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Post by occultus on May 13, 2015 14:14:22 GMT
 Hello everyone, this where I would like to pick your brains and absorb your combined knowledge  Today I've ordered a lone queen of the species Paraponera clavata aka Bullet Ants. Expecting the delivery within 3-5 days. I'm realistic about what a challenge this is going to be and to the fact that an unhappy ending is likely. I've always wanted to try my hand at keeping this infamous species of ant and succeed or fail it will still be a good learning experience for me. I like to keep things simple early on with the housing of any of my ants. The plan is to use a moderately sized plastic Tupperware box filled with a layer of clay granules and a few inches of Coco fiber and sphagnum moss for her to burrow inside. A heating cable will be placed around the outside of the Tupperware box and I'll be monitoring the temperatures to stay between 23-28 Celsius. For Humidity I'll be spraying the substrate daily and will keep a lid on the container with 3-4 air holes. This species likes around 80-100% humidity. For protein I'll be using the usual assortment of dead Insects(crickets, wax worms and roaches) and for carbohydrates they will have a test-tube of sugar water( I've heard rumors that honey water causes these ants problems?). Fingers crossed that this will be enough for her. Does anyone have experience in keeping this species as there isn't an awful lot of information available online. Help and advice is always appreciated along with good and bad criticism. Cheers guys |
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 13, 2015 14:50:52 GMT
We had an old member who kept them ages ago, but I can't remember if he had a journal or posted much about them. This link may prove helpful, but hope somebody may be able to offer advice on the South American ant species. Paraponera clavata |
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Post by occultus on May 13, 2015 15:15:53 GMT
Thanks Wood~Ant. I've requested for the Queen to be sent out on Monday morning so that they will not spend the weekend in a cold warehouse.
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 13, 2015 15:57:06 GMT
I hope you have a thick pair of gloves!
It'll be great to read your journal once the queen arrives.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 16:49:45 GMT
An interesting and very large species, I'll also look forward to reading your journal It says on the Wikipedia page that woodant linked that they are arboreal foragers and rarely forage on the ground. Have you given any thought to the formicarium design once your colony is established? And you really, really don't want to get stung by these! I'd rather face a king Cobra then a hundred of these bad girls lol
Have you seen this video? I'll post it again as it'll give members an ides of how huge these ants really are.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 17:51:21 GMT
There was a discussion about this species on a French forum site not long ago. Several members purchased so called fertile queens from a German supplier who was selling them at what was thought a very reasonable price - however they all failed to raise colonies and the general feeling was that the queens were not fertile!
Some time back an Asian ant supplier was selling queens of Oecophylla which it turned out were only unmated alates which he had cut the wings off!
Purchase with care: If they are below the normal price and bought from a seller who hasn't been operating very long then beware.
If the seller is reputable and can give you plenty of info on how to raise the species backed up by photos then you should be okay.
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Post by occultus on May 13, 2015 21:42:30 GMT
Interesting and very large species, I'll also look forward to reading your journal It says on the Wikipedia page that woodant linked that they are arboreal foragers and rarely forage on the ground. Have you given any thought to the formicarium design once your colony is established? And you really, really don't want to get stung by these! I'd rather face a king Cobra then a hundred of these bad girls lol
Have you seen this video? I'll post it again as it'll give members an ides of how huge these ants really are.
When the colony starts to take of at around 20 workers I shall build them a large vivarium natural nest similar to the one I have set up for my S.geminata. I'll look into more of an arboreal vivarium with large plants with broad leaves that will perform as a platform. lol I really don't want to get stung by these guys, they are supposedly quite a tame species with great eye sight and can be trained to accept food from your hand. I have watched that video before but I just noticed that the ant jumped off from his hand right at the end. I will keep this in mind when working around their nest. |
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Post by occultus on May 13, 2015 21:53:55 GMT
There was a discussion about this species on a French forum site not long ago. Several members purchased so called fertile queens from a German supplier who was selling them at what was thought a very reasonable price - however they all failed to raise colonies and the general feeling was that the queens were not fertile! Some time back an Asian ant supplier was selling queens of Oecophylla which it turned out were only unmated alates which he had cut the wings off! Purchase with care: If they are below the normal price and bought from a seller who hasn't been operating very long then beware. If the seller is reputable and can give you plenty of info on how to raise the species backed up by photos then you should be okay. Thanks for the heads up! I purchased the queen from Antdealer because most of their reviews looked to be positive. It'll be very hard to tell if the queen is fertile, most keepers that I know of have failed in keeping this species and the workers seem to have a high mortality rate. Fingers crossed shes up the duff  If I succeed in rearing her first nanitics it will be pure luck. In time I hope we root out the good traders from the bad. |
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 20, 2015 16:05:58 GMT
I feel that Pandora's Box is a very appropriate name for a bullet ant formicarium. It looks very well planned so far and you've definitely got everything ready for them. Looking forward to photos when they arrive!
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 16:34:23 GMT
Great practical set-up occultus. Nice to see your putting up a PTFE barrier, your definitely going to need it  We all wish you the best of success with this colony. |
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 21, 2015 13:39:52 GMT
One big lady. How long do you reckon Occultus, around 2 inches long?
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Post by messor2894 on May 21, 2015 14:57:56 GMT
Wow she's brilliant  |
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Post by Thebugman on May 21, 2015 15:02:36 GMT
She looks very prehistoric! Best of luck with her!
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Post by deansie on May 21, 2015 17:15:37 GMT
Fantastic mate! Will be following closely as would love this species.
Only thing I would have suggested was maybe a box with a greater surface area like one that goes under the bed and then only putting heating cable under half the tub as to provide a heat gradient then she could choose what side she prefered. As there's so little successful journals out there I wish you the best of luck buddy.
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Post by Zarbi on May 21, 2015 17:28:09 GMT
Now she is one big bug. I would not fancy a bite or getting stung by her, so watch your fingers.
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