ANTSTORE World of Ants

[highered]

I have put my Harpegnathos venators in an enclosed box with a heating lamp inside the box (I originally pt it outside the box but it wasn't heating the inside much). I have made an ant farm and put it the box. Unfortunately there is condensation on the inside of the box and around the antfarm. Does anyone know how to reduce the condensation? I have holes in the self made antfarm. I could take the lid off the box but I would then have to reposition the antfarm as they could easily escape. For ants needing a high humidity (eg Atta ants) would you use a fan within the enclosed basin? Thanks your replies. Pictures to follow next week.

[JimmyVe]

If you heat up the farm you always will have condesation. If you use a heat mat, the area where the heat mat is you can see that there is no condesation so if you like to take pictures you can remove the heat mat for a few minutes.

[highered]

But won't condensation get in the nest and make the nest too wet for the brood?

[JimmyVe]

Normally not. They probably move the brood underneath the heat mat.

[Phasmid]

You shouldn't need a fan running all the time but you should have one you can turn on for a few minutes a day just to replace the stagnant air with fresh air. Put the fan on the outside facing into the tank via the mesh (if your using mesh).

[Chemitech]

Don't keep them to wet. You will get problems with mites. It is better to ask your supplier where the ants come from (the area or a city near by). Then you can check up the correct "wheater" conditions.

[highered]

Thanks, I have now moved them to a drier nest, pictures to follow at the end of this week. They don't eat energy food like sugar, honey etc do they? Mine wouldn't eat it, and I put a grey spider in there and they ignore it completely. I am going to look for some local live insects to give them today.

[Chemitech]

You can feed them with fresh killed insects. But when you do so, you have to place the insects in the entrance of the nest. That they don't eat energy food is normal. They don't have social-stomach so that they have to carry it between their mandibles.

[Messorus]

Chemitech is true... as Ponerinae they don´t make together thropalaxion, so you must be careful and get ants full of food all the time. So as predators, you must give them just proteins, but I think you also wont feed them by honeywatter.....
I have the same experience, that you must put protein food near the entrace, I don´t know if itś normal, but my Odontomachus are in ,,naturaly" formicarium shy and they don´t went out for hunting...

[highered]

I feed them a bumble bee yesterday and they were interested in it but weren't strong enough to take it down. There was about 1-4 of them on it and the bumble bee had jaws about the size of a weaver ant and seemed too strong for them. However none of the workers got hurt either. I then helped out and killed the bumble bee but once it wasn't moving they weren't interested in it even after I cut it up. I will try to find something else today. I will also try killing the spider I put in there and putting it in the nest entrance. Would you believe I put a small grey moth from my flat in there this morning and it walked and flapped around and they weren't interested in that either? Maybe they can't see grey.

[Chemitech]

I don't know which color they can see. I think the fine hairs from the moth is a problem. Another think is the activ hunting. I don't know the size of your colony, but ants from a small colony are very shy. The best way to feed them is to use small house crickets (Acheta domesticus), but then you have to boil the crickets in hot water (I prepare then as follow: a cup of hot water and the some small crikets, on this way you kill all possible mites on the crickets). After some seconds you can put the crickets in the nest entrance.

[neab]

You can give the cricket alive.
To remove the mites just to soak in coca-cola or lemon juice for 30 seconds.

[jartok]

Or you can buy some crickets at the size you want then put them in freezer and take them out as needed the mites will die this way also and no rotting

[Chemitech]

alive is not good, it is often that the cricket are contaminated with mites. Harpegnathos are very sensitiv for mites!!!

[neab]

The acid in lemon juice remove all the mites.
Dust mites don't support acid media.
Also, you can put a little vinegar or oak extract in water for humidification of the nest, it's good.

If you have a colony of ants contaminated with mites, and you put a cotton swab with lemon juice, you will see ants rub it in themselves to remove mites.
I saw that with Myrmica rubra for example