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Hello Guys , well i managed to make aload of changes to the setup and the ants have settled in but are still in the postal tubes they came in. They are eating well and have taken and killed 11 , mini crickets. Because the tubes are blue plastic and not see throu i have yet to see the queen :( . There are loads of workers comming in and out and i have seen one media worker. :)
I will let the tank where they are slowly dry out now and will hope they start exploring the tube connected to the nest. The nest is warm humid and dark so hopfuuly they will want to move.
The nest chambers have been changed , i have made basically two giant test tubes , they have a resevoir for water and one end and then there is a inch thick wall of gypsum followed by a gypsum chamber incorporated into the tube. Thsi setup allows many to be connected and now with a change in placement of heating cables condensation has not been a problem. :grin:
Heres a few pictures
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New setup with heating cables brought forward
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1st test tube looking setup
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2nd tube with twoconnections one to tube behind and one to foraging area :)
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Inside chamber , with thermometer probe
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Connection to tank , will one day be connected to a new tank in the living room with a woodland
planted theme :P
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Colonys still reside in traveling tubes. Moist tissue placed on floor to keep humidity up untill they settle and decide to move.
Will allow it to slowly dry to encorage them to move inot nest setup. 8)
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Workers attacking cricket , it amazes me at the aggresion and quick recruiting of workers to assit with kill.
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Will update again soon
Regards
Adam :P
Keep 'em comin' Adam ! cheers
Hey Digiserbia , thanks mate :D
Well guys over the weekend the colony has moved. They havent moved into my setup yet but have moved out of there traveling tubes. I added a test tube with a water resovoir and a cotton bung over it. I then covered this with foil and then pulled out the rolled carboard tube inside the traveling tubes , This now ment the colonies inside were inn light and they didnt like it :) , They quickly found the dark test tube and started making a trail twards it , slowly the trail got wider and busyer with workers carrying larva and pupae etc and then i sore two massive queens :P being draged and moving along into the tube =D> . There are also several major soilders :shock: and a few smaller ones.
Now the colony have moved in here i will connect this up to there permannent nesting chamber and pull the foil of the tube , hopfully they will swiftly move into there new home :grin:
More pictures soon guys
Regards
Adam
Hi Adam,
your setup looks really nice indeed. I wish you all the best for your colony.
What I have experienced is, that this species grows in only 3-4 months to sizes you can not imagine right now. So your setup looks really good and prepared for this.
I am not kidding here when I say that you need to start breeding crickets or roaches, since the food requirements of these colonies go sky-high.
I have a colony for almost one year now, which had a breakdown in July - and it is now back to thousands and thousands of ants - the nest fully covering a 1m aquarium.
Seven to twelve adult argentinian forest roaches are usual food - on a daily basis.
Really interested if you made thoughts about food issue already.
Hello Major , thankyou for your comments , yes i have read they do grow to massive populations very quickly so i look forward to this. My setup is indeed prepaired for this huge potential but im still not 100% happy with my desighn , :( I have indeed read aswell about there food requirments and i am prepaired in this way aswell , i keep a few small lizards and i have a live food subscription so i get a few tubs of live food every fortnight 8) so theres plenty to share around.
I have tried and succeded to breed my own crickets , mealworms and even locusts in the past but i just find it to much hassle and takes too much of my time , i work long days so dont have the time to spare for this. :oops:
Regards
Adam
Alright, good to see that you are prepared for it.
My colony is consuming - if I offer it to them - a full package ( 25-30 ) adult crickets on daily basis......
Wow :shock: , How big is your colony , does it have many queens ?
well i reckon it is about 30k workers now, having two queens ( one added just three months ago )
Fantastic mate , have you a blog on here or anywhere , would be nice to read of your experiances with them. And see some pictures :grin: Mine at the moment are still in the test tubes , they have water with a cotton wall bung in the end bit other then that no substrate, they blocked the entrence up with substrate thou and come out throu a small hole , I hope they will be ok in them untill after weekend and i finished my changes :)
I take it they were ok accepting a new queen did you just place her near the entrence or somthing , be nice to read how you did it mate :D
Well I have a report here, on the German part of this forum.
I will redo the whole thing soon, for the old gets a bit too confusing.
Acceptance was not so easy, I got three queens from a friend, but two were killed, and only one accepted.
BUT, My colony is right now raising their first queens and kings :)))))
Pictures will follow, as soon as I have a bit more time.
Do not worry about them in tubes, 4-6 weeks at right conditions, and you will see them 24/7.