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Post by Joona on Sept 22, 2013 11:18:54 GMT
Feel some pressure off now you have commented Adam haha. Did you see that madian got his colony too? Apparently his queen is missing a leg. I keep thinking the fungus is shrinking although the ants are cutting like mad, and I haven't seen any eggs yet. Its good to look at the pics from only 2 days ago and see how much it has changed. Thanks for subscribing
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 22, 2013 14:28:38 GMT
Having a daily blog is a good idea as well as weekly updates on your journal Mark. You can add a link on your signature box in your profile too as it will attract more views to the Atta Daily Diary.
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Post by adamjames20 on Sept 22, 2013 15:58:48 GMT
Ha ha no pressure mate , there looking good , you will not see the eggs usually as they tend to keep them deep in the gardens , they are super tiny as well so hard to spot. As long as they are cutting the colony is fine , I know Madian told me that about the queen , it will not affect her though so the colony should be grand , hope I see a blog or thread of him too , is it a him ha ha I never asked lol. Good luck mate , I have just been in garden bagging up willow leaves and putting them in the freezer for some added food over winter : ) Adam
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Post by Joona on Sept 22, 2013 16:54:18 GMT
I think its a him? He hasn't showed me any pics or anything either. I hope there ok he mentioned his colony didn't have artificial heating :/ Thanks for clearing the egg situation up, I was really worried but feel somewhat better now. They're devouring rose leafs at the moment, I wasn't aware that they cut the leaves then dump them for the smaller ants to take care off! The connecting tube is brimming over with them. Its so weird to look at the fungus and see how much it grows in only a few hours. Seriously these ants are much better then any other exotic animal I have ever kept! I can sit there and watch them for hours! I cannot wait until I need the big foraging arena. You can freeze the leaves? I didn't know that
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Post by adamjames20 on Sept 22, 2013 22:14:37 GMT
Yes you can freeze the leaves he he , I sit and watch mine for hours , they are definitely a species worth keeping, The queens are impressive too : p
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Post by Zarbi on Sept 23, 2013 15:05:47 GMT
Yes you can freeze the leaves he he. This makes sense as many UK plants keep their leaves during winter, such as bramble for example, and I have seen them freeze during heavy frosts yet stick insect keepers use them when other leaves are scarce.
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Post by Joona on Sept 27, 2013 16:40:31 GMT
A week old already and still alive. Since the last update there have been a few, lets say learning curves mainly finding out that I knew nothing of what I needed to actually know. That being said I do panic over nothing and someone I know brought a colony the same time as me and his aren't going very well, so when something happens that I don't know I over react and this kind of 99% of the time ends with Adam saying its normal behaviour stop worrying! ok the update. The ants have been moving substrate to block the tube into the fungus garden, it was getting so full I removed all the substrate but left what they had moved. They have been up and down with the cutting, every other day they cut leaves and fill the tube up, then the smaller ones process them on to the fungus. The fungus its self has grown and shrunk and is growing again, they are removing the dead fungus from the bottom and this in turn triggers cutting soon after. The queen is active she moves around the fungus keeping an eye on things, I haven't witnessed her in the act of laying eggs but there are some pupae in the fungus and I have seen tiny larvae being carried around the garden. This is the fungus as it looks right now Ill upload a small video later when my son decides I can have the PC back. Mark
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Post by Joona on Sept 28, 2013 12:34:27 GMT
Finally got my PC back after my son had finished so as promised a small vid
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Eva
Honey Pot Ant
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Post by Eva on Sept 28, 2013 14:48:43 GMT
Wow your ants are so brilliant and I love nest set up as well queen is so impressive, I did not think that any ant species could have so big queen. I wish you best of luck with your ants and I can't wait for updates
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Post by Joona on Sept 28, 2013 15:59:45 GMT
You should give Adams a read, thats impressive But thanks for the kind words and yeah the queens are one of the main reasons I adore these ants.
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Post by adamjames20 on Sept 28, 2013 21:14:28 GMT
Looking great Mark , they look to be doing very well, : )
Adam
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Post by Joona on Sept 29, 2013 7:43:51 GMT
Made another little video last night
Hope you like it
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Post by Jenny on Sept 29, 2013 8:04:34 GMT
Great to watch them cutting leaves, and the queen is so big! I enjoy watching them, thank you Mark for showing them on the forum
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 29, 2013 8:12:22 GMT
Love the latest video Mark. Do you cover the nest spheres when you are not observing the colony? As the nest and queen would normally be underground I just wondered if the light bothered her, as I would be tempted to cover the queen and fungus and keep it dark for long periods until I wanted to watch the ants inside the spheres.
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Post by Jonzii on Sept 29, 2013 9:34:37 GMT
Great video Mark. Very happy to see they have settled in well. I would imagine you sit around watching them for hours.
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