Post by Tebom on Apr 15, 2013 21:49:22 GMT
Hello all! So this is my first journal for my first colony. I've never kept ants before but I have wanted to since I was a kid so this is more of a record for me of what went right or wrong and if anyone else enjoys reading it then all the better.
Formicarium set up:
- Starter kit A from Antstore: Seems like a pretty typical set up of a small farm attached to a foraging basin via a flexible tube.
After reading a lot online about fungus, mold etc., I decided to not take ny chances and washed out all the pieces and then rinsed them with ethanol and allowed that to evaporate until the whole set up was clean and sterile. Then I added the ground medium of gravel into the bottom of the farm and topped it up to the top with a mix of sand and loam. I wet this down with water I had previously boiled and allowed it to soak in until the sand mixture was the consistency of seomthing akin to what you'd use to build sand castles. For the basin I put in a very thin layer of sand and wet it down. I let the basin open until the ground had dried completely. I was taking no chances.
Colony:
- Lasius niger mated queen, some brood and with a small contingent of workers.
The queen arrived 3 days after I ordered her. I was so chuffed and quite surprised at just how big she was. There were no fatalities during transport luckily and as soon as I opened the test tube in the basin the workers came running out quite quickly. Surprising how fast they can move!!
First day:
Well, once she had arrived I realised I had to name my new queen and in a fit of what I can only guess was some misplaced 1930's nostalgia, I ended up calling her Mildred. So, there you have it, all hail her highness queen Mildred the first. Once they got over the initial shock of being placed into their new home they quite quickly settled down to business. They were extremely quick to find the honey water and mosquito larva I had place in their food dish. I'm guessing they were quite hungry from being in the test tube for three days. After their first meal they set about trying to seal the test tube back up again one tiny stone at a time. I have to admit it looked like an impossible job with so few of them and the entrance to the test tube seeming so big in comparison to them but I can say one thing for them they are certainly dedicated to the task. They just never stop. I had heard it was a good sign if the ants were taking protein as the queen would need it to lay eggs and the larvae to eat. So all in all I figured it was a good first day. They have been very active all day and have explored the whole tank and even found their way up to the farm. The queen seems content to just sit in the test tube and be waited on so I figure it'll be a while til she moves. For now I'm just glad she's here and looks healthy. Plenty of time to let her move in her own time.
Formicarium set up:
- Starter kit A from Antstore: Seems like a pretty typical set up of a small farm attached to a foraging basin via a flexible tube.
After reading a lot online about fungus, mold etc., I decided to not take ny chances and washed out all the pieces and then rinsed them with ethanol and allowed that to evaporate until the whole set up was clean and sterile. Then I added the ground medium of gravel into the bottom of the farm and topped it up to the top with a mix of sand and loam. I wet this down with water I had previously boiled and allowed it to soak in until the sand mixture was the consistency of seomthing akin to what you'd use to build sand castles. For the basin I put in a very thin layer of sand and wet it down. I let the basin open until the ground had dried completely. I was taking no chances.
Colony:
- Lasius niger mated queen, some brood and with a small contingent of workers.
The queen arrived 3 days after I ordered her. I was so chuffed and quite surprised at just how big she was. There were no fatalities during transport luckily and as soon as I opened the test tube in the basin the workers came running out quite quickly. Surprising how fast they can move!!
First day:
Well, once she had arrived I realised I had to name my new queen and in a fit of what I can only guess was some misplaced 1930's nostalgia, I ended up calling her Mildred. So, there you have it, all hail her highness queen Mildred the first. Once they got over the initial shock of being placed into their new home they quite quickly settled down to business. They were extremely quick to find the honey water and mosquito larva I had place in their food dish. I'm guessing they were quite hungry from being in the test tube for three days. After their first meal they set about trying to seal the test tube back up again one tiny stone at a time. I have to admit it looked like an impossible job with so few of them and the entrance to the test tube seeming so big in comparison to them but I can say one thing for them they are certainly dedicated to the task. They just never stop. I had heard it was a good sign if the ants were taking protein as the queen would need it to lay eggs and the larvae to eat. So all in all I figured it was a good first day. They have been very active all day and have explored the whole tank and even found their way up to the farm. The queen seems content to just sit in the test tube and be waited on so I figure it'll be a while til she moves. For now I'm just glad she's here and looks healthy. Plenty of time to let her move in her own time.
