Camponotus nicobarensis

[bugsy]

It is interesting mate and i think you should keep it up, like Andie said we dont really have a moderator anymore. That combined with the few of us there are makes it seem that people aren't interested, when in actual fact they are. I love the set up it looks great. Also I'm not sure I would recommend putting large beetle larvae in alive just yet. This colony will become massive with time, until then keep it safe. Live food shouldn't be able to get to the nest area freely on its own. My Nigriceps don't even allow me to go near it, to be fair I'm a little scared of the majors though. One bit me and it hurt, ha ha.
Good luck keep it up, even if no one replies at first, eventually someone will. Or I will try my best to.

[Lewis]

Thanks guys, I will definitely keep it going now.

@bugsy
yes I have now fixed the problem of food climbing up into the nest, I think it was because the feeding area is quite dry and there was a ramp that all the prey could climb up.
Thanks.

@Andie, we had Steve but he seems to have gone.

@ theantman, thanks for the advice and I will put more pics up soon.

Regards Lewis

[Lewis]

Update: here are some more pictures of them

[Lewis]

Update: well in the past few days around five pupae have hatched, but i was a little disappointed to see that 4 of the three were males and were eaten almost as soon as they came out. But on the bright side the fifth pupae was a major . I have started noticing strange yellowish white stuff appearing on mainly the soil that the ants have placed on the top of the chamber walls around the edge but is now appearing on the soil that has not been moved. I am very worried that is may be a fungus!! pro ant keepers out there please help!! In the first picture you can see the questioned fungus in the bottom left hand corner, also in the last photo! I thought that maybe it was caused by the old food that the ants have left in there which is beginning to grow mould.

help.

[bugsy]

When you made your y-tong how many chambers did you make and how many of them are currently unused? If your nest is too big for the colony size you always run the risk of them using the chambers as areas to dump waste. Ideally you want them dumping waste in the basin where you can remove it. If there is no way you can close off empty chambers and expand them as the colony grows then you may need to consider reducing the amount of food you feed them. This way waste is kept to a minimum. Yes that could be mould growing.

[Lewis]

Yes there are too many chambers for the number of ants. And I cannot reduce the number chambers. The ants seem to be behaving normally which leaves me with the dilemma: should I offer them a smaller nest which would involve stressing the ants by letting light in to the old nest or should I leave them as it is and hope that they will clean it out as they grow, finally I could try and dry out the nest to kill the fungus.

Anyway, What should I do?

Thanks
Lewis

[bugsy]

How moist is the nest? It is an option to let it dry a little, in my experience the nest doesn't have to be wet anyway just a little moist. Without seeing a picture of your whole y-tong and how its been constructed its difficult to suggest ideas as I don't know what methods your using to make it moist. Post a full picture of just the y-tong if you can.

[Lewis]

Here is a picture, I do think that the nest is a bit too wet, so I think I will let it dry out. It sits in this tray and I pour water in when it runs out.

[bugsy]

Yeah I don't think I would personally have the whole y-tong sitting in water. You should have constructed a leg from one of the chambers that a small container could sit in and absorb the water. This way one area stays moist and the ants can move to where they feel comfortable and it reduces the risk of mould. At the minute your whole nest is moist so if they are dumping in it then the waste cant escape the risk of mould. You can try and carve a section underneath one of the chambers so a small container can sit underneath it. Similar to the design of my Camponotus ligniperdus, this will upset the colony when your carving it out though. Alternatively sit the nest in water for a few hours then remove it for a few days. Hope it helps, any thoughts from anyone else?????

[Andie]

I think first i would dry it out then drill a small hole in the perspex and down between two of the chambers, where the ants cant escape, you could maybe inject water via a syringe into the y-tong. Hopefully that would give you enough moisture. Also if you could ad another vent somewhere you will get better ventillation and that will help reduce mould growth too. You might need an air pump or pc fan to help circulate some air movement..

[Lewis]

Thank you both of you,

bugsy wrote: You can try and carve a section underneath one of the chambers so a small container can sit underneath it.

I don't think I will risk this in case I chop through to the chambers.

bugsy wrote: Alternatively sit the nest in water for a few hours then remove it for a few days.

This sound like a safer option, thanks. I did try and make a leg when I made the y-tong but it was just too thin and meant that the container would have had to be about 2cm deep.

Andie wrote: think first i would dry it out then drill a small hole in the perspex and down between two of the chambers, where the ants cant escape, you could maybe inject water via a syringe into the y-tong. Hopefully that would give you enough moisture.

This is a possible idea but again is risky, I will definitely make sure that the y-tong is thicker in the future.
I have thought about ventilation but I do not know anything about it, such as the price and set-up.
Thanks
Lewis


Update: despite the fungus or mould the queens keep laying at what seems to be a ridiculous rate as they must have around the same amount of eggs as other brood.

[Shiver]

Can't you just place something under one side of the ytong, ideally under the end where the rubber tubing is, to raise it above the level of water (roughly half in/half out), then you will get a moisture gradient too, as opposed to wet then drying then wet then drying like removing it would do (no offence Bugsy). I don't know how high you need to raise it but something wedge shaped like a door stop would do if it's only a few centimetres needed? A wooden wedge would be easy to make yourself but would rot of course...

Still not really ideal but you should plan ahead a bit better.

[bugsy]

None taken, just a suggestion to an unfortunate situation. Personally I would start again and incorporate everything you've learnt. A colony that size shouldn't have any problems moving.

[Lewis]

Yes I know I made a mistake and will make sure that I do not make the same mistake again.

@Shiver, thank you this is a good idea. I will defiantly test it.
@bugsy, I will not start again until I see a difference in the ants behaviour.

[Lewis]

I have not yet moved them back into the water, because they seem to be developing at a higher rate. Also to mould does seem to be drying out

Almost all larvae are now cocoons and the eggs are hatching into larvae.

Food is being taken readily even with this bad whether.

I do not think that one of the queens holding it's abdomen underneath it sort if like spraying acid is it cleaning its self, because it does it all the time. I any of you have seen Messor barbarus in the wild, they do the same when carrying the seeds back to the nest. Maybe for speed. maybe the queen is just always ready to lay.