Hi All
Had a delivery today from Antstore of Camponotus ligniperda (Q+11/25) along with 2 large tanks and some other stuff. Surprisingly the order went badly wrong as both tanks were busted, the parcel had been opened, items were missing and most of the ants are dead. Now this is not a whine, Antstore are aware and I am planning to get my dad (whom all this was for as a present) to photo the dead ants and broken items. Antstore for their part have said they will re-ship any missing/broken items. I have had about 6 good orders from Antstore, so I believe the courier was having a bad day
My question is this:
Given that so many of her brood are dead how lkely is it that she will survive, I don’t really want to tell Antstore that she is OK only to have her die in a week or 2. Basically she was in a box that was dropped as the 60x30x20 tank was smashed the company initially delivered to the wrong location so she was in-transit for a week and a half. I have had her moved to a small Antstore tank I had stored at my dad’s house, she has access to insects, honey, water and most importantly piece and quiet. I have asked that they are kept dark and warm for now, and that apart from removing the dead they have taken out of the test tube they should not be disturbed. Is there anything else I can do to help her along and how far back with this set the colony back. We believe there is about 6 workers but no eggs or larva.
Thanks
Paul
Sorry to hear about the bad delivery. If I were you and if I had payed extra for a bigger colony, I would return the colony and ask to be replaced. I think that the colony will be ok - 6 workers can take care of the queen but if there is no brood the whole colony is put back few months. :? It's up to you to decide.
Mpir Thanks for the response, 11 to 25 workers was the biggest colony they had so I could not get bigger. I thought was hoping the setback would just be a few weeks not a few months
Ya the ting is that these ants take a long time to recover in brood and ants as they grow so slow...
Sorry to hear the bad package delivery, normaly this doesnt happen. Like Mpir said i would send them back and get them replaced.
Good luck
Sorry to hear that, if there are still 6 workers they will recover, but like ashhad said, they grow slow so it will take a month ore 2 to completely recover from this.