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Post by shadowsong on Aug 19, 2007 17:35:09 GMT
hey, one of my queens has her first workers, now I'm in the middle of my exams for at least another 2 weeks so I got little time to spare, can it harm if I keep them in there little 'hatching' jar for now? it's veeery small with only 4cm of sand. don't have time to rebuild the intended ant farm at the moment I should probably start feeding them, the question is how, talking about a veeery small jar here counted 2 workers for now that are busy redecorating the little cave they live in, can't see any real tunnel to the surfice, well actualy I do see one but the exit is closed with little sand
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Post by sammy on Aug 19, 2007 20:58:17 GMT
hi it could be ok for a few weeks but the queen will soon try to move itself and the eggs/workers, I had a problem like you and it just tryed to make space but it coulden. you could feed it by quick moving the lid off and place some food hope it does well
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Post by shadowsong on Aug 21, 2007 15:04:21 GMT
hey, I put a little 'feeding dish' in the ant jar, with some strawbery marmelade stuff, and some drops of water in the ant jar, but well, there is a tunnel to the top but they are not comming out shouldn't they go forage or something silly ants are not comming out of there hole yet
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Post by sammy on Aug 21, 2007 18:28:48 GMT
How old are they, they may be too small to forage? Maybe you could help them out, poke the tunnel , try not to bury them, and what type of ant are they?
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Post by shadowsong on Aug 21, 2007 21:00:51 GMT
pritty sure they are Lasius niger, very small
and the workers are probably only a couple days old
could it hurt to just remove most of the sand (there is only like a centimeter of sand in there at the moment)
so basicly keep them for now without sand so they are easely to feed
dono, how much is a sand needed to make them feel at home
once my exams are over I plan to move them to there final home (wich I still have to build)
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Post by Formicalondon on Aug 21, 2007 21:29:27 GMT
Hey if its only your first workers I wouldnt worry to much, they could probably stay in there for quite some time yet. I got L nigers from last year still in their test tube with about 20 -30 workers they should be fine And its pronounced L "nijer" we wouldnt want to get Jen and wood lynched by the PC brigade now would we
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Post by shadowsong on Aug 22, 2007 15:24:40 GMT
lol sorry ^^
little misspelling there,
I made the tunnel entrance bigger and moved in a stick with some sweetness on it
some workers inspected the bigger entrance but went back inside
a little later the queen herself came and started eating
she reconised the smell from when I fed her when she still only had eggs ! ;D
still find it strange the workers are not doing much at least the queen is social ;D
edit: the queen ate tons and also drank a little of a drop op water but is it normal that the workers are afraid of the stick and totaly ignore the water and food?
the workers did scout a little and dragged away some sand but that's it
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Post by Formicalondon on Aug 22, 2007 21:00:37 GMT
remember these are your first workers they are weak, stunted and due to lack of nurishment and probably less brain power than an ant from a mature healthy colony these things take time.
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Post by shadowsong on Aug 22, 2007 21:46:59 GMT
less brain power ;D lol might be true ... as far as I can tell there are 3-4 workers at the moment, 3 at least that I saw at once, and they have dug 3 different entrance holes at the other side of the jar now they all building there own nest now or funny
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Post by shadowsong on Aug 23, 2007 21:21:11 GMT
I'm gona post more updates about my ants in my journal in that section of the forum
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Post by shadowsong on Aug 24, 2007 16:36:06 GMT
crap, there is some fungus forming on the other side of the jar I'm keeping my ants in, the nest is on the other side but still what should I do should I move them in a temporarely set up without sand? like a testtube? or something, my exams end the 31/08 the first thing I'm gona do then is build the ant farm, but that's still 7days
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Post by sammy on Sept 6, 2007 19:20:38 GMT
could you not scrape the fungus off with I knife or something
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Post by shadowsong on Sept 7, 2007 21:11:50 GMT
hey, forgot to update this, they buried the fungus themselves, but now I made them a new nest, not yet a real ant farm because that's to big for such a small colony. Either way they are doing pretty good, lots of brood and 16 workers or more. I feed them fruitflys and sugar water and they love it
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Post by shadowsong on Sept 8, 2007 8:37:28 GMT
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Post by Honeydewman on Sept 11, 2007 10:31:42 GMT
Remember to keep your soil / sand medium moist. If you can catch Bluebottle or Greenbottle flies and cut them in half and place them on their casings so the fluid stays inside. Your Ants will drink the blood and eat the flesh. Important to keep them out of sunlight as they will cook, keep them cool. Keep a good supply of sugar water in and use a small Lego piece for storage, they do not fall in the liquid so much with this. I have just started a new Niger colony this year myself and can help you with info PM's should you wish. If you are keeping them inside for Winter buy Crickets from a petstore and put in dissected sections to them to feed. Good luck.
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