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Post by TenebrousNova on May 2, 2011 22:08:26 GMT
It would be good if you are able to take pictures someday. Sounds like they are doing excellently.
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Post by cheese2008 on May 3, 2011 0:11:45 GMT
hi timenova, I have tried repeadly to get some good photos unfortunately the farm they are in is a plastic one, and the pictures appear grey and blury or they would be some great pics of the colony inside and out when they are moved to a bigger set up I will attempt to get some then, but yes this colony is doing great I am so happy.
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Post by cheese2008 on May 7, 2011 0:47:43 GMT
when I first started keeping ants, I imagined a bustling nest filled with activity from thousands of ants, that I would spend hours watching as they devoured the insects I fed to them, and see the brutal unstoppable force of a colony as they continuously gather food for an ever expanding empire, I couldn't have been more wrong. in the few short weeks I have had my M'rubra colony, which I took from a neighbors garden I have felt my heart race faster and faster as I saw my colony settle and start to adapt to their new habitat, I have felt proud of my ants as they cleverly made bridges to close the gap between the nest and the tube that connected it to the forage garden, the problem was the plastic tube lifted upward a few cm and was free hanging above the colony, but my ants piled soil and sand until they reached the tube and were able to gain access to the forage garden again. I think due to the abnormally high temperature of my room, the ants now think it's mid summer and the queens continue to boost egg numbers, I estimate there maybe at least 60 eggs that I can see. there are many larvae in various stages of development. there is also a chamber filled with almost pure white larvae changing shape to form the head and body of the soon to be worker ant. I very rarely get a look at the queens who are hidden right in the center of the nest and witch I have no view. I watch in excitement as 20 to 30 ants forage for food daily, and how they get very fast when they find new food, almost looks like their excited, and then watch as more ants flurry to the meal and start dragging and pulling at it, trying to get it into the nest to feed the hungry and ever growing brood. I find it fascinating to watch the forages find a sugary liquid and gently tap and wave their antenna as they sip from it. from the start I was only looking for the pure sport and the effective killing machine that is a mature ant colony. but I found ant keeping to be a slow but very rewarding hobby, patience is the key to a successful and happy colony. my colony is still very humble to your average nest which can consist of many thousands and is still a long way off being called safe, because I myself might slip up and cause the colony to die out, but after a little trial and error you quickly pick up the basics and become more confident in the decisions you make for your colony. I read as much as I can from sites like this one and if I have a question I try to seek the answer before I try something new, but other times a leap of faith is all you can do, I still have a lot to learn continue to learn new things everyday, as my dog is my best friend so are my pet ants, they give me hours of fascinating behaviors and interactions to watch and some odd behaviors to. I have fallen in love with ants and begin to see the bigger picture of how a colony works and lives to ensure the survival for future generations of ants.
not so much of an update, more a post to express my love of my new found hobby.
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Post by Black Ant on May 7, 2011 8:42:51 GMT
Now you can see why keeping ants as pets can be an addictive hobby, as I love em because they behave a lot like us ;D
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 7, 2011 13:59:05 GMT
My initial motivation for keeping ants was similar to yours, but I liked the idea of a happy and ever-expanding family as opposed to a army. A vast consciousness formed from many individuals that combined created a super-being. Sometimes, its almost as though they share their feelings and instincts by telepathy rather than by scent. ;D Good to see they are doing so well.
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Post by cheese2008 on May 19, 2011 16:19:24 GMT
it has been a while since my last update because my internet was down for some time, but I wasn't to bothered because I had my ants to keep me occupied. since my last update there has been a population explosion in my colony with new workers emerging on a daily basis these ants are paler than the older workers but after a few days begin to blend in with the other workers, the amount of foragers made feeding difficult because 20 to 30 ants would soon be running up the sides trying to explore, that was until I applied Vaseline to the edges of there set up(thee occasional ant gets through but still helps a lot). I am pleased they are doing well and the queens (out of sight) continue to lay lot and lots of eggs witch are kept in clumps in various chambers, there is also a large number of larvae at different stages allot of witch are pupating or starting to. they take any food I give them, anything from spiders to caterpillars and even wood louse (cut in half). there are always ants drinking from the cotton wool witch is soaked in sugar water and regularly needs topping up. a firm favorite is cooked chicken, they cut it into strips very quickly and it is soon taken to the many larvae chambers. they also like roundtrees jelly (just a drop) they seem to prefer it to the sugar water. I estimate there are around 40 to 50 active foragers during the day but it is hard to guess because there is so much activity, and at least 80 to 90 ants I can see in the chambers caring for the very large brood. one very warm night the whole colony decided to move to the glass set up I attached a while back, I believe it was because this area was cooler than the plastic, very humid set up they started out in, I watched as a long stream of ants made trips back and forth to collect brood, food and even ants that were carried in the mouths of other workers and take them down the tube to there new nest site (under a flat stone) it was interesting to watch the ants being carried just go stiff and remain still until they were dropped off at the new nest with no resistance at all, it took almost all night for them to get everything and everyone to there new nest. I saw very few ants in the original set up for a few days but plenty in the glass set up. I was considering detaching the old set up and putting a new forage area onto it, but during a cold night they all moved back into their old nest, so I will leave everything as it is because they seem to be very settled and accustomed to their surroundings, I feel this colony has been a huge success so far and intend to collect a Formica fusca queen and workers very soon because I have bundles of confidence and a sound knowlede of the basics to ant keeping (most of the information was from this forum) thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions regarding my colony it helped massively and as a result have a bustling and expanding colony.
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