djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
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Post by djant on Jul 30, 2013 12:50:15 GMT
30th July 2013 My Myrmica Scabrinodis colony arrived today from ebay, there’s meant to be 6 queens and over 200 workers in this colony, although the test tube is so thick with ants I didn’t spot more than 3 queens at a time! There are also several males, which keep attempting to mate with the workers and even a queen, who was saved by a worker who pulled the male off. As it would have been impossible to feed the ants in the test tube without them getting out, I have wrapped the tube with tin foil and placed it in their foraging area. I have not yet attached the ytong as the sealant is still drying. The ants are swarming over a piece of ham and a drop of sugarwater I gave them, as of writing the ants have drank all of the water! There is also one very curious queen who is roaming about the foraging area with a group of workers. I hope to move this colony in very soon as the seller did not leave much space behind the cotton wool for water at all, so this colony’s water situation is slightly worrying. In the meantime I might place a second test tube with a cotton wool bung and water into the set up. I think tomorrow I’ll grab some live insects to feed this colony and the Messors. I know these ants like humidity, so I am not sure whether or not to give their set up a misting as this will cause the soil to get damp, meaning they could start digging, although the sand is only about half an inch deep.
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 30, 2013 12:51:03 GMT
Ah! There's been a problem with the thread title! Just letting a member of staff know so hopefully it can be corrected.
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Post by philip369 on Jul 30, 2013 13:25:41 GMT
I was watching that colony on ebay glad someone got them to bad pay day is never when you need it have you gotany pictures I would love to see them!
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 30, 2013 13:42:11 GMT
There was a colony a couple of days after for the same price but with 12 queens and 150+ workers! Yes I have some pictures on the way.
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 30, 2013 13:55:06 GMT
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 30, 2013 13:56:12 GMT
Not the best pictures in the world, but it was interesting to see the ants drag the ham off the feeding dish and towards the test tube. I also included a picture of the ytong they will be moved into.
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Post by philip369 on Jul 30, 2013 14:50:58 GMT
I really missed a deal there didn't I? That ytongs is really good as well did you make it?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 30, 2013 14:52:59 GMT
Ah! There's been a problem with the thread title! Just letting a member of staff know so hopefully it can be corrected. Just to let you know that you can edit your own threads to rectify any title errors, so you don't need to wait for staff members to edit your own posts.
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 30, 2013 15:20:15 GMT
It was a great buy for the price, there was about 10 Scabrinodis colonies on ebay last week when I ordered so maybe you could still grab one? They all seemed pretty good deals! And thanks WoodAnt, now I know for next time! Thanks for the comment Phillip, and yep, I made the ytong with a block of aerated concrete from Wickes, the glass from a cheap homebase picture frame (20x30cm) and some acquarium sealant For £1.40 for the block you can make 2-3 decent sized nests (I made 3 but one was a trial run).
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Post by philip369 on Jul 30, 2013 15:22:04 GMT
That is a lot cheaper than I expected how did you carve the holes?
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 30, 2013 15:31:23 GMT
I used a chisel and the hole for the tube was created using a screwdriver roughly the same size as the tubing, the glass was £3 for this nest, but only £1 for my Messor Nest (15x10cm) so only a few quid for each ytong.
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 30, 2013 15:57:19 GMT
Shouldn't you leave the test tube exposed to the light to encourage the queen to move into a tunnel?
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 30, 2013 21:07:18 GMT
Shouldn't you leave the test tube exposed to the light to encourage the queen to move into a tunnel? Hi, I decided to put tin foil on the test tube because I won't be able to move the ants into a ytong nest for a couple of days until the silicon is dry, and in the meantime I didn't want to stress them anymore after the journey. I can always remove the foil too if need be
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 31, 2013 17:00:28 GMT
31st July 2013 Wow this colony is active! I fed them some honey water last night as there were so many foraging ants, which was gulped down in minutes. This morning I gave them both sugar and honey water, with them preferring the honey. I also gave them 3 quarters of a waxworm, with the rest going to the Messors. The ants have absolutely swarmed the worm, and I estimate there to be around 50 ants out of the tube as I type this. Two queens also came our earlier, one even drinking from the honey water with the workers! The ants also brought out 3 dead males today, and sadly also about 4 workers. However, as the workers are all very dark, I presume it was perhaps old age or the stress of the journey that got to them. There are still at least two males left in the colony, as they always follow the workers out when food is found, and attempt to mate with them! This has got me wondering though whether there were any unmated queens in the colony that I might have missed, and the males might have mated with these queens last night. By Friday the ytong will have aired out sufficiently for me to move this colony in. I hope I am here to see them move, but I have a feeling that they will pretty quickly explore the new nest.
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 31, 2013 17:01:10 GMT
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