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Post by occultus on Jul 25, 2015 1:20:50 GMT
The PTFE from queen ant shop was great, but that store is closing sadly, so no longer stocks it. I have used this PTFE before: www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php/habistat-bug-barrier-anti-climb-spray-100ml-p-2465The spray bottle broke and it takes a while to dry as it is more runny than the queen ant shop PTFE, but it keeps my Messors in, never seen any escaped workers. I've used it for nigers before aswell, it is not 100% effective but still kept a lot of them in. Bear in mind it works best on glass. I also use this product. I simply unscrew the spray nozzle and apply the PTFE with a paint brush.
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Post by occultus on Jul 24, 2015 15:00:33 GMT
In the old set up I had a few meters of 50 watt heat cable at the base of the aquarium that was always on. During during daylight hours I use a 100 watt sunglow light bulb attached via a clamp. The new set up still has this light but instead of using the heat cable I have a 4ft 60 watt heat pad stuck to one half of the enclosure. Temperatures on the surface stay close to 30 Celsius and temps on the inside of the nest stay around 24-28 Celsius.
I'm starting to reduce the amount of protein that I offer the colony because I don't want the colony to grow much larger.
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Post by occultus on Jul 24, 2015 10:44:42 GMT
A little update and overview of my colony so far.
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Post by occultus on Jul 23, 2015 21:42:17 GMT
I'm gutted for you both. Lasius niger can be a very aggressive ant when their numbers start to swell.
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Post by occultus on Jul 22, 2015 0:33:50 GMT
I completely get your point guys. I cannot lie, If I really really wanted the species and he had decent reviews and was the cheapest seller around I would be tempted. Most I have ever payed so far is £150 for my Bullet Ant Queen but to me that was a bargain considering the rarity. The commercial ant Nests are pretty steep in my eyes. Sellers like Deansyme are a credit to the entire ant keeping community. When I joined this forum I was shocked at how affordable his colonies are. I suppose If the colony brings you many years of enjoyment then its a good investment (if it fails-not so good)..well its a cheaper hobby than drinking or smoking anyway Colonies on my most wanted list: Camponotus gigas Camponotus fulvopilosus Myrmecia pavida Pachycondyla apicalis All sadly are available at extortionate prices.
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Post by occultus on Jul 21, 2015 22:44:33 GMT
I'll have one ready for you mate no worries however I don't want to take any payments or reservations just yet because the queens may still be infertile. Once the first workers appear, I'll be happy to sell them. I'm flying out to Cambodia from the 10th to the 25th of August so it should be a perfect time when I get back to check on the queens for workers
On another note, I accidentally left the bedroom light on last night and I came home to witness a large nuptial flight happening around my light bulb. I collected another 20 S.geminata Queens along with 60 males and placed these inside test-tubes.
13 of the original captured Queens are laying eggs. All of them still have their wings attached but I'm seeing a few of them cleaning the tip of their gaster which usually is a good sign of fertility *fingers crossed*.
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Post by occultus on Jul 20, 2015 16:17:40 GMT
You might want to try using some very narrow clear silicone tubing and then threading this through the unused exit whole on the slim ant farm. Try to push it as close to the clay granules as possible. Use a syringe to inject water down the silicone tubing. This should allow you to hydrate the nest without ever having to remove the lid. Just use cotton wool to block off the tubing when not in use and to close any gaps around the tubing that's entering the nest.
Another method could be to remove the lid ever so slightly and use a syringe with a long hypodermic needle attached and inject water directly into the nest.
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Post by occultus on Jul 20, 2015 14:46:02 GMT
Hi Dayshaddow, I'll be keeping just one of the Queens for myself if any of them turn out to be fertile (The appetite of this species gets rather pricey ). All the rest will be for sale. 8 out of the 25 Queens that I put with males have started laying eggs, 7 died and the 10 remaining show no signs of being fertile. I'll sell the Queens once they have reached 10-20 workers each. This will happen very quickly. I will sell the colonies for £30 each with free P&P. Be warned, this species is very nice but they certainly are 100% a Poison chalice (same goes for Pheidole pallidula).
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Post by occultus on Jul 20, 2015 0:02:16 GMT
My Camponotus cruentatus colony arrived from Anthouse on the 24/04/15. She arrived with 6 workers and 6 small Larvae. One of the worker has died but the colony now has 3 cocoons ready to hatch. I really love the Queens smokey brown colouration and hopefully her later majors will have the same colouration. The growth rate has been very slow but luckily I have allot of patience and can focus my attention on my more demanding colonies.
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Post by occultus on Jul 19, 2015 23:50:28 GMT
My Camponotus micans colony with 1 worker, 3 cocoons and 3 larvae had arrived from Anthouse on the 27/04/15. She now has two workers and has eaten all her eggs and brood.
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Post by occultus on Jul 19, 2015 23:37:36 GMT
I received a red head head Messor barbarus Queen from Ants Kalytta on the 13/04/15. She arrived alone without any workers or eggs. I've successfully raised a colony Messor arenarius last year so I presume that their care requirements will be virtually the same. Single Queens of this species are known to be quite difficult to raise without any workers as they become stressed out by the slightest disturbance and can eat her own brood. I left her inside a sealed test-tube and stored her for 3 months inside an old shoe box under my bed. On the 12/07/15 she has had her first nanitic worker ant. I opened up the test-tube and placed her inside a small 5L Tupperware box with a small pile of dandelion seeds that I have collected over spring and a test-tube of spring water Now that the first worker has arrived the development of this colony should start to speed up. Messor ants are one of the easiest species to keep in captivity and they can practically survive on just seeds alone. I always offer insect proteins regardless.
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Post by occultus on Jul 18, 2015 1:41:19 GMT
Well bit of news. All the males that were in the test-tubes are dead A couple of the Queens have also passed away Its not all bad though..? Just discovered that two of the test-tube Queens have started to lay eggs Now this may not suggest that they are fertile as the eggs could be all just male. It is interesting though. There's still plenty of Alates being produced inside the nest set up.
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Post by occultus on Jul 18, 2015 0:55:19 GMT
The Goose that laid those Golden Eggs, Pandora has 7.
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Post by occultus on Jul 18, 2015 0:45:46 GMT
I have been trying out my new Nikon D3300 Dslr. I must say that I love it and recommend every antkeeper buy themselves a camera as it gives you more insight into your colonies. I will be saving up for a nice Macro lens in the near future. Here is a video of one of my favourite colonies, Camponotus vagus. They hunt like a pack of wolves descending on an injured deer. My favourite thing about this species is how they attack a prey item with a powerful lunge and then they dodge and move with unbelievable bursts of speed around the prey item and then attack again. They sure would be great boxers
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Post by occultus on Jul 4, 2015 17:30:12 GMT
They look like they could go into stress mode rather than mating mode, being crammed into a test tube. I feel sorry for the queens in this situation no freedom to get away I feel a bit guilty now Jen They had good reason to be stressed out mainly because I just plucked them up and dumped them in test-tubes and started filming right after that. I can assure you that today the queens and males are looking very relaxed and contented. None of them are cotton tugging and the constant warmth and darkness is helping too.
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