ANTSTORE World of Ants

[evantica]

Hi. I'm a newbie in the ants world...I'm planning to buy some Atta sexdens. And my question is, if the attas can be "walking" in a "wooden walkway" (don't know the right english word?) kind of "planking" with acrylglass glass in the front. and/or if they will eat their way trough the wood??? Hope someone understand my question Sincerely: Hakan in Swe

[donbilbo]

They could walk on it and i guess they will not be abled to destry it. BUT you have to think about humidity. Atta need a rather damp climate, the wood could rot and thats dangerous for the ants.
If you are a total beginner honestly dont buy these ants because they will die quick and you will waste some hundret euros.

[evantica]

Hi and thanks for answer... sounds good. No, I will protect the wood so it wont rot! And i'm not a coplet beginner (just in ants) I have owned many south american spieces, Corralus boa, Toucans, Discus, butterflyes the list can go on...appriciate your concern anyway. Håkan in Swe

[JimmyVe]

Hello evantica and welcome.

Make sure you dont put stuff on the wood that is bad for the ants. And if i may give you some advice, read about these ants first (a lot) they are hard to keep and grow into hugh numbers.

[Necturus]

im rather sure they will be able to chew through wood... maybe not in a second, but with constant work... some ants go through plaster of paris and ytong, and atta are known for theyr very strong mandibles. i think in some movie it was even mentioned that they ruined leather boots of researchers getting too close...

maybe build a metal walkway decorate the inside with wood. just to be safe...
greetings

[evantica]

ok. thanks for answer...hm... the wood is about 28mm thick so "my" guess is it will take awhile to chew trough this, and also...why should they do it??? I will feed them properly in pools. But sure, I will have to look into this matter... anymore suggestions will be appriciated! Hakan in Swe

[evantica]

How do you put in pic's here??? then I'll show you my tropichouse???

[damondeionno]

It will be interesting to see the pics of your tropic house. I would suggest you look at Acromyrmex rather than Atta. Atta grow huge colonies, and unless you have several hundred square metres under glass, I can't see you providing enough space.

[damondeionno]

Also, there is a thread stickied in this section called 'how to post photos'.

[evantica]

Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar
here a pic of the anthome,(to the right) not finished.

[evantica]

now I got it right?!

[Phasmid]

why should they do it???

Because ants love to explore and a large colony will take any opportunity to go some where new.
And of course it is important that you satisfy their feeding needs. If you forget to top up their leaves one day, leaf-cutters tend to get really focused on chewing their way and finding escape routes. Trust me on that .

[evantica]

hm...Then I wont forgett to top of their leaves..., it scares me a little if they escape= ! anyway.. I hope for the best. and I have arranged 20 meters of walkway, at least 4 pools, the "mainpool" is 125x50x50 hope it's enough?!
I have a question: If the colony grows to huge??!!, how do the ants solve it in the nature,.. just keep on growing or ???

" Trust me on that " phasmid sead.. did this happen to you???

[Phasmid]

it's enough?!
I have a question: If the colony grows to huge??!!, how do the ants solve it in the nature,.. just keep on growing or ???

" Trust me on that " phasmid sead.. did this happen to you???

In the wild they have lots of space as there are no boundaries (apart from egg laying rate of queen). But they have to put up with predators like army ants and local farmers .
Make sure that the nest box (for fungus) is not too big as it can put them off a little if they feel that they are out in the open (to start you may need to put a container, that is only 2-3 times bigger than the fungus garden, in the nest box until they are big enough). Unless of course they are in a tank of earth, then they will happily dig the correct sized chamber.

And yes, mine have escaped a few times. Usually because they are happily cutting away for a few months, then they find that there is no food left, then they start testing absolutely every possible scratch in PTFE etc. I came home one day to find trail of ants stealing frass from my phasmid cages.
Getting them all back in was surprisingly easy as all I had to do was block the escape route and wait for all the foraging ants to come back LOL.

[evantica]

Hi again & thanks for answer!!! you sead: "container, that is only 2-3 times bigger than the fungus garden, in the nest box until they are big enough). Unless of course they are in a tank of earth, then they will happily dig the correct sized chamber."... How do I preper my "Fungus nest box/ queen container/pool" best??? what floor substrat should I use, and how much of it? and can I just "drop the queen with her fungus in this box, and then she will take care of it all??? "tank of earth" is this the best way maybe? how much of what and so on??? I will provide a "waterwarmer" (sorry...) same they use in fishtanks, for humidity. and some other warming metod (?! eh.) sorry for all the question, but I need to know.

I came home one day to find trail of ants stealing frass from my phasmid cages.