|
Post by crockatt on Aug 17, 2012 16:07:24 GMT
Hi thought I would start a journal, that way I can keep a note of what has happened and I will not feel like I am taking up space with updates all the time, please feel free to make comments and any and all advice would be much appreciated, so here goes I have a small colony of one queen and about 10 workers, which I have in a small converted tank, the tank now looks like a four sided antfarm, with clay pellets, sand and garden soil. I have had my ants for about 2 weeks now and moved them into the tank allbeit with a lot of persuation since then the queen took cover under a stone and was very quickly blocked in by the workers, on the first evening the ants had a good feed of sugar water, running back and forward to give drinks to the queen, then a few days later I was able to get crickets which was also, eaten with relish Since then there has been very little activity, on occasion I have seen an ant going for the honey water, but the protien I leave out seems untouched, if it is I have not seen it, and most of the food I remove still seems rather juicy , this is making me wonder is the queen and or brood are getting enought to eat. I had an escape by a single worker, who when returned keep getting out, I left her one night thinking she would return on her ownunfortunately I found her drowned in my water moat in the morning , I have since removed the water, as have had no more escapes, with such little activity, I may replace it if this changes. After many hours of sitting watching with a magnifiying glass, where I believe the queen and workers are, I have seen tunnels getting made, with a pile of soil getting moved out to the top and also seen them moving the clay pellets around, I still find it hard to believe they can move these with them being so much larger than themselves. So at the moment am still hopefull that my queen is still alive, but short of digging them up, I will just have to be patient and see if numbers increase, I would be happier if they would take some protien we will just see what happens.
|
|
|
Post by Smudge on Aug 17, 2012 20:20:43 GMT
Firstly do not panic I'm sure they are fine this is normal behavior. Most ants only come out to feed when they need to but keep a store of food inside the colony. How old is the colony and how large?
|
|
|
Post by crockatt on Aug 17, 2012 20:44:58 GMT
Thanks smudge, I got the colony about 2 weeks ago with queen and about 10 workers, I would only be guessing if I was to say how old the colony was but hope this info is ok. on a good note though I killed a large spider earlier and put it in the tank and within half an hour I had 2 workers frantically running back and forward to the nest all evening, I know 2 ants sounds pathetic, but to me it was epic !!!! Its the most activety I have seem in over a week .
|
|
|
Post by Smudge on Aug 18, 2012 11:09:56 GMT
See no need to panic wait until the colony grows you will love the ammount of activity then. L. Niger are a good hunter and able to bring down live food once mature.
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 18, 2012 11:20:49 GMT
Smudge has given some excellent advice, and being a member of this forum since its early days he has a lot of experience to pass on. A small colony of about 12 ants won't eat anywhere near as much food as a colony of 100, or 1,000 ants will; and of course they will take in more food as more and more larvae develop, as growing larvae eat even more than adult ants do, and this is why mature colonies need to raid far and wide to collect more food. Before long you might see foraging behaviour more like that of army ants than just a common or garden ant like Lasius niger.
|
|
|
Post by crockatt on Aug 18, 2012 15:12:53 GMT
Thanks for that, on a slightly different note , was out today and when I got back to my car guess what was sitting ontop of I a winged queen could not believe it and I couldnt even stay around to look for others or a nest !!!!!! Speak about sods law or what.
|
|
|
Post by crockatt on Aug 18, 2012 16:13:58 GMT
Oh no, just removed the layer of perspex I have ontop of my tank to put a little fruit in, and the top slipped out my handand landed right on top of the stone I think the colony is under, it totally moved, placed it back I think in the same place, I did catch a glimpse of an ant, but no queen or brood, so hopefully they are further down and have not been upset too much !!!!
|
|
armyant
Callow Ant
Posts: 56
Likes: 6
|
Post by armyant on Aug 18, 2012 16:46:15 GMT
If they're not right under the stone, then the colony is probably a few centimeters below in the soil, so no harm done I think
|
|
|
Post by crockatt on Aug 18, 2012 22:11:29 GMT
Well my girls are running around fixing their entrance hole etc, from my little accident earlier so hopefully only superficial damage was done, I did notice today when I sprayed the tank that it is getting a slight fusty smell there is very small amounds of white mould and only in an area that is not used yet, have small air holes melted into the plastic cover but there must not be enough cirrculation have thought about a vasaline barrier and doing away with the lid, but does it really work or can I get a special mesh or lid made? But require access to the tank as food and water is housed in the main tank anyone got any ideas?
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 19, 2012 9:05:19 GMT
Vaseline doesn't work that well to be honest, and if you get someone to make you a fitted lid then you will need to have very fine metal mesh to cover any air vent holes. Odessus (a member of this forum) sells some very fine metal mesh really cheap, or you could try fine mesh curtain material which is unlikely to be chewed through by Lasius, and this would allow air into the tank. PTFE is a liquid that hardens to form a slippery barrier, which I believe is the Teflon coating used on non-stick frying pans.
|
|
|
Post by crockatt on Aug 19, 2012 22:21:47 GMT
Well not much happening today, still some repair work going on from last night, but thats about it for today. on another note I caught my very first queen today which wood-ant has very kindly confirmed from my dodgey pic in ant hunting section, so she is snuggled down in the airing cupboard, so will add odd updates on her, will check in a few days and see if anything happening (if I can stay away that long)
|
|
|
Post by crockatt on Aug 20, 2012 15:40:04 GMT
No signs of movement today, but had a quick check my new queen was still alive she is no signs of eggs but she has been pulling at the dry cottonwool? maybe its an attempt at escaping!!!
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 20, 2012 15:58:43 GMT
Pulling at cotton wool is often a sign of her wanting to dig a nest, not so much an escape attempt. As long as she doesn't seem stressed she will be fine, so limit your observations to not more than a minute about twice a day. At all other times keep her in a dark place where she won't be disturbed by vibrations or noise.
|
|
|
Post by crockatt on Aug 20, 2012 16:58:40 GMT
Do you think I should knock up a temporary home where she can dig or just leave well alone, had a read of the link you gave me and was thinking of giving her (at some point) more of a flat home with maybe a inch or so of sand or soil with maybe a piece of slate on top, does this sound ok?
|
|
|
Post by crockatt on Aug 22, 2012 13:10:20 GMT
Well not much to report on my nigers, havent really seen them for a couple of days, but sure all is well. Had a quick peek at my lemani queen, she was out just long enough to confirm she is still alive and to quickly move her open tube in to a small home with a thin layer of soil and a nice flat piece of stone for her to dig under. I hate seeing them in the tube think this is more natural, hopefully she will like it, as of yet I couldnt see any eggs in the tube but have left the tube intact and the wod of cotton wool I took out to release her, in the tub just incase she has eggs hidden on it. there is also some honey water if she needs it.
|
|