Ponderings about Messor barbarus

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Ponderings about Messor barbarus

Beitragvon Uzag » 17. Aug 2014 15:09

Hi everyone! I just recently started to think about ants as pets and soon discovered how large and creative the ant-keeping community is. I’m really impressed and feeling inspired!
I have a pile of questions and I understand if people don’t feel like reading this whole thing... but any input on the stuff below is highly appreciated~

- The species
I’ve been reading a lot and out of the species that seem to be recommended fairly often for beginners, I’ve gotten interested in Messor barbarus. This is particularly because of their fairly large size and worker variety in difference to, say, Lasius niger. Although I’ve also seen others claiming this species is hard! Is it an okay beginner’s species or not? (I’m not new to terrarium pets, thus I have some basic understanding about the importance of things such as climate).

- Starting a colony
I would like to order a queen with a few workers from here. I feel a bit worried though about hibernation... Is it too late to start a new colony for this season? I’d be ready for them around early September. May I skip hibernation this first year or can I rest them as usual? Should I even wait to get any ants at all until spring?

- The tank
I intend to build a tank that has an enclosed ytong section with arena-box stuck on top of it (I like the idea of a single unit). To my understanding, ants do not like to presented with a large hive right away, so I figured I’ll just stick cotton balls into the openings that lead to the ytong part until they outgrow their test-tube. Would that work? How large should I let the colony get before introducing them to a tunnel-system?
How large tunnels do this species like?
I think I’ll mainly try use an alcohol-gel & talcum mix to prevent escaping, but when do I need to reapply such?

- Climate
Do I need to a heating system for this species or will room temperature (20-25C) + a light bulb do? In the summers it may be about 30C here. If I need a heating mat, where should I place it in an ytong & arena set-up?
To my understanding, they like a dry part of their nest to store seeds in. Is it enough to locate a soaking hole to one of the sides of the ytong block or do I need to divide the ytong more clearly with a barrier?
How long and cold should I hibernate them?

Thanks! :)
Uzag
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Re: Ponderings about Messor barbarus

Beitragvon shane » 17. Aug 2014 17:59

Messor barbarus are good to keep but after say a year or 2 there numbers will get bigger to over 1000 :D

Keep warm all year round or nest. like room temp, never under like 7c as they can die. They don't need a light but the warmer they are the more queen
will lay eggs, But its best to just let your room temp look after them if your home is warm all year round.
Also look up journals on internet about keeping them.

========================================
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Re: Ponderings about Messor barbarus

Beitragvon phasenp » 20. Aug 2014 11:05

Hej!

I am a beginner myself and been looking into messors and setups for the last 2 months :)

By nature I like doing things big, so I wanted to create something nice. I guess its possible to scale down, but here it is:
An aquarium in size 60*40*35 and two ytong blocks for the short sides in sizes 40*20*10. Then carve nests into both of them facing the aquarium side and fasten with silicone. I was thinking of doing the same as you, blocking the entrances with cotton balls, so that their first nest is a very small ytong part that I will cut off from one of the bigger ytong blocks and place in the middle of the "aquarium". I got the general design idea from here: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

I will also probably buy a heating mat around 14 watt or something when its not hot enough.

I am also wondering about when to start a colony. I would want to buy this autumn, but I have read different things about hibernation requirements the first year.

Hibernation of messors should be somewhere between 10-15 degrees from around november until late february. Give them some water during that time.

Over time, with both nests opened I think I will give one of the nests some water and the other one will stay completely dry.

My biggest problem is finding someone who sends stuff to Norway..
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Re: Ponderings about Messor barbarus

Beitragvon shane » 20. Aug 2014 21:30

phasenp hat geschrieben:Hej!

I am a beginner myself and been looking into messors and setups for the last 2 months :)

By nature I like doing things big, so I wanted to create something nice. I guess its possible to scale down, but here it is:
An aquarium in size 60*40*35 and two ytong blocks for the short sides in sizes 40*20*10. Then carve nests into both of them facing the aquarium side and fasten with silicone. I was thinking of doing the same as you, blocking the entrances with cotton balls, so that their first nest is a very small ytong part that I will cut off from one of the bigger ytong blocks and place in the middle of the "aquarium". I got the general design idea from here: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

I will also probably buy a heating mat around 14 watt or something when its not hot enough.

I am also wondering about when to start a colony. I would want to buy this autumn, but I have read different things about hibernation requirements the first year.

Hibernation of messors should be somewhere between 10-15 degrees from around november until late february. Give them some water during that time.

Over time, with both nests opened I think I will give one of the nests some water and the other one will stay completely dry.

My biggest problem is finding someone who sends stuff to Norway..


There can be small problems with ytong blocks for nests and having Messor's in them and that only starts when colony nest gets large and that's when majors or super majors
can chew though it.

But its rare.
shane
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Re: Ponderings about Messor barbarus

Beitragvon Uzag » 20. Aug 2014 23:05

First too answer one of my own questions, I got the impression that a good rule for tunnel-size is that it should allow workers to turn in them. Hence, 14mm sounds good for this species?

Thanks shane! I’ve read a lot of guides but not that many journals, I’ll go look for more of those (:

Hej phasenp! That sounds all neat, maybe we could co-work and figure out things together? (:
(I guess that if you’d trust me with it, we can set an up shipping deal. I could get a queen/colony for you here, let them feed and rest for a week, then ship onwards to you. You may want me to handle a colony of my own first though, so I tad bit of experience? Heh. Shipping would be cheaper if we’d order together though. You can PM if interested ^^).

We seem to think alike too, I’d favor to put much effort into one larger tank!
The set-up I plan now is a semi-small trial tank (25x25x16cm). Because plaster is easier to manage, I’ll use this for this first tank. Hopefully the ants outgrow it before mould takes over...
I plan to make two plaster blocks and place one on each side (like the tank you linked). One will be a smaller but broader part, it should be dry, be a anti-weight so the tank won’t tilt over and will also serve as a support for a levitated arena. The other will a full wall block. The blocks will be connected using tubes that go under the arena.
Something like this (scribbling, lol);
Bild
(The tape there is on the outside, just to make things look tidier)

As shane pointed out with M. barbarus, they occasionally seem to chomp through stuff, so a tank where the blocks are inside an enclosed tank like these sounds really favorable :mrgreen:
(In my set-up, it could mean that they’d get into the empty space under the arena. It shouldn’t be harmful though so I don’t feel concerned there. Maaaaybe I can tape up or put some other blockage behind the blocks?)

I was thinking about cottonballs as blockage too. I saw someone who had created little plugs out of clay (the play-dough variety?) mixed with a great deal of sand? These plugs was inserted in-between most of the chambers, allowing the ants to dig out the clay to get access to new areas. That sounds pretty cool if it works, as it would allow us to make many seal-offs = start out with large tanks. Not seen anyone else do this but it may be worth a try?
Uzag
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Re: Ponderings about Messor barbarus

Beitragvon phasenp » 21. Aug 2014 12:18

Hello Uzag!

That could be interesting! I assume the shipping costs are quite high compared to the value of a queen. I'm on vecation atm in Italy so I'll see some time next week and PM you.

I got a spreadsheet with the parts I want to order and I need to go through that one more time before I order the parts.

I think cottonballs could do the trick blocking the entrances, maybe as you said with some kind of play-dough if its safe for ants(not poisonous).. I actually planned to make 2 entrances for each ytong nest.
So I thought maybe I'll start with all 4 entrances blocked, give the queen + first workers a very small ytong block with a sheet of glass glued on with some sort of dark plexi or something to make it dark. Then put both this and the tube the ants come in within the foraging area of the arena.
When I feel the time is right I could open 1 or 2 entrances and let the ants choose what they want. Then it's possible for me to expand their nest when needed using the last ytong nest.

Nice drawing btw! :)
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