edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on May 12, 2018 13:48:24 GMT
First colony and ant keeping journal. Please bear with the trivial or incorrect comments you'll likely find in this thread. I'm happy for anyone to post comments here. I'm very new to ant keeping, so posts from other members will be more interesting than my own! The M.barbarus queen was shipped on May 5 and arrived home on the 9th. At first sight the queen had several workers and eggs with her. Later on that date I noticed 3 dead workers in the tube, and I haven't seen the eggs again. So perhaps by uncovering the tube, we've stressed the queen and caused her to eat the eggs; hopefully the eggs are still inside the tube. -- 11 May --
We prepared the foraging box with 200gr of decorative sand (too little, I might get more) and some stones (kindly provided by my wife, who collected them in Brighton while I rolled my eyes "why would we ever need so many"). We've covered the tube with paper and left it open in the box. About the box, I'm very happy with the size, 24x20x9.6cm. I have to say that it was supposed to arrive with two connecting holes, but it didn't have any. Drilling the hole wasn't very easy; you can see the messy edges on the pictures below. Not a big issue in any case, and I actually prefer having one single hole. Two dead workers were attached to the cotton from the tube. As I removed the cotton, one ant quickly took the third dead worker outside. All ants hid inside for some time, but after a while they pushed a few grains out and three workers started exploring the box. A couple of hours later there are 5-6 explorers. No sight of the queen outside. A few times times ants have stumbled up the seeds; I haven't seen any seed being picked up, the ants just walk around the seeds for some time, then leave. Hopefully this is because they have plenty of seeds in the tube, and not because they don't like these particular seeds. Haven't seen ants drinking either. I'm not sure how many workers there are in total, but I don't want to uncover the tube again today. -- 12 May --All the ants were inside this morning. Outside the tube there was another dead worker . All four dead so far ants have been considerably smaller than the explorers I've seen. In the afternoon I caught a glimpse of a single explorer outside. It quickly hid, so the foraging box looks deserted just as this morning. I hope this is normal, and they'll become more active later. Please let me know if I should worry. I think they may have moved some seeds. Sorry but I haven't got any pictures of any explorer yet. Hopefully will be able to report more activity later on today! Thank you for reading, Eloy
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 12, 2018 14:36:53 GMT
To add a bit of humidity in the box, use a fine plant misting spray and dampen the sand slightly once or twice a week. Avoid getting water on the seeds or they may germinate. Messors will also eat bits of bread and cake as an alternative to seed, which may tempt them to forage.
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edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on May 12, 2018 22:45:28 GMT
The bread has been a success . I've seen several ants inspecting it. Not carrying it though, maybe the bread bits were too large, tomorrow I'll replace them with small crumbles. I think this colony are definitely evening ants. They kept mostly inside and only went out late today. But they behave much more shyly than yesterday. While yesterday they wandered around the box for a long time, paying no attention to us (including opening/closing the lid), today they'd run and hide with any sound or change in light. This is the best picture I was able to take today, they didn't collaborate in the least.
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edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on May 13, 2018 22:55:11 GMT
Very little activity today. At one point there were three ants wandering outside the tube, but most of the time there's been none or just one ant out; I think this ant may have been always the same, perhaps the largest worker. The ants seem to avoid climbing on the stones and the plastic food/water trough. Today I replaced the bread bits with biscuit crumbles, and put some water+honey in the second water trough (I got the idea for this from Dreamer's Messor Barbarus journal). I haven't seen any ants near them yet. Also I cleaned today the stuff around the end of the tube. While doing so, one ant rushed outside and I thought it was following the tweezers a bit, perhaps trying to defend the nest from the "attacker" . While I haven't seen many ants today, there haven't been any dead ants outside today, hopefully this means things are going well inside.
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edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on May 15, 2018 22:44:09 GMT
Same pattern the last two days. Ants only go out at night, around 21pm. I'm speculating whether this behaviour or foraging around sunset makes sense in drier parts of Spain, with very warm Summer days and cool nights. Yesterday morning they cleared the biscuit crumbles, so I've added some more. They seem never to touch the seeds however. Actually, they put some grains out from the tube whenever I clean. Perhaps they like to have stuff at the entrance, but they don't try to use sand for that. Also last night I took two small flying insects that I found at home and I fed them to the ants (drowned and boiled). They haven't taken them. On the other hand, no dead ants, and actually I've spotted a very small ant that I hadn't seen the first days. Still I'm a bit concerned. Would you say they are behaving oddly?
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 15, 2018 23:00:33 GMT
Ant behavior is unpredictable and can seem odd, but they usually go on their instinct and do what is best for them. My own colony takes seeds, but biscuit or cake is sweeter and the ants don't have to crack this food open like the hard shell of a seed. Small colonies take in less food until they grow bigger.
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edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on May 18, 2018 20:14:01 GMT
Today I can introduce you to my colony's queen: I'm sort of happy about seeing the queen, but very concerned that something might be wrong with the colony. The colony becomes more and more agitated each time I open the box. I think the lid is quite tight, so opening it must feel like an earthquake for them. But I didn't expect to see the queen at all (it wasn't the only ant to go out). No remains of dead ants outside this week, but I wonder whether the queen rushing out might mean there are too few workers. Before all this commotion, I observed a couple of ants spending a lot of time over the biscuit crumbles, though never carrying anything. Today I've replaced the crumbles with new ones (different brand, in case the ants are becoming picky); I also added one insect, and some bits of roasted sunflower seeds, which is a very popular snack in Spain. Seeing the queen out was really impressive, it's a massive ant. I wish I had taken better pics, but in all honesty I was a bit shocked.
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 18, 2018 20:45:34 GMT
She might've just been startled by the lid opening and ran out to investigate.
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edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on May 18, 2018 21:35:53 GMT
She might've just been startled by the lid opening and ran out to investigate. Hopefully I just worry too much. Maybe it's just impatience to see them grow, I just have no idea whether they are doing well or not. If the lid opening upsets them this much, I guess it'll be a problem for them until they move to the nest :S. Thank you for your response!
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edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on Jun 1, 2018 8:37:16 GMT
Small update . In the last week the ants have been very shy, and I've been lucky to be able to see a single ant outside the tube. They keep dishonouring their ancestors' traditions and haven't taken a single grain. Actually they only take insects, but no bread, biscuits or anything else. Yesterday I left a drop of jam in the food container, I don't think they are very interested in it. Yesterday evening however, they started exploring continuously. This morning there were six ants outside, three of them apparently making a big effort to climb along the upper rim of the box. Right now there are four ants outside at least (I finally managed to set up a live stream using the raspberry pi). So something must have changed in their minds. In my attempt to understand what they might need, I'm wondering whether they are looking for a larger space. This may be just wishful thinking, but I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to connect the nest to the foraging box for them to explore (I'd leave the tube as it is, so they can remain in it if they prefer).
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 1, 2018 12:20:27 GMT
Mine drink honey water and it goes down very well. They also love to forage, so go ahead with your idea and add a foraging box.
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edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on Jun 1, 2018 13:11:20 GMT
Mine drink honey water and it goes down very well. They also love to forage, so go ahead with your idea and add a foraging box. I think mine drink more honey-water than plain water too . Although I've only caught them a couple of times drinking... Anyway they are currently inside the foraging box, living in the test tube they came in. My plan is to attach the new nest, which ideally they'll move to one day, to see if they like it. I'd like to try this this weekend. They've been living in the tube for (at least) almost one month already. Right now there are three of them having a walk outside. Apparently they love climbing. I'll have to apply the anti-escape oil after all.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 1, 2018 13:31:21 GMT
Strange, I've never been able to get my Messors interested in honey water! Glad to see yours are doing well.
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edvf
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 45
Likes: 53
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Post by edvf on Jun 2, 2018 7:51:57 GMT
Yesterday evening one ant started digging in the decorative sand! I definitely think they are looking for a new home. If this is the case, I hope it's because of colony size and not because there could be mould inside the nest (I haven't taken a look inside in a long time). At first one single miner was doing all the work: This morning up to four of them were collaborating, and there had been a lot of progress: A bit sad that they are digging for nothing, even though it's amazing to watch them. I'll attach today the nest to see if they like it as a new home...
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Post by dreamer on Jun 2, 2018 15:57:12 GMT
Great journal and nice photos. Reminds me I need to update mine I LOVE that tunnel, it's brilliant. Maybe pointless, but fun. I wouldn't worry about the queen being out of the test tube, mine spent several days out recently and a couple of weeks with her backside sticking out of a tiny nest they dug under a byformica feeder?!? Mine is super sensitive to vibrations, but not so worried about light having chosen to be outside rather than in the covered tube. You maybe better applying some fluron or similar and leaving the lid off. Out of my ants this species gets stressed the easiest, but they are great explorers Also they appear to be out a lot more in the day than some of my other ants. Sad that you had a few die early on, but sounds like they are getting more settled now. If you get the chance at some point (don't force it) maybe make a count of how many ants in the colony as that will help you to know how they are doing long term. Well done so far, it's exciting getting into anting, but challenging at times. I think the hardest thing for me has been patience and waiting. My colony is 20-30 and still okay in the test tube.
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