Anarky: A change of scene (23. Okt 2008 16:11)

Hi, i'm new so i'll introduce myself.

I have been fascinated by myrmecology for over four years now. I used to collect
my own ants from around my area but never managed to find a queen, due to the
vast size of the nests and fear of killing thousands of ants in the process. Over the
last month I have found antstore and edu-sci and now have Myrmica Rubra and
Lasius Niger colonies.

My problem is that I built my own farm for my Myrmica Rubra colony (2 queens
and approx 50 workers) out of glass from the local merchant and siliconed it all
together. I have a tall, thin glass farm and a small 50mm x 60mm farm basin.
I realized that they were more clever than me and had tunneled into the sand,
where I couldn't see them, therefore I set to work on an ytong nest. I have now
completed this and attached it to my existing setup, however, they will not move,
even though the ytong nest is perfect: moist, dark and warm.

How can I get them to move?

Thanks,
Anarky

SteveUK28: Re: A change of scene (23. Okt 2008 16:29)

Ok well this is gonna be difficult.. If i was you id keep a lamp shining onto where they are now and not damp it at all leave it dry.. id even try slightly heating the ytong and somehow making where they are now cold.. TBH.. thats all you can do.. they should move pretty quickly.. mine love there ytong.. in fact next year il have to make a new one to attach to it as they are outgrowwing it :)

Good luck and :sign_welcome:

Anarky: Re: A change of scene (23. Okt 2008 16:56)

Thanks mate,
ive been trying to shine light from all angles onto it but they seem to
become very tired and none of them leave the nest to even forage. :cry:

They are pretty hardy though, taking down full sized crickets with only 6 of them or so.

Thanks :D

JimmyVe: Re: A change of scene (23. Okt 2008 17:40)

Hello Anarky and :sign_welcome: ,

Like Steve said, make sure the new nest is better than the old one and they will move. Could be they prefer to stay in the old nest to hibernate, maybe it is better to try to move them after hibernation.

SteveUK28: Re: A change of scene (24. Okt 2008 09:03)

ohh yes they are very good at that... crickets dont stand a chance against my colony.. I have at least 1k workers :D

gabranth: Re: A change of scene (24. Okt 2008 09:20)

also make the ytong dark by covering it

SteveUK28: Re: A change of scene (24. Okt 2008 15:39)

gabranth.. he already said he has made it dark !!!!

gabranth: Re: A change of scene (24. Okt 2008 18:08)

gabranth.. he already said he has made it dark !!!!

i never said i could read :wink:

Anarky: Re: A change of scene (24. Okt 2008 18:20)

Hey guys, they've moved!

Unfortunately creating more problems!!
Now, my ytong has a huge amount o condensation on the inside of the glass,
I have had this problem before with other setups and the ants have drowned in the
condensation! Any ideas how to get rid if it?

I have a 'leg' of ytong going to a pool of water to moisten the nest, should i take this
away and let the setup dry out a bit because it is all wet, not just a proportion.

Finally, my colony seems to be staying in the entrance, where the tube enters the ytong,
can anyone tell me why? And if so, how to get them using the chambers i slaved over!?

Thanks,
Anarky

JimmyVe: Re: A change of scene (26. Okt 2008 14:33)

You will always have condensation, if you heat up a part of the y-tong (whit a heat mat) there will be not condensation underneath it, but some species don't need extra heating so that is not always an option.
If the condensation gets to bad you need to make it less moist (using less water off course ;) )

Don't worry they will move into the y-tong eventually. Could be the y-tong is to wet.

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