Choosing a starting set up, am I looking at the wrong ants?

[tracker1972]

OK, it was all looking so good, thought one of those lovely gell homes would be great for our daughter... Did some reading, so that is them ruled out then, but discovered the idea of having an actual colony and she will be getting a starter set up, probably from Antstore. Probably their large set for the wider spaced vertical farm. www.antstore.net/shop/Ameisen-Starter-Sets-Ameisenfarmen-antfarm/Starter-Sets---XS-M-L-XL/ANTSTORE-Starter-Set-L.html

Only problem is, as she is (very) young I was thinking of as big an ant as possible, specifically Camponotus ligniperdus.

However a recent thread, started by tebom I think, seems to suggest they are a tricky beast to care for?

Should we be looking at a different ant? Or is there anything we should be doing in preparation to ensure their welfare?

p.s. don't worry about her age too much, dad is rather enthusiastic on the whole idea and will be closely involved ;-)

[UKantz]

Hi Tracker and welcome, how hard a species of ant to keep is a matter of opinion, most ant stores regard Camponotus as easy to keep however some people find them easy to keep others not so much. Take Wood-Ant for example, he is a expert in keeping ants yet he has difficulty in keeping Camponotus Ligniperdus (think he has 2 or 3 attempts at keeping them)

Anouther large species of ant that is regarded 'easy' to keep is Messor Barbarus though I'm sure some other members will beg to differ  
Messor Barbarus have 3 casts: Minors 3-5mm in length, Medias 5-8mm in length, Majors and super Majors 8-13mm and a queen being around 13mm long too. All these casts do different jobs. This species is a harvested ant meaning that they feed mainly on seeds and other insects, and personally I highly recomend this species to a beginner.

Perhaps you could use the ant links tab at the top of the forum and have a look what other stores have in stock?

[Jenny]

Hi Tracker,
choosing a species can be difficult,  just because  some are recommended as "Easy",   each individual will have their own experience of easy and difficult depending mainly on the ants and how they get on. Wood and I have kept the same species 2 or 3 times with no luck, but on the 4th time we have had a great colony result out of the blue!  
Take Messors for example, you can have queens that raise a brood, get her first workers, then it goes down hill and she starts eating her eggs etc. Other Messor colonies we have had are now 5yrs+ old......

This is what makes advice difficult, but ligniperda we have found is a no go for us they just haven't worked, yet nicobarensis are doing great 

[tracker1972]

Thanks ukantz and Jenant. It looks like messors might be a more sensible and successful choice then. Is a vertical farm linked to a foraging area still a suitable choice for them? And it would appear that they will require a little heat as well? Come to think of it, there is a subsection on here somewhere dealing with them isn't there?

Thanks for the pointers so far :-)

[Wood~Ant]

I would certainly advise you NOT to start with a Camponotus species, as these ants can chew through wood and may give your daughter a nasty nip which can draw blood. 
If she is under 7 or 8 I would not let her handle the ants at all, even under close supervision; but a child of 9+ can be shown how to handle ants with the proper respect for them. Firm, but gentle so they are not injured or made angry.

Have you considered buying a medium sized ant like a Formica species? Formica fusca or F. lemani can be great fun to watch, as they are fast and agile, yet placid enough to rarely bite or cause injury to kids; and they are much easier for a novice to keep too.

Welcome to the Ant Hill Tracker, and have fun learning about ants, as you are about to embark on the fascinating hobby of Myrmecology. 

[Jenny]

Apr 11, 2013 8:06:59 GMT tracker1972 said:

Thanks ukantz and Jenant. It looks like messors might be a more sensible and successful choice then. Is a vertical farm linked to a foraging area still a suitable choice for them? And it would appear that they will require a little heat as well? Come to think of it, there is a subsection on here somewhere dealing with them isn't there?

Thanks for the pointers so far :-)

Hi Tracker, Messor are fine in an upright as long as it is the large one, (take a look at Shane's journal).

Shane keeps his Messors in the same thing. This species don't need heat in normal central heated homes, keepers only boost with heat when they want to encourage brood development. I have a colony in the kitchen which gets warm as it's south facing, but not all household members will put up with ants in the home so best to test the waters first

[Jenny]

PS. Queenant shop in the UK sell the uprights probably cheaper as Antstore are expensive on postage coming from Germany so shop around Tracker... Links to them at the top!

[Black Ant]

Welcome tracker, you're in very good company here for learning about ants. 

[tracker1972]

Thanks all, looking more like messors now, and will have to have a look at the queenant store on an actual computer, the links don't work on my tablet and see. Not as easy to get hold of stuff as I had hoped, but not impossible :-)

[Wood~Ant]

If you're going for Messor barbarus, make sure you buy in some finch or canary seed as their diet is 75% seeds, with insects making up the other 25%; but they also love home made sponge cake too if your wife likes to bake. 

[tracker1972]

Wood-ant, don't know how I missed your earlier post but fear not, when I said she was (very) little I meant it. She will be turning 3 but is fascinated by creatures great and small. When she would flick through our wildlife books and tell me which one was a shrew, mole and mouse in the books I thought she was fairly interested :-) Turns out she is very, very interested. Fortunately, so am I, so although ostensibly her birthday present... Well, I am sure you get the picture ;-)

The dryer habitat of the Messor Barbarus and the potential for a year round pet also appeal. Things eating other things isn't really an issue, by choice if she watches something on the TV it is more likely to be a BBC natural history DVD than anything else, and we bake bread, just like the ants will... well, kind of. And if she can share the baking she does with the new pets, well, thats just the icing on the cake (no pun intended, honest).

On the more serious side though, although she has a fascination with wildlife, she is not even 3 yet and it will be a considerable time before she gets hands on with anything vulnerable to a kid, including the ants. For there sake as much as hers.

I am starting to get a little excited by the prospect now though, I really am!

[Wood~Ant]

That really is so nice to hear, that your daughter is showing such a keen interest in wildlife at such an early age. She is evidently a very bright little girl. 

If you have had the chance to read through my ant journals, you will see I have been keeping Messor barbs for several years now. The bigger majors and super-majors can give a nasty bite, but after a while the colony seems to get used to the idea of human fingers near the nest, and see them as an indication of being given food. So they are less likely to attack you unless severely provoked into a defensive reaction. 
Being a Myrmicine ant, Messor can sting; but this has never happened to me and the only bites I have had was from large majors when, like many other ants do, they tend to bite the soft flesh between your fingers, unless you knock them off in time. 

Jenant and I love ants with attitude, and Messor barbs certainly fit into that category and give lots of entertainment value.