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IIcreepingII: will my ants hate me?:-( (18. Apr 2012 00:01)

Hi everybody

I am new to the forum and had a couple of questions
I ordered the alpha ants starters kit A, and the cool camponotus ligniperdus. ( Wich can arive any moment now )
Now ofcourse i did some research on the species and the keeping.
but as i was just browsing away to find information about C. ligniperdus just now and i came across a site that stated the ants need to have a wide nest.

Because C. ligniperda is a carpenter species, use of wood is not advised. Colonies can be kept in Plaster, Hydrostone, Y-Tong, Pumice, Slim Nests, Tanks, and of course trusty test tubes. Nests should be 10-30 % moist.

Traditional slim nests that are 1 inch or slimmer will not work well. The ants may be too restricted.

Is this true? cause i have not read it anywhere? the glass farm where i want them to nest is only 12mm and not an inch(2.54cm)
will my ants refuse to nest there and nest in the arena? If so must i stop them?
i fear my ants will hate me for it! :(
( sry for the typo's i'm actualy dutch :oops: )

Thank u in advance
Creeping

MrIglo: Re: will my ants hate me?:-( (18. Apr 2012 07:17)

Hello,

as far as i know your information is correct.

Traditional slim nests that are 1 inch or slimmer will not work well. The ants may be too restricted.
I think that is true. The queen (16-18mm lenght) will ot be able to turn around easily in the 12mm farm. Most workers (6-14mm) will be able to turn around.

20mm wide or more would be better.

I anyway recommence using gipsum or Y-tong.

With best regards.

IIcreepingII: Re: will my ants hate me?:-( (18. Apr 2012 12:53)

so they will prolly wanne nest in the arena than? should i let them? or is it unhealthy for the colony (will they be able to clean there nest, and will i be able to moisture it properly?)
If not, will they be able to stay in the test tube for a couple of days till my other order has arrived? (the one i will make today or tomorow, and takes about 3-4 days)

and if that aint enough i got another question! :lol:

I am realy intrested in the behavior of the ants, i find the stinging ones realy fascinating and would like to see what this does on prey,
So for my second colony i would like some with stingers 8)
Now i'm not the most expierenced guy so a Myrmecia pavida is totaly out of the question :lol: i was thinking about M yrmica rubra,
Can somoeone list the ones that sting+there size?

Sorry for all the questions :grin:

IICreepingII

MrIglo: Re: will my ants hate me?:-( (18. Apr 2012 13:32)

You can put the testtube in the arena and open it up. It is a fine nest for the ants. If you want you can give another prepared (cotton + water) testtube. Some only use prepared testtubes, because it is very simple and creap.

I dont remember the size of Myrmica rubra. I recomence to use google or wikipedia, i think you will find it out :wink:

IIcreepingII: Re: will my ants hate me?:-( (18. Apr 2012 14:44)

thanks mrIglo for your fast reply's i looked it up and watched other people colony's on utube and theyr behavior is awesome both social and gathering. as for my c. ligniperdus i will make a nest out of an empty plastic candy jar, stick a tube in it to the arena. is it a problem that its plastic? will it poison my ants or anything? or will they be able to chew through it :D ?

Thanks Regards Creeping

MrIglo: Re: will my ants hate me?:-( (18. Apr 2012 16:14)

is it a problem that its plastic? will it poison my ants or anything?
Normally no. Use plastic what is made to contain human food, so you can be 100% shure.

or will they be able to chew through it :D ?
Depends on the plastics, but rather no. If they do it will take a while and got have time to react.

With best regards.