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Post by embernet on Aug 8, 2013 21:36:16 GMT
Would someone please be so kind as to give me some specific tips/advice for dealing with Messor Barbarus.
Only a small colony (7 or 8 workers) and still in a tube. How do I feed them? How often? How warm should I keep them? When (and how) should I transfer them to a bigger environment?
Is a warm airing cupboard a good spot for them for now?
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Post by Jonzii on Aug 8, 2013 22:02:29 GMT
They are from warmer countries like Spain, so can be kept at temperatures in the mid 20's, although they will do just fine at room temperature as long as it doesn't drop below 17-18 degrees as at lesser temperatures they could go into hibernation.
They should be fed with seeds, preferably small seeds that they will be able to crack open. I give mine small bird seeds for finches which they seem to like. You can also feed them insects like other species, but their main diet is seeds.
I prefer to let them move themselves by placing the tube in the larger set up and leaving them to it.
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Post by embernet on Aug 8, 2013 22:25:35 GMT
Thank you. I often find though that when you try to move ants (placing them into another arena etc) you can no longer get food to them as they tend to stay in their test-tube, showing no signs of wanting to move!!
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Post by Jonzii on Aug 8, 2013 22:37:16 GMT
You shouldn't need to get the food to them, they will come out of the tube to forage for it themselves in the foraging arena, as this is their natural behaviour. Whilst they are still a very small colony they will be more inclined to stay in the tube, but as the colony grows foraging will increase gradually.
You can encourage them to move to a new nest area by making it more desirable than the tube. You can leave the tube in the light, and make sure that the new nest area is covered/warmer, which normally works.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 9, 2013 7:36:28 GMT
Hi Embernet, like I said it is better that members post their ant keeping problems on the open forum and not ask me to help on a personal basis in a PM.
You don't really need to keep your Messors in very hot places, especially during the summer; but you can always put them in your airing cupboard on cool days if you wish to try and encourage the brood to develop faster.
As they live in countries which have snow and even some frost during winter, it is a good idea to hibernate them for about 3 months in winter; but I prefer to keep them in an unheated room, as outside in a shed it can get far too cold and this species would die, as they are not as tough as our native British ants.
If you are like me, there comes a time when you get very impatient with ants that refuse to move out of a test tube set up. I then resort to gently tipping the tube so that the colony, with a few gentle taps from my finger, will fall out into the set up I want them to be in. Some ant keepers let the ants do what they want and come out when they want to. Some ants are fine with this, while others can be very stubborn and never want to move home.
The choice comes down to you on this matter, and how much patience you have, as it can be a battle of will power.
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Post by Joona on Aug 13, 2013 13:06:12 GMT
Just a tip both my colony's go mad for fresh chicken, I tried chicken slices like you buy from super market and they turned there nose up at it. They also like cooked rice for some reason.
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Post by Stutheant on Aug 20, 2013 20:49:46 GMT
After a few weeks of Ant Bread I give my Messor B some beef (or ham). They love it. I noticed today (as I have changed bulbs from a spot bulb to a standard bulb which spreads heat rather than points in) that the workers were bringing the brood to the surface to heat them up. There is a huge larvae down there somewhere, this is large and when I moved them into there new home NOT one, not even the queen could carry this, so I presume this is a supermajor! In my last colony of MB I had 2 super-majors, brilliant and they where not scared to go for my fingers when I went too close to the nest entrance.
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Post by Joona on Aug 21, 2013 6:33:48 GMT
Do they hurt when they get you? I've not been bit yet, but I suppose it's a matter of time.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 21, 2013 7:22:32 GMT
Do they hurt when they get you? I've not been bit yet, but I suppose it's a matter of time. It depends on the size of the worker which bites you, as a minor or media worker does not have the jaws to penetrate human skin; but a major or super-major worker bites really hurts. Luckily the bites I've had have never drawn blood, though with jaws strong enough to crack open hard seed shells you can imagine the bite power on the soft skin between your fingers can cause a bit of pain.  |
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