ANTSTORE World of Ants

[The ant guy]

Hiya, I want to get Messor barbarus. I've had experience with Lasius flavus ants before so I think i'm ready for these guys. I'm fine with everything but Humidity so here my questions:

I don't know what you measure Humidity in but I think its %, so what % do the Messor's Prefer/need?

How would I lower humidity, i've heard of those De-humidifiers but they're alot of money, is there a cheaper option?

Thankies

[Phasmid]

You will only need a de-humidifier if you live in a tropical region. These ants are quite easy to keep and need very little equipment, the only things you realy need is a tank of damp sand and a heat mat/lamp.

[The ant guy]

Thanks for the fast reply, I live in the UK So I guess i'm fine ^^ I'm thinking of putting them in a Y-tong nest with a Heat mat under them

[mzfckr]

they can chew trough ytong,so you must keep ytong in a tank

[JimmyVe]

Hello The ant guy and welcome.

In deed they chew threw it so it is better to keep the y-tong in a tank.
Also it is better if you could heat from above (ore side). In nature if ants are getting to hot they dig deeper (underground) to cool down, if they do it when the heat mat is underneath they dig themselves to dead.

Keep the y-tong not to wet (about 30%) and try to heat up a bit of the moist piece and a bit of the dry piece of the y-tong. (they need dry area to stock there seeds.)

Good luck

[The ant guy]

Aah. Should I scrap my Y-tong or is there anyway of Keeping them from biting out? I could line the tunnels with Plaster?

[Phasmid]

You could put the Y-tong in a tank. Plaster is even softer than Y-tong so I think they could chew through that aswell?

[The ant guy]

Hrm. I'm gong to need to find a tank then. I'll check antstore, I hope its not too much

[DonDiablo]

I also used tile glue but the ants prefer to use the main wais so its not that they will demolish your'e whole ytong but when they think it is nessecary they will make another entrance through your ytong

gr, Don (bad english)

[The ant guy]

I don't really want to buy another tank, is there a way of hardening Y-tong? Thats my last resort

[DonDiablo]

yes you can use glue if you can find or you can buy plexiglass (or real glass) in the right sizes (you can let it cut at the shop in the desired size) and than glue it with zilicon yourself its much cheaper

Other wise you can place the ytong block in a cheap container(for example a store box) and use parafin oil or whatever you want to don't let them escape out of the box.

Good luck i hope it helps
Don

[SteveUK28]

Well a really cheap option would be to place the ytong into plastic basins.. u can buy them for around £9 in most pet shops.. However ud have to cut ya ytong to size.. and still put glass on it.. ud also have to melt holes in the plastic basin to allow for expansion as the colony grows. Saying that as long as the ants have plenty of room to expand i cant see y they'd chew threw it... ??

[Phasmid]

I had my Messor barbarus in a Y-tong, I moved them once they gew out of it but I never noticed any ants digging into it before, so you should be ok aslong as they have planty of space.

[Alby]

In wich ways is possible to move a colony in a bigger nest?Just now I've made an ytong nest 32X25 for my messor queen..how many ants can I keep in this??

[SteveUK28]

moving to a bigger nest is fairly simple you just connect it to the outworld.