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Post by spikie on Jun 7, 2011 20:30:13 GMT
Hi all I've had my colony for just under a week and it seems to be going well so far. I bought a Lasius Niger queen (who I have named Ripley) and 5 workers and they now live within a tupperware box floored with vermiculite and little rocks. Actually they live in the test tube they came in, but sometimes they wander out  Ripley is halfway down the tube and he children have blocked her in by ferrying vermiculite into the tube. I have also buried the tube so she is in the nice dark. Every few days I have brushed a little away and checked her and she seems calm (and importantly alive!) but no eggs yet. They have some cotton wool soaked in sugar water and a little honey. They have also had a woodlouse (that they carried into the tube and decimated) and today a wasp that died on my windowsill and so became a meal for the colony. I'll keep updating as I'm still very new to this and would welcome any advice. Thanks for reading! |
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Post by Zarbi on Jun 7, 2011 21:05:41 GMT
Ripley, see you're an Aliens fan then ;D There are lots of guys here who keep Lasius niger, including Wood Ant. He has also done some cool ant species profiles on a lot of species, so you should find lots to inform and amuse you  Oh and welcome to our great forum Spikie |
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Post by spikie on Jun 9, 2011 20:50:43 GMT
Despite always having an ant or two on it the wasp looks unchanged, so I'm not sure they are even eating it. I will switch back to woodlouse tomorrow.
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Post by spikie on Jun 13, 2011 19:37:57 GMT
The colony carries on!
I've left Ripley alone as I imagine she doesn't appreciate me clearing everything off the tube to gawp at her (though I will gawp again soon, just less often).
I caught 2 wood lice and half a dozen wild ants today, put them in a tupperware box and stuck them in the freezer for 15 minutes, then put the box in the sun to thaw the corpses. I then got one of the woodlice out and put it in nest. I went back to the box and noticed all the ants were moving as if being put in a freezer was just an occupational hazard! I released them back to the wild.
I then took out the other woodlouse and, to my horror, found it was still waving a leg slowly. I decided even in its muffled state it needed to be dead before the ants got to it, so I stabbed it... and again... and again... Apparently woodlice don't mind having a few holes poked in them...
Eventually it died (much trauma on my part) and I put it next to the first woodlouse.
Half an hour later I came back to look what was happening. I found the first woodlouse in the other corner of the tank. I was quite excited, I thought my ants had started a refuse pile and had just not wanted the spare woodlouse. However it turned out the woodlouse had sprung to life and wandered off!
I couldn't bear to stab this one, so it is back in the freezer and is staying there for an hour.
I have killed many mice in my time (I keep snakes and wouldn't dream of putting live mice in) and yet I am blanching at the idea of stabbing a woodlouse. Very odd...
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 13, 2011 19:48:16 GMT
I give crickets to my ants, and they are very difficult to kill. Decapitating them quickly so the cricket won't suffer will 'kill' it, but they will still have reflex actions that cause the body to kick out.
I know how you feel, until I started keeping ants, I never had a cause to kill insects and I don't like it either.
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Post by spikie on Jun 13, 2011 19:57:37 GMT
Glad it's not just me! Overnight it is from now on! |
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Post by angelicdefender on Jul 24, 2011 10:06:20 GMT
Rather ironic that you should name your queen Ripley, yet in the Alien franchise, Ripley kills the queen in the second movie. ;D
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Post by spikie on Aug 10, 2011 7:50:15 GMT
Hi all, sorry for the absence, I forgot where this website was! The Ripley name is because it reminds me that the ants are likely more intelligent than me, just like the Aliens... lol I moved my colony into a new tub last night, from their 10 inch by 6 inch box to a big tub full of sand. I even buried a little box and ran a tube to it so they have a pre-set nest if they want to use it First shock was when I uncovered the testtube Ripley is in, there are a LOT of new ants! I had 6 to start with, now I have over 20. Sneaky things only came out in ones and twos so I never knew... Second shock was within 30 seconds of putting them in, one ant had walked up the wall, worked its way through the miniscule gap between lid and side, and was stood on the outside of the lid looking at me! An hour of experiments later and I think they are now secure. I basically ran a few layers of sellotape inside the lid to make a snugger fit; the ants now get near the lid then either veer off or come back down. I put the tub in a shallow lid filled with water and there aren't lots of dead ants this morning, so I assume they are now secure. See how things go! But some advice please, is there anything I can put round the outside of the tank to bar the ants/at least show they have got out (like talcum powder which would show a trail if it had been walked through)? The lid and water is not viable long term as it is a nightmare to keep level and so is deep at one end and shallow at the other. I hear running vaseline round the inside will keep them from walking on the walls, but I hear horror stories of them dying... Other than that it seems to be going well! |
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 10, 2011 8:05:46 GMT
I have seen people apply cooking oil successfully to stop ants from venturing out, but I haven't tried it myself. You're right about them having an uncanny ability to locate the one security vulnerability in a set up right away.  As for the forum location, I memorized the URL: queenant.proboards.com. But you can also search 'Ant Hill World' in Google and we'll show up.  |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 10, 2011 8:12:18 GMT
Hi Spikie, Despite the fact that ants do find ways of getting out, I have found that using various methods of detaining or restraining them don't work that well either. I have tried vaseline, talc mixed with spirits, cellotape, stuffing bits of cotton wool or foam into gaps; and still the intelligence of the tiny ant mind finds a way out  The best you can do is keep replacing barriers, and you buy a liquid teflon mixture which when painted on the glass or plastic forms a slippery border which ants cannot get a grip on and will fall back into the set up. This liquid is used on the inside just below the lid, and all around the perimeter; but again it must be renew this barrier every 3 months or so so that it remains a way of preventing escape Add the link to the forum in your favourites, as that way you won't forget where we are |
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