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Post by Joona on Sept 18, 2013 16:47:42 GMT
Hi, today should have been the day I received my new Atta Cephalotes queen but sadly the seller has asked me if I would mind waiting until Friday to get her, he assures me that they're fine and have rebuilt there fungus garden after the trip from Trinidad and are cutting leaves to add to it. He just wants to keep them in his facility a couple more days to make sure they're ok before sending them out tomorrow, and to be fair he is the master in this field so what he says goes lol. I was actually relieved to hear this as I had a small accident when I was topping up the water in the substrate and well drenched it, in a mad panic I broke the queens sphere off so I have had to glue that back on and now have to put all the heat mats back to where they were as I was using them to dry the substrate out. Not a great start but hopefully will be back to normal by tonight. I'll update as soon as they arrive. Mark
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 18, 2013 17:16:12 GMT
Not to worry Mark as you will have this coming weekend to get the colony settled into their new home.
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Post by adamjames20 on Sept 19, 2013 6:14:33 GMT
Good luck mate , looking forward to this blog : )
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Post by Joona on Sept 19, 2013 9:10:36 GMT
Yeah excitements really kicking in now, I managed to get a dimmer stat for free from a old snake buddy so I'm gonna try with that on tonight see how it keeps the temps up.
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Post by Joona on Sept 20, 2013 15:31:01 GMT
20/9/13
They arrived safe and sound, I was feeling nervous this morning but when my mother rang me to say a parcel had came I was down right over the moon! Up on opening the parcel I was greeted by a little friend. There was a small heat pad in there that was still warm! I took the ant tub out and just put it in the incubator whilst I prepared the set up. I saw that they had cut leaves that were in there and they were all over the fungus (that was everywhere in the tub), I removed some tissue and was immediatly attacked by larger workers, I scooped them up virtually one by one then removed the second piece of tissue, that was cover in larve and fungus fragments and angry ants. I got those in the queens sphere then took a large spoon and moved the big piece of fungus that the queen was hidden in, I could just see the back end of her. I got as much fungus in with the queen as I could but the ants were piling out of the sphere, so I shut it and put the remainder in the foragaing area, where its being rebuilt. The queen hasn't moved at all, the ants are walking over her and bringing private leaves to the fungus which is a good sign, I have put some freshly chopped rose in for them too but there too busy with the rebuild at the moment. There has to be 150 ants of all sizes in there although no soldier ants, and a lot of fungus way more than what I was expecting! The move took about a hour after I picked the stragglers off the tissue paper and chased them around my kitchen table. The ants are now going down the tubes a bit at a time so hopefully they will start cutting fresh leaves by tonight. Next time I'll put a video up. Mark
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 20, 2013 15:55:55 GMT
Most of us are now breathing a sigh of relief that you now have this lovely colony safely moved into their new home.
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Post by Joona on Sept 20, 2013 16:32:04 GMT
Thanks Wood I haven't stopped watching them since I put them in lol, they have uncovered the queen and I saw her leg move so I'm happy shes alive. Its amazing how they repair the fungus so quick, they have made a little pile in the second out world already! In the main garden I can see large and small pupae and even some in the "make shift" garden. There also running through the tubes now lol.
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Post by Zarbi on Sept 20, 2013 16:59:09 GMT
I just love the size and colour of those big Atta queens. Thanks for sharing this with us all Mark
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 20, 2013 17:13:38 GMT
If you haven't already seen the photos of Atta on my site Mark, you might be interested in this link? Atta Queen
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Post by Joona on Sept 20, 2013 20:34:50 GMT
Great pics I like that set up! Last one for today lol, the main fungus garden is now taller and a lot of dead fungus and waste is being dumped in one of the other unused spheres. The second lot of fungus that was in the out world is also being tended to and those ants have started to bury it. They have been cutting leaves but not the ones I have put in yet. I suspect because the fungus is now being sorted out they will start cutting my leaves soon. And the best till last the queen has now emerged! She is standing on the side of the fungus as always she has a fair few workers around her, and let me tell you no pictures you see will ever compare with the actual size of the queen, she is bloody huge! But she is a lovely colour.
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Post by Jonzii on Sept 21, 2013 10:38:43 GMT
Glad they arrived safe Mark. Such a beautiful looking queen, looking forward to seeing this colony progress.
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Post by Jenny on Sept 21, 2013 11:08:03 GMT
It's getting exciting, I can't wait
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Post by Joona on Sept 21, 2013 13:51:49 GMT
The fungus is taking shape nicely today, I had a very restless night worrying about them but they survived the night, they have taken all the substrate out of the fungus sphere and used it to block the entrance. Many of the ants that were tending the small second garden are now tending the main one. The queen is active and has done the rounds of the sphere, which I am very happy about. But mainly they have cut leaves that I put in there so that takes a load of my mind.
I apoplogise in advance for the video it was rushed and I haven't edited it. Enjoy
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Post by Joona on Sept 22, 2013 8:49:38 GMT
So I've decided to put the day by day account of these on a blog site. It will save me spamming here with updates every day lol. I will still update my journal but weekly with the main parts of the ants life. If you want to read the day by day accounts of my Atta's the blog can be found here joonapie.wordpress.comPlus like a blu ray theres tons of extra pic's I take that never get into my journal but will be on the blog so please subscribe if you like it. Cheers Mark
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Post by adamjames20 on Sept 22, 2013 10:38:15 GMT
Looking fantastic mate , really glad they are settling in fine : ), Glad to see another uk member keeping Atta , : D, If we ever get our colonies up to alate producing size maybe we could swop males and see if we can get them to breed. something to think about in the future.
Following this and your blog
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