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Hi all,
So after much discussion in the chatroom last night I have ordered a colony of H.venator and a 30x20 basin to start them off in. I am awaiting the arrival of both, so I will keep you posted on their progress through this thread. Exciting times.
in a bit,
G :-)
what the size of the colony??
matt
p.s. Enjoy!
Hi Matt,
They have yet to arrive with the shipper in holland, but between 10 and 25 workers. I have been advised to hope for more workers than brood as the brood can die in transport. Any who, I am looking forward to their arrival.
do you keep them yourself?
all the best,
G
Update:
I have recieved some 25x115mm test tubes. I will be using these as nests initially. I am considering using two and seeing which conditions the ants prefer, i.e. i will place one hotter and one cooler and see what they like.
I have been feeding up my blatta lateralis colony to boost the numbers of juveniles for my ants, and I will be getting my green bottles maggots tomorrow, maybe housefly maggots, but they are often harder to find, so if he has none I will settle for the greenies. i will keep these maggots warm to speed their pupation, then gutload the adults with honey water and apple sauce, then feed to the ants.
I will post pics of the pupation chamber, and the gutload ingrediants in due course.
One more thing,
do any UK hobbyists have experiences of buying from the Antstore.de I have ordered a book last week and haven't recieved it, just wondering how long deliveries have taken for you guys? I have also ordered a basin setup, but that was only ordered on wednesday so i suppose that is too soon to expect.
cheers,
G
No I Dont have these species unfortunatly.
Umm i would say you should recieve your order on monday or tuesday Seeing as its now the weekend.
Enjoy, What you mention above you keep yourself??, if i am reading correct how?
matt
all the best!
Hi Matt,
I keep the blatta lateralis, in a large ( tall - they can not climb plastic, or glass) plastic food storage bin, with a clip on lid. i heat half the surface of the base with an uncontrolled heatmat. the substrate is cactus soil ( so very gritty and dries out easily). I have given them a small polystyrene deli container for food, and spray them several times per week for drinking (plus water hydrated water gel crystals). I modified the container buy cutting a large section out from the lid, and replacing it with very fine gauge mesh to allow the colony to dry out quickly ( this is important they hate humidity). They live in amongst cardboard egg cartons. for food i feed them fish flakes, choped vegetables, cereals and fruit like apple. they lay eggcases (ootheca) and these hatch over a period of days. they are very low maintainence and will not escape smooth plastic or glass. any abraded or water maked areas, they will be able to climb. I would GUESS (not know) they wwould not be able to climb PTFE.
Flies: In the UK crickets have got ridiculously expensive like £2.99 - £3.50 per carton!!!! also they are often infected with Phorid flies flour worms, and mites. So I stopped using these a long time ago. instead I use flies alot. they are available as larvae (maggots) from any fishing tackle shop, for very reasonable prices £2.25 per pint so they are sold by volume i.e. however many fit in a pint glass!! so for £2.25 you get HUNDREDS. The main species avaiable are the blow fly / bluebottle (largest), The green bottle (middle sized) & the House fly (smallest - musca domestica). All can be pupated at warm room temparatures, ( 18 -25c), they do not require feeding, as all except the house fly feed exclusively on decaying flesh ( so not an option). I keep the maggots in a tall plastic jar, with a ladies ankle stocking over the top. this is important as the maggots must be allow a good airflow, to keep them dry ( they sweat alot) and to allow them to breath ( they breathe alot!). The other great reason for this stocking lid is, if you snip the "toe section" off the stocking and then tie a knot , when the flies hatch you can undo the knot put you hand in ( the elastic nature of the material means the stocking is tight round your wrist - so the flies can not fly out past you hand, you will get VERY few escapes this way). grab the flies you need and throw them in the tank. if you ants are not very agile, you can chill the flies in the freezer section of your refridgerator, and then snip one of the flies wings off with very sharp scissors. This means the flies can not fly, but will buzz about on the floor of the basin attracting ants to them.
Diet for the adult flies is very important - YOU MUST FEED THE ADULT FLIES. they do best on a diet of honey mixed with water and applesauce. If you do not feed the flies, they will die in days, and will be of NO Nutritional value to you ants, mantis, spiders....or what ever you are feeding them to.
Hope that helps Matt.
Let me know what you keep, maybe drop me a PM!
So Here is an Update!
My 30x20 glass starter basin kit arrived - unharmed for all it's travels. I have set it up over the last few days. it put the PTFE on last night, and left it to dry today. I have been heating it for about 4days, and have a sand suface temp ( at the hot end) of 24.1c, with a nightime low of 23c. I have 2 test tube nests. I "Blue tacked" the test tubes to the base of the basin and made sure they are right against the glass (so i can observe the nest activities). I have filled the bottom 1/3 of the tube with water and bunged it with cotton wool - (How do i keep this topped up?)
I recieved a quantity of sand loam mix, which i have put in and covered the test tubes. I have been leaving the lid off tonight and tomorrow to allow the moisture to escape from the loam mix. I am hoping this will harden off to some degree too.When it is dry i may add some gravel, stones and other ornaments. The nest on the cooler side is running at 22c. I have yet to measure the hot side, but i bet it is considerably hotter. i have not managed to get the flies yet, but am sure that maggots & roaches will appeal to them.
Feel free to post comments on what I have done, and tips for replacing the water, in the testtubes without upsetting the ants.
all the best,
Guy
hey,
Are your ants test tubes inside a basin?
If so just mkae sure water is available outside, they will get it when they are ready!
I will pm you tomorrow
matt
Hi Matt,
I have a plastic water dish too, that came with the basin. and yes the testubes are inside the basin.
all the best,
G