Purifier: (4. Dez 2007 22:40)

But some ants only eat hunted insects, no dead ones. So you have to feed them alive insects.

But when you dont want to kill them on your own, cook or freeze them you have to use the ant protein jelly from Antstore or a near pet shop....thats the two things you could do.....

mzfckr: (5. Dez 2007 06:00)

for me-antstore has a big shipping price and petstore-they first time heard a protein jelly

SteveUK28: (5. Dez 2007 11:31)

sorry guys but i really have no problem puttin a spidey into boiling water.. at the end of the day its a quicker death than being ripped apart by like 20 ants...

Purifier: (5. Dez 2007 12:02)

Thats nature. When i see some dokus thats brutal when some lions lacerate their loot. And in the microkosmos its the same. In the nature a dozen ants kill a spider and eat it alive....

But its okay when someone could not kill animals/insects. There is the way with the jelly for them ;)

But for me personally its no problem to put a living insect in my basin. I enjoy watching them by hunting.

SteveUK28: (5. Dez 2007 14:16)

lol purifier i had to admit i would also enjoy watching that and tbh i cant wait until my colony is big enough for me to stick live insects in ;)

Purifier: (5. Dez 2007 14:51)

Thats very cool by my Diacamma colony. They are fantastic predators. I love it to wtach em hunting.
What ants du you have Steve?

SteveUK28: (5. Dez 2007 15:30)

Atm ive just got Lasius niger and Lasius flavus . i would love to get some weaver ants next yr tho :D

tail__: (6. Dez 2007 10:14)

My L. niger colony started hunting at size of 7 workers. I have moss in my formicarium and a lot of very small critters live there. Most of them are smaller than worker's head, so they aren't any serious meal, I think ants hunt them for fun ;)

There are some alternatives of insects:
- raw meat, especially things like liver etc. Most ants sometimes eat vertebrates meat when they meet any carrion. Very small pieces of dog or cat food can be quite good protein source.
- egg yolk mixed with honey - very good universal meal.
- dried blood (used for fishing, so you can buy it in fishing shops), melted in water. Beware, however, it STINKS. Fresh blood is also good if you have some to spare.

I use all of the above, AND also insects - this is most natural. But most ants are very versatile and can eat many things. So their food should be a bit diversed, I wouldn't like to eat only one species of insects every time if I were the ant.

ratgreen: (6. Dez 2007 17:23)

has anyone heard of spirulina? its an algea that is used in fish food and lizard food as a source of protien, surely if you mixed it with honey or something it would be perfect for ants as it tastes good and has alot of protien

miszt: (6. Dez 2007 17:30)

some ants do like fish food, allot dont unfortunetly, but mixed wqith honey they are a good source of nutriants as you say

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