Camponotus nicobarensis journal.

[Blem12]

Hello guys,

firstly, I would like to give a massive thank you to both Jen & Wood and Peter for the colony!
The colony was sent on Tuesday and promptly arrived in the early hours of Wednesday. I noticed that some workers had escaped from the test tube so I gently put them back into their test tube. This colony contains 1 queen, 50+ workers and quite a bit of brood (some pupae have already eclosed).

They have been housed in a modified 'Worm World' which is connected to a small plastic tank, where the food is placed. They have readily taken honey water and seem to love flies. For those who wish to save a bit of money, I would recommend buying a pint of casters/maggots from your local tackle shop at a price of £1.50 as you can easily get a large amount of flies, which can then be freezed for later use.

Unfortunately, they have yet to dig any tunnels. I shall update you when they do.

Attached is a picture.

Once again, thank you!
All the best,

Blem12.

[Blem12]

Hello,

it is clearly evident that these are a tropical species as they are by far, much more active than their European neighbours. Unfortunately, some workers have died but I am not worried as the test tube has an abundant amount of eggs and good sized larvae.

They readily take in all sorts of insects; bluebottle flies, spiders, maggots and crane flies. They also love honey water and seem to be drinking it all day!

As with many of my colonies, their test tube is in a plastic tank. This set up is on top of a small heat mat which provides additional heating and I recently purchased a sprayer to humidify the set up to meet with their requirements.

Thanks for reading,
Blem12.

[Blem12]

Good morning to all,

this colony has increased significantly in numbers and simply does not stop feeding! They are very active lately as they are constantly foraging. Yesterday, I gave them some maple syrup and crickets and they evidently liked the syrup as they all have very swollen gasters!

Since all my ant set ups are in a wardrobe, to start waking up some of the colonies, I have set up a UVB light unit on top and have it on a timer. The idea is that as the days progress, the duration of light each day will increase thus creating the natural effect of the sun in the real world.

In regards to the set up, they still remain in the same one as once the colony gets a bit bigger, I will move them to their initial set up which was the modified Worm World.

Thanks,
Blem12.

[Wood~Ant]

Is this colony still going Blem12 as you haven't updated the journal for ages?