ANTSTORE World of Ants

[miszt]

My new Herculeanus Queen is on her way, have spent the last 2 weeks getting her new home setup, so thought i'd post my setup now and make updates as the colony grows

The tank is a very large tank, as I want to be able to house the colony in one place for at least a few years, its ~ 60x50x30

At the bottom i've used Clay Agregate balls for moisture retention and release, and covered this with compost made from Pine tree bark, I cooked the compost @ 200C for 30 minutes prior to adding it to make sure theres no nasty bacteria in it.

The nesting site is cork, several pieces layered ontop of one another, should be a perect nesting site as its going to get nice and moist from the soil and clay bass, behind the nest is a small slow growing fern called a Boston fern, it will only grow about 20cm a year, so just needs a trim about every 3-6 months. The fern also likes to be in a warm and humid enviroment, so should settle in well for the ants to explore

Cork is great for boring insects, the ants should have lots of fun making their home inside it, there are already several holes in the cork, presumably from other insects that lived in it when it was in the country side, I boiled the cork for a few minutes before adding it to make sure it was clean

I've settled the tempreture during the day ~24C using a heat pad on the back wall outside the tank attached to a thermostat (obviously this will change when they hybernate, then they will go into a shed), and the humidity @ 70C by keeping the Agregate topped up with water. Theres also a 40w bulb in the roof for a bit of light heating

There is a large shell which will serve as a feeding platform for the early stages of the colony untill i start using live food, also 2 fake flowers will be the honey platforms.

To add: a very small 'bog area', which will essentially be a small dish with some live moss that can be kept extra damp for extra humidity and drinking water, various sticks and twigs coming out of the earth, very tiny flat plants like Lichens

Last thing i need to do is make the setup escape proof, can anyone recommend anything that Herculeanus find particuly difficult to walk on?

[JimmyVe]

Last thing i need to do is make the setup escape proof, can anyone recommend anything that Herculeanus find particuly difficult to walk on?

I would use PTFE and a lid of course (the PTFE would be perfect for when you are feeding them, otherwise the lid would do just fine, these are rather big ants so if you use a grid(http://www.antstore.net/shop/product_in ... hite-.html) it would be escape proof.
For the PTFE make it about 6cm wide.

[miszt]

The setup as a lid already, its an old reptile tank i used to have, do you know what PTFE actually is? I dont realy want to have to pay such a large postage cost for such a small item lol is it some kind of Parafin mixture?

[Dr.House]

Always remember, google is your friend ^^
Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

[JimmyVe]

Fluon PTFE (Poly-TetraFluoro-Ethyleen) in dutch, don't now what it is in English.
You are wright, it is a bit expensive only to buy this, the shipping cost are more then the bottle of PTFE.
But i must say, this is the best glide material there is.

[miszt]

ah Teflon kool got it, i can get that @ my local hardware store cheers peeps!

[miszt]

UPDATE:

Queen arrived today with 2 Coccons and 1 large Larvae and a bunch of eggs She was a bit frantic when I opened her up, so i've put her in a warm n dark corner of my living room to 'chillout' in the hope that she wont eat them all! Pics coming in a few days

Only problem is the test tube has no water in it, and its too long for any of my needles to reach, so I may have to release her into her nu tank earlier than I'd hoped so she can drink, the moisture left in the cotton wool should be fine for a week tho hopefully

[JimmyVe]

If you can place the tube into you farm, cover this up with some sand and put a small dish with some fresh water in front of the tube. This way she could stay in here 'home' and still get some fresh water, and if she likes she could move to the farm.

[miszt]

Yep I'll do that once my pfte tape arrives and i can unplug the test tube safley, at the moment shes happily buried in her test tube

have to say, shes one of the most beautiful ants i've seen for a long time, sleak and beautiful shiny black with a dark rust color underneath, and she is a bit of a monster! certainly wouldnt want a bite off her lol

Very excited to see the first workers, the 2 coccons are quiet dark, so hopefully in the next few days they will emerge

[miszt]

First worker has just come out of her coccon i'v left them blocked in still coz i broke the lid on my tank! *doh* gona have to get a glass cutter and make a nu one

[JimmyVe]

Very nice miszt. Now your colony is on his way to start growing.

About the lid... have fun making a new one.

[miszt]

Made a new lid, but its not ventilated enough, humidity hit 99% today, and the tempreture hit 34C, eeek! i've removed the heat mat, i dont want to cook them lol fortunetly the tempreture inside the wood was a max of 24C, so should be fine, but now i've got to try and make a ventalated but escape proof lid, and soon!

I have some Mosquito netting I was going to use, but i'm a bit worried they will be able to chew thru it, also checked out the netting you recomended above JimmyVe, but wont they be able to chew thru it? Would like to get a plastic mesh, like what is used on the Lids in Antstore, but cant seem to find it anywhere, any ideas which one it is?

[Bob]

Like it. Would like to see some pics of the actual nest itself as in not the entire terrarium but the cork part in which the ants will live. Do post more pics if possible.

[miszt]

Not much to see really, its not a 'see-in' nest, but a pile of cork pieces, but there ya go... i dont usualy use cut out nests that you can see into, i prefer to keep everything as natrual as possible, also i have an endoscopic camera that i can use to see inside the nest if i need to

Also added 2 live moss's and a flat leaf plant i found in my garden, not sure what the plant is, but it likes the damp, so shuld do well

[Bob]

Love your display. Once again Thanks for the display. An endoscopic camera? Sounds great! Are you able to take any pics from it? Where may we purchase such an endoscropic camera? are they expensive? Please do let us know.