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Aug 17, 2007 14:22:02 GMT
Post by darren on Aug 17, 2007 14:22:02 GMT
I brought a queen in February and she came with some workers and I put her into a gel farm for a while, all the workers died and I found out the gel farm was bad so I brought an ant world with sand and put her into that. This was March time. She buried herself into the sand, I knew they do this and I thought it may be normal and I put her in the dark for a few weeks as I thought she may be stressed from the moving. I have kept her in the dark and check on her every so often. It is now August and she is still buried, she is still alive (I'm not sure if there is something edible in the sand maybe) and she has not laid a single egg.
What should I do? Leave her until she dies? Get her out and try to feed her?
And why is she doing this?
Darren
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Aug 17, 2007 16:55:16 GMT
Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 17, 2007 16:55:16 GMT
Hi Darren, I really hate having to say this, but I believe you'll find your queen is already dead If she was put in the Ant World back in March, and her workers had died, then she won't have survived in my opinion. Open up the set up and empty it, as she probably died a few months ago.
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Aug 20, 2007 11:17:13 GMT
Post by darren on Aug 20, 2007 11:17:13 GMT
How come she is still crawling around then?
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Aug 20, 2007 11:53:38 GMT
Post by wedge on Aug 20, 2007 11:53:38 GMT
C'mon Darren, you're the only one who knows the exact status of your queen, and Wood was only expressing his opinion based on his own personal experience.
If your queen is healthy then there's still time to provide the ideal environment perhaps, and I'm sure Wood will be pleased to offer some ideas and links for care.
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Aug 20, 2007 13:25:01 GMT
Post by Jenny on Aug 20, 2007 13:25:01 GMT
Your very lucky to find her alive, and just maybe she has not burnt herself out, so that she can lay some more eggs. It is times like this, it is very touch and go as far as the queen is concerned!
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Aug 20, 2007 16:28:45 GMT
Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 20, 2007 16:28:45 GMT
How come she is still crawling around then? She will probably be very weak by now, and even though she is still moving, I doubt very much that she'll lay any eggs now, as it is a long time from when she was first mated. Queen ants usually lay their eggs with a week of mating, so she may have eaten her brood already and has no reserves left to raise a second brood. This kind of thing happens at times. You did not say what species she is, but even if she is an ant which mated late last year, her chances of founding a colony at this time are extremely slim to say the least
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Aug 20, 2007 22:56:26 GMT
Post by Formicalondon on Aug 20, 2007 22:56:26 GMT
I afraid Wood is right shes probably just eating her eggs thats whats keeping her alive. Your only hope is you could try and boost her with cocoons from a wild colony.
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Aug 21, 2007 9:26:08 GMT
Post by darren on Aug 21, 2007 9:26:08 GMT
I wasn't being rude, was just saying she was still crawling. I have absolutly no idea of what condition she is in. It is the first queen I have ever had.
I think I will take her out and put her into a new farm and put some food there that she can eat, then maybe she will stop eating her eggs or whatever.
I suspect she will probably just die but might aswel give it a go see if I can save her.
Cheers
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Aug 21, 2007 13:50:51 GMT
Post by jolon on Aug 21, 2007 13:50:51 GMT
If you move your queen now the stress and shock will probally kill her especially if she is weak, because I tried moving my queen from an antworld because her workers died and she was dead the next day.
Jolon
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