why does it always go wrong

[odesssus]

when I first got into ants I though it would be easy I'd get a few ants and in no time at all I would have a busy colony with lots of ants and movement and things going on. it didn't quite work out like that and I seem to have run into trouble with every colony I got. first the campontus herculeanus I got them and because I was in such a hurry to see them running around I tried to tip them out of the test tube when they didn't come I banged the bottom like a ketchup bottle the result very upset queen who refused to come out of her nest for 5 months. when they did come out I was so pleased I over fed them now they have stopped coming out again. second come the pheidole palidula when I ordered them I said on the antstore site to keep them dry so thats what I did result every ant apart from the queen and 3 workers died a very upset queen who refused to stay in and just sat by the water dish for days on end. it took 6 days but I solved it in the end and now she is happy on a WET hole.next in my ant keeping hall of fame came odonto machus by now I should have known it was all going to go wrong but of cause I didn't. when I got them the queen she was pulling at the cotton wool to get out so thinking that queeny knows best I put the test tube in the tank and in a few days she was gone and all looked OK . but then the nest got a fungus growing on it it looked like a cross between a cob web and Santa's beard I looked up ants and fungus and it said that lots of fungus's can kill ants so I had to pull the nest out. result another upset queen who was quite happy where she was. the thing is you can't tell a queen ant that in a few days her nest might have killed her. so what have I learned. read up before you do any thing and all though lots of thing have gone wrong for me not all of them are entirely my flat I think. anyway every one is happy now. all my queens have forgiven me by now I think . learn from your mistakes and other peoples and even though they mean well not every one who gives you advice is right. with the pheidole palidula 2 people told me keep them dry 3 told me wet and 1 told me that they don't care wet or dry wot do you do . I just tried every thing and in the end wet worked. I think most of my mistakes are because I rush into things at least I haven't made the same mistake twice.

[shane]

What you keep them in and what you use in nest. I've found my messors been a little hard the first 2 months with mold and stuff I had to remove everyday from left over seeds,
As they didn't like to have their food to far from the egg chamber when colony's small and in foraging tank my
ants kept dieing from dry dust which was stuff I used in nest which seems to kill workers when its dry
and powdery "but they may have died from old age as some one said" which I'll never know, But in case,
I end just ended up cleaning it all out and then bare, Used plain sand from garden center I washed and
washed then dried be for using it in tank and now they seem happy in there and this last 3 weeks almost and no dieing ants or problems except for OAP minor.

If your colony's small, It seems harder for them to maintain there living and cleaning as a colony and not
eating as much the first new workers if nothing at all and shy and not eating foods and just feeding off
queen even though queen will eat anything almost you put in front of her
until there at right colony size where they can look after themselves well and less shy.
I see now why woody recommends people to buy a small colony of around 10 or more as they have a higher chance of sustaining them selfs in what ever environment tank you put them in as long as its close to same conditions from country's they come from and stuff they live in and humidity levels etc and always clean.