ANTSTORE World of Ants

[heeksy]

hello, i have had my colony for about 3 months and i started with about 150 workers and 4 queens. i set them up in the small starter set, it was probly to small but they seemed ok.

a few weeks ago i added a plaster nest that i keep moist all the time, then last weekend i added a bigger basin to it, i kept the old small basin as there still living in the test tube (they dont want to move out).

Since saturday iv lost about 40 to 50 workers. everyday its like a battle field, there everywhere. i pick them out of new large basin and the next day there are more dead.

I watched one today staggering about then curl up and die. I know some died in the parrafin oil i put around the top, it dripped down and they got stuck, but i sorted that out straight away on sunday morning when i noticed and thought that would be sorted. i cleaned it up and put my left over sand in the bottom of the basin.

the queens are ok and iv got hundreds of eggs, and probly still over 100 workers. does anyone have any ideas how or why they could be dieing so quick all of a sudden,

cheers
ashley

[Pugberto]

Sounds strange. How did you get the colony?

[heeksy]

i got them from another online store, they have been fine up until i added this new basin. its got a thin layer of left over sand/loam i got with the starter set from antstore. so its really dry but i thought that was ok in the basin. its all the same as in the small origanal basin i set up, just bigger.

the one i saw die was walking around like she was drunk, then died. iv been feeding them every 2 days and they seem to go for what ever i give them.

if they keep dieing in the new basin i will remove it, but i cant see how its harming them if it is that.

[Pugberto]

Hard to say what the problem is. Maybe a disease from the sound of that worker or maybe something in the loam or maybe the food.

[heeksy]

thanks for the help, i will see how they do over the weekend. if no change il take the basin away and try differnt food.

cheers

[JimmyVe]

in deed, it hard to say, could be everything (ore nothing), if i'm not mistaking it seems like they are sick (workers walking around like they are drunk and than die, i had the same problem with some of my ants a while ago)

[heeksy]

did your workers get better, or did they all die off jimmyve?

[JimmyVe]

Most off the workers died, a few weeks later the queen died (also from this sickness i think). So the colony stops there...

But it could be something else to, just hope they get better.

[miszt]

are you sure it is pure Parrafin Oil?

Hows the moisture level in the nest, n i assume they have a good supply of fresh water?

[MrNixy]

They sound like a food or water source has been contaminated with a form of poison, you may want to try removing the new parts of the nest and refreshing all food and water.

Where did you get the plaster to build the nest, there is a chance it has a toxin in it, ants shuddering around and then dropping dead is due to "organ" failure, they only usually die like this after coming into contact with a mico parasite or toxin.

Regards.

[sithmaster676]

i had a similar problem with my formica fusca colony it could either me like MR said water or food but if you have sand in your basin that might be the problem, i moved my out of the formicarium and disinfected the basin sand using very, very hot water which worked for me
Sithmaster676

[MrNixy]

It's easy to get a contamination my advice to anyone who has ants that are showing a "slow death" symptom in mass numbers is to get them out and clean everything and make sure you look into anything new you have installed to the nest, some things you wouldn't imagine can be very toxic to ants always read the packaging ^^

[bidak]

some things you wouldn't imagine can be very toxic to ants always read the packaging ^^

Yes, my first colony died some years ago after eating marmalade.

[MrNixy]

Marmalade has way too many artificial additives or ants, even if its home made you must add tanning to make it set, this in high dosages is dangerous to ants, and in marmalade, the amount of tanning is VERY high. OH! and red wine kills ants quick too

[JimmyVe]

This all could be the problem, but when i had it with my ants they where in a farm where they where in the last 3 months, there where no changes and there was enough food and water. Nothing new added ore nothing else given to them, still they had about the same semitones like these ants. They where probably just sick.
Hope your problem is easier and you find a solution.