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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 10, 2014 21:12:31 GMT
Sorry to hear about the queen being dead Mark. From my experience they love to dig a soil nest, as even single queens have founded a colony better by not being kept in a test tube but given a small soil set up.
Wish you better luck next time.
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Post by chicken2012 on Aug 11, 2014 9:44:07 GMT
Sorry to hear that the queen died Mark
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shane
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Post by shane on Aug 11, 2014 10:22:51 GMT
Mark, Sorry about your queen, With looks of it the test tube she was in may have been out of water, if you have 2 test tubes put one in a open tank they would move out of the dry one to the new one with water in.
If you try again you maybe best to have her in a soil nest as woody says but in a test tube when water gets dry they will move them selfs out to coved new with water in.
Need to remember that test tubes on warm room days can dry up faster as they need the cotton at end to be damp at all time. If you see the water is about to try up in end make another test tube with water at bottom pluged with cotton, put the new test tube in a transparent tank that lets strong light in " And tank can be sealed" and make the test tube dark with tinfoil or paper, Then put her old test tube in tank with her and small breed in and uncover and remove her blocked entrence, In time she will move out to new test tube with water in that's coverd up with all larvae and workers BUT keep a look out for any remining workers, Once all in new one.
Block it with cotton and she should be fine till new nest or big move out to one.
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Post by Joona on Aug 11, 2014 15:12:16 GMT
I had put the new test tube in as soon as she got her first worker but she just didn't move. I tried light, then just gave up as I know how stressed these ants get. I just find it ironic that I can keep the Atta no problem but a relatively easy species to keep I just epically fail at time and time again. I am going to try a dirt set up next time and hopefully buy one that at least has her first workers.
Is there any preference on dirt that I should use? Or a certain mixture Wood?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 11, 2014 15:38:14 GMT
Is there any preference on dirt that I should use? Or a certain mixture Wood? A mix of good soil such as a John Innes number 2 or 3 is fine, or a sand and peat mix. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2014 16:20:54 GMT
Yet again, I checked the colony this afternoon to find they had moved test tubes finally but sadly the queen was dead. I do not understand what the hell I'm doing wrong, they have seeds, water, small pieces of chicken and sugar water. They were kept at room temprature in a dark box where no one had acsess to disturb them. Maybe I'm just not meant to keep this species. Really annoyed about this but I will try again but I think I'm going to put them in a dirt set up this time. Mark I think messor are just not your species Mark, Attas are fine though  Sorry about your loss. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2014 21:02:45 GMT
I struggled with my first Messor colony. The numbers just never went up. Workers were dying faster than new ones were maturing. This went on for a year until I decided to call it quits and get another colony. The second colony has done amazingly well. I put them in a slim nest set up and they dug out a nest really quickly and moved out of their test tube on the same day. I think the more established a colony is the better your chances are. Try and buy a queen with as many workers as possible - I think that makes a huge difference. If you can bear to give it one more shot I think you should as they're a great species to have.
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Post by Joona on Aug 13, 2014 15:50:44 GMT
Thanks for the tips I'm going to try again when I can spare some money all my spare cash is going on my new Atta set up at the moment. I will definitely use a dirt set up though and I like making things so I'll have a think on how I can do it myself.
Thanks for all the tips guys
Mark
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 13, 2014 15:59:39 GMT
The main thing Mark is not to give a small colony a lot of space to start with. I have used small clear plastic containers to get a colony started off, then moved it into a larger soil set up later when it reached about 100 workers.
A smaller set up is easier to maintain and as long as the ants have a good supply of food, and are kept just warm during the winter, they usually come on in leaps and bounds the following year.
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