ANTSTORE World of Ants

[badman]

she has to be in there somewhere. i lost some ants once and they turned out to be living in a tiny crack in the sand.

[JimmyVe]

I hope you are right.

[Moiser]

Hey Guys,

I'm not sure if there is something wrong with the pictures I'm attaching? They seem to be viewable one day and not viewable the next. Anyways: Then there were two.

X

[SteveUK28]

Excellent stuff Moiser.. time to be offering them some small seeds and small insects Well done you

[JimmyVe]

Yep, time to start feeding them.

[Moiser]

Thanks Guys!

There are now five workers! Plus three pupea from the the first batch, one larva and the second batch of eggs. Will the queen continue to lay for the rest of the season or do you think I have had my lot for the year? I put a strawberry in the tank today, do you guys think that the workers will go looking for food when the are hungry? Or should I be alittle more pro-active? I've attached a couple of pictures for you guys.

Regards,
Moiser
Xx

[Brawl]

Yes, she will continue to lay eggs for the rest of the season And yes, they will go find food when they are hungry, you could try putting something sweet near the entrance of the tube if they'd like to have a bite.

[JimmyVe]

There could be a period that the queen does not lay eggs, they only lay eggs that the workers can handle, so in small colonies there are periods that the queen does not lay eggs, when the colony is bigger the queen will lay more eggs.

[badman]

I really like your setup, it's so clean, mine has become damp and I have mites. I'm considering starting again, but don't know if it's worth upsetting the colony.

[Moiser]

Hey guys,

Things are going pretty well. I now have nine workers and a large batch of eggs. I started to leave small pieces of fruit in the feeding dishes on a daily basis. I'm not sure how long it took them to start eating as they ate in the night, only sending a single worker to the food. Recently they have started to feed in the day and I have seen two workers feeding.

I am going on holiday and will be away for around 10 days, could anyone offer advice on what to leave them for food? I have some protein jelly, will that be ok for 10 days?

Thanks badman, I think I went a little over the top with my initial purchase but I'm really looking forward to adding the large triangular basin when the colony is big enough. I'm undecided whether I am going to use the farm. As far as I can tell I've not had much of an issue with sanitation, I change the food daily. I'm sure someone more experienced could offer you more advice. Do you know why your setup has become damp?

Regards,
Moiser
Xx

[SteveUK28]

Hello Moiser,
As long as you make sure there is plenty of water in that test tube, and some honey/water down and you give them a good feed before you go then i think they will be fine for 10 days. Water is the main thing and of course the sugar too.

@Badman, If you are talking about your test tube, then this is a common mistake.. the black you see on the cotton wool.. im guessing thats what you mean by damp, thats actually the ants waste. If it gets too bad just offer them a new test tube and if they dont like the one they are in they will soon move. As for the mites, i can honestly say i have no idea, perhaps Jimmy can help there???

[JimmyVe]

@badman: do you have a picture of your tube ? I'm guessing hte mites just come to the food (or left overs) in that case there is nothing to worry about. But if they are mites that live on (and from) the ants you have a problem.

[badman]

yeah they are the kind of mites that eat the food, they aren't living on the ants, but are too small for the ants to actually eat. But there's so many of them it's a bit disgusting.

[JimmyVe]

It could help if you take the old food out sooner, than you will have less mites because they have less food.
I feed my ants every 2 days and once a week i clean out the out world. There are mites to but not much, when i see there are more mites coming i clean the outworld 2 times a week.

[badman]

how do you clean it?