube with sugar water as a substitute for plain water.  Some people keep a test tube filled with sugar water in a foraging area alongside their ants, but I would think that it may need to be changed fairly often.

[Rozema]

No I am keeping it with regular water. The tube with the sugar water is in the foraging area

[Batspiderfish]

It's better to just feed them small amounts of fresh sugary liquid. The tubes are only really useful for large colonies that may drink it quickly.

[dermy]

If you have q-tips you can use the ends to put small amounts of sugary liquid on them and wait for it to absorb it. I do this for some of my colonies and it helps prevent drowning. Although for much larger colonies you do need to use a feeder of some-sort because of the amount of ants that are almost constantly drinking from them.