can anyone help please?

[kungfooelf]

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum, and pretty new to ant keeping. I have a modest set up to say the least and got my starter set and add on for my birthday last year. I started out with about 40 ants and, sadly due to age I guess, am now down to around 20 :-( .
I am after some help please. Firstly during the summer months I was able to feed my ants a mixture between sugary fruits and fresh meat (flies) which they always seemed to enjoy. During the last few months I have noticed that my ants have not really eaten anything! They won't touch any food, be it jam, honey, cookie, sugary sweets even sugar water, sadly the flies are lacking this time of year! I just wondered if this was normal as I am a little worried about the little fellows!
Secondly my ants have stopped tunneling and despite having the starter set, the standard formicary two sheets of plastic filled with sand, and the addition of four spheres, one with sand, one wood chipping, grass and soil, they have taken to living in the small magnifying glass attached the the entrance of the formicary! This is really not very big considering and more worrying is the fact that here in particular, it suffers terribly from condensation and water drips from the top, you can see it forming? Again is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? I have become extremely attached to my ants and one day, many moons from now, I would like to have a formicarium of leaf cutter ants but if I cannot handle black ants then clearly this is not the right step for me!
Can anyone please offer some help?
Thank you

[IceWhyte]

Hey,
Maybe over the last few months the ants have been trying to hibernate so they wouldn't be eating.
Ants usually pick a place to nest which suits them most so maybe try to make sand area more appealing to them.
Condensation isn't good for the ants but I would think if they were uncomfortable they would move else where.
What kind of set up do you have? Once of those ones with the pipes and balls all around it?

[Jenny]

Hi & welcome to AHW, we will try to guide you onto the right track but there is never a promise the ants will conform, even people who have kept ants for years like Wood & I have the let down colonies

Firstly it sounds to me reading your post, you have an "Antworld" type formicarium with an AntOSphere attached, containing possibly a L.niger colony being black & native to the UK?

The colony is telling you there is something wrong with the nest like Icewhyte has said above, simply by them settling up home in the foraging glass supplied with the kit. Warm on the outside and wet on the inside = condensation = mold at some point. The medium should be like sandcastle consistancy, just moist to form tunnels.

If they don't appear to be interested in the Spheres, remove them for now. We had the AntOSphere set up and couldn't find any species that would take to it, despite it being difficult for access from an ant keepers angle.

Where are you keeping them? It might be that they are too wet, judging from what you said about condensation. Ants won't eat or tunnel if they are not happy with their living quaters. Don't give up, all hope is not lost yet

[Wood~Ant]

Hi and welcome to the Ant Hill.

This sounds like a case of a declining ant colony doing what they choose to do, and that is living somewhere you don't really want them to be.
If your sand/soil inside the set up is too wet or dry this factor alone would cause the ants to move into the foraging pot. The build up of condensation seems to indicate there is excess water.

Some ant colonies do decline in number over the winter period, as workers die off from old age; but as long as the queen remains healthy, then she should lay more eggs come spring to rebuild the population.
Having the set up in a very warm room which might get cold at night could cause a build up of condensation, as will having it too close to a heat source, as the ants should really still be in full or semi-hibernation at this time.
It may be difficult to get the colony to move back into the set up at this time, especially if they feel at home in the foraging pot; but you need to try and dry out the excess moisture if possible, and sand is an awkward medium, as unlike good old garden soil it gets too dry if you don't keep it just damp.

I hope this helps a bit, as plastic set ups can retain water for long periods before requiring a top up.

[batspiderfish]

I really doubt that condensation has anything to do with the drop in population. If there is too much water, then that is a different mater, but condensation has to do with differences in temperature.

[kungfooelf]

Hi all and thanks for your help. I do have the antworld set up with the antospheres attached.
My ants are kept on top of my wardrobe as this is the safest place to keep them out of reach so they do not end up being dropped and smashed so I suppose it does get warm in the day and cold at night causing condensation but never thought of that? How can I combat this so as to make my ants happier? I don't want to disturb them if I shouldn't do it this time of year though?
The sand is constantly damp through the condensation within so I haven't watered it, in that sense, for weeks!
So any tips of making my ants happier and removing the condensation?

[batspiderfish]

Is any part of your nest open to the outside world? It sounds like it could use some airing out.

[kungfooelf]

There are only air holes in the spheres and a bigger airhole in the antworld formicarium. What do yiu suggest for airing them out?

[batspiderfish]

A number of people use open foraging arenas, with a band of talcum powder, oil, or teflon along the perimeter of the opening. I'm not sure how much air can pass through the holes you've mentioned, but it's clearly not enough to keep up with how much water has been added.

As a quick fix, you might also be able to hook up an aquarium air pump to the nest and just force a breeze through it for a little while. It will likely disturb the ants, unfortunately, but it may help lower water levels inside the nest.

[kungfooelf]

I think the air pump is a little to technical for me lol do you think moving them into a room where the temp is more consistent even if lower?
How does the open air foraging area work with talc? Do the ants not go through it?
I really appreciate your help everyone, as I said I really love having my ants and want to be as good a keeper as I can be :-)

[batspiderfish]

Moving the set up to an area with more constant temperatures may lessen the occurrence of condensation, but the amount of moisture in the set up will be largely unaffected. Circulation is the only real way to move moisture out of the nest. An open foraging arena should help.

Talcum powder is made up of very fine particles which crumble away from each other easily. Ants that try to walk over the barrier fall almost immediately. With the exception of expert climbers like weaver ants or red imported fire ants, this barrier is incredibly effective.

To apply, mix a slurry of talcum powder and isopropyl alcohol or water, and paint a thin band along the perimeter of your arena. After the mixture dries (about 10-20 minutes), your barrier is up, and you can leave your arena without a lid. The application should be cleaned off carefully and then reapplied at least once a year.

Talcum behaves much like dust, so be careful to make sure that fallen clumps are cleaned up before a worker might become coated in the stuff; ants breath through their skin.

[Blem12]

Good morning,

As Batspiderfish as has said, having an open foraging area will help.

I could not help to notice, that you said an air pump might be a bit difficult for you. I myself, have an aquarium air pump for a recently acquired colony and it is actually very easy to set up and it was only £5.00. Since using the air pump, I have noticed that the air circulation has very much improved and condensation droplets are rarely forming.

If you decide to get an air pump just tell me and I will be more than happy to help.

Regards,
Blem12.

[Wood~Ant]

If all of your ants, including the queen, are now living in the foraging pot, it might be a good idea to disconnect this for awhile. You can then open up the Ant World and see if the sand/soil is very wet?

If it is, then remove some of the very damp medium and replace with drier soil or sand. Small amounts of condensation provide drinking water, but too much will encourage mould and fungus development, so it is better to have the sand/soil just damp enough to hold together without collapsing.
The air pump idea will help disperse some of the moisture, and by adding drier soil it will soak up a lot of the excess water.

[kungfooelf]

Thank you so much everyone. I am going to firstly take the opportunity to to dismantle my set up and add drier sand to help dry some of it out. It could do with a top up of sand for the spring months anyway to give them more tunneling opportunities. Secondly I shall look into a pump to help air pass through the colony and assist in reducing the condensation within. I think at this stage trying to sell the open foraging area to the wife will not go down too well lol so I shall see if the first two do the trick. Thanks again everyone I really appreciate your help.

[Wood~Ant]

We are always glad to help a fellow ant lover here, as that's why Jen created this forum. ;D
I also understand your wife's feelings about having ants wandering freely about the house, as although Jenant and I keep lots of ants here at the Ant Hill, we prefer to keep them where we want them to be; and not give them free range, which is what our ants would like.