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Hello,
I have a new Messor barbarus queen in a test tube with some larva. Am i correct in thinkings she will be ok to live in the testtube until she starts getting some ants? even corked?
If so, at what point should i start feeding them? at the first ant or when theres a few?
And when should they be allowed to move out of the tube? when theres about 10?
thank you
pete
Hiya pete.. Remove the cork and put some cotton wool in the end.. then cover her over and leave her be.. check on her just once a week. When she gets some workers offer them some insects.. but no seeds untill there is a good 10 workers.. i wont be moving mine into a farm untill at least 20-30 workers :D
Hello pete and welcome.
Correct me if i'm wrong, you are new to keeping ants ?
Messor barbarus is not a difficult species to keep, but they are if you need to start with only a queen... maybe it was better to start with another species.
That said. :)
Leave her in the tube, it would be nice if you could put the tube on a heat mat so it is a nice 27°c in the tube. At least keep her in the tube until she has 10-20 workers. Insects should be fed when workers hatch. Seeds later on (like Steve said).
Read around the forum a bit, there is plenty of good information about these species and Good Luck. :)
being nosey here - but does the cotton wool let some air in ? I had a Queen recently die as I had left the lid on the test tube :0(
The cotton wool lets the air in
but every once and a while I let some fresh air go in the test tube.
In deed, i do it to. ;)
Hi there,
I can't tell you what is definitely the right thing to do, but I can tell you what I've recently done with my Camponotus herc. queen in a tube- I put the tube in a small perspex box with about an inch of soil and wood chip and a small bit of moss. She stayed in the tube, which was fine, but I like to think her surroundings felt natural to her on the few occasions she left the tube. She walled the tube up with dirt at one end when the larvae began to develop, and once a week I put ear cleaning cotten-wool sticks (I'll include a picture at the end as I can't describe these properly) with honey water and just water into the tube. The queen would feed from these when she was hungry. My first worker was born yesterday :D
Ear cleaner/cotton wool on a stick thingies:
http://www.fotosearch.com/thumb/UNQ/UNQ178/u15081208.jpg
Hello Snide and welcome to the forum.
Congratulations with you're first born. :)
Many thanks :)