ANTSTORE World of Ants

[adam james]

Tuesday
27/1107

My colony arrived from antstore today . There is one queen and 8 workers , 1 larva and 1 egg .They have settled in there test tube and are busy cleaning each other .



Please use this link for any questions or discution about my ants
Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Thursday

29/11/07

The colony have settled down really well and are busy tending the egg and larva , The queen is very active and somtimes comes to the test tube entrance before going back in .They have had a small spider and they took it into the nest. They then put the larva on it and the larva ate the spider , then the workers joined in . I have bought a new macro digital camera so will be uploading some pics soon .

I have got a few bits and pieces form antstore comming today so will be able to finish there food arena.

Please use the link below for any questions you may have about my ants

Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Colony Population

Workers: 6
Queen: 1
Eggs: 1
Larvas: 1



Sunday

02/12/07

, I been on holiday the weekend and while i was away a egg was laid , there are now two eggs and they are being cleaned and really being looked after .

got some pics coming soon

Monday

03/12/07

Checked on ants this morning , There is only one egg left and one larva , the workers or queen must of eaten it . Fed them a cricket this morning , It has been killed and took into nest to be eaten

[adam james]

Colony population

Queen: 1
Larvas : 0
Workers: 5
Eggs: 1



Thurs

06/12/07

Not alot has been happening lately have had one worker die . The ants have been eating crickets and staying in nest mainly . The queen keeps laying eggs (at least 3-4 every day ) but they are being eaten within hours of them being laid .

[adam james]

Hello Guys well after my upsetting failure with my Pheidologeton diversus colony i am going to try again at keeping Harpegnathos venator , As you can see from earlier posts i attempted to keep these a few years ago but failed due to them keep eating there eggs and larva.

This time i hope to succeed

Here are some pictures of there setup i shall be keeping them in , I have took away most of the containers leaving 3 for the nest setup. Harpegnathos only have a few chambers so no need for lots of containers. The foraging area is in the living room connected to the nest setup by 20 mm diameter acrylic tubing. The setup is heated again but only to 26 c instead of the higher tempertures used for the pheidologeton. Also the inside of the containers is only slightly damp instead of really moist.

My ants should hopfully arrive next week and im hoping they travel well , ive had to wait a few weeks for the weather to warm up better so posting was possible.


The population of the colony should be a queen , 4-5 workers and eggs and larvas

Heres a few pictures of my changed setup.

Foraging tank

Dessert Scene

Ive covered the Acrylic tube with a layer of sand and made a nest mound with hole , the ants can modify this hole if they wish.

Nest setup , heating , red lights for observing ants and fans for good air circulation. 3 containers for the nest chambers.

Well i will update as soon as my ants arrive ,


Please use this Discussion thread Link below for any questions ,help,tips or adice you may have .

Regards

Adam

Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Hello Guys well my ants havent arrived yet , due to cold weather in parts of germany they still havent been posted , but i have received a email from the supplier saying the weather has warmed up and if it stays warm they will be sent next week

I have decided to exchange the plastic containers for small plaster nests. These plaster nest are only small and each is connected in a run to the other by 20 mm diameter acrylic pipe. I have decided to change to these because no matter what i tried i could not keep the condensation from forming in the plastic containers and the acrylic tubing , it was forming big puddles and this wasnt going to be good for the ants , because the plaster nests can release water into the air by evaparation they dont condense unless the temperture in the bookcase drops quickly , but this then clears when it warms up again. There is a small layer of sand in each nest so the ants can move it around to suit them.

Hopfully these wont chew there way out

Heres some pics

Plaster mould awaiting it to set

First two done , Plaster nests are only 10cm long by 6 cm high small and cute

I used break glass that are used for fire alarm break panels. They are all the exact same size easy to clean being glass and the sticker on the front easily
peels off

I have only built 6 , Harpegnathos dont have alot of chambers and this may be too many but they can get upto 200 -300 population so should fill them all nicely.

Well thats the lot for now hope you guys find my thread interesting Just want to add the ants soo bad now lol



Please use this Discussion thread Link below for any questions ,help,tips or adice you may have .

Regards

Adam

Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Hello Guys , well my colony has still not arrived but the ant supplier said if the weather stays as good as it has been then on monday he will post my ants i sent him some more money to upgrade my shipping to express so they should arrive next day . I have managed to get the larger foraging tank i wanted and have decorated it to resemble a sort of dessert theme.

Heres the pictures , let me know what you think in the discussion link below

My dessert theme landscape , Plants are all real ! lol

I made a small shallow puddle with a clay base , it has a layer of sand and pebbles in to stop the ants drowning , but will provide
a natural place for them to drink

I stayed with the idea of setting the tube to the nest in the sand and building a small mound nest with a entrence around it, the ants can customise this or even close it of as they see fit. , i thort the stems of dead grass added a great touch of realism

Hope you liked , cannot wait to see the ants hunting in there



Please use this Discussion thread Link below for any questions ,help,tips or adice you may have .

Regards

Adam

Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Hey guys the ants have arrived there is lots of eggs and a nice healthy queen plus i have counted so far 12 workers !!!

Cannot wait untill i get home from work and introduce them to my setup. They are all extremly healthy and active.

Will post pictures as soon as they have settled down.



Please use this Discussion thread Link below for any questions ,help,tips or adice you may have .

Regards

Adam

Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Hey Guys the Ants have settled in well The queen is being looked after and the workers are always wary of her. She walks around and they move out the way. There is always one worker or a few grooming her. I have not seen the queen lay any eggs but there were a few when they arrived but now there are 15 eggs i counted . Also i put in a micro crciket last night , i was waiting for them to hunt it down but none of the workers foraged so i went to bed as it was getting late , when i woke up this morning all the workers were in a bunch in the one nest chamber and it looked like they were talking on closer inspection they were all sharing the cricket i put in last night , Even the queen was munching away .

I hope they do ok , the last time i kept this species they kept eating there eggs , There are still 15 eggs there today and i have put in anouther micro cricket.

I did have one problem with my setup the tube that goes to the tank in the living room is to steep , they can get up fine but they seem dicouraged to come down it to the nest , for now i have disconnected it and just connected up a small tank for there foraging area. I will have to look into this.

I will get some pictures of the colony up by the weekend.


Please use this Discussion thread Link below for any questions ,help,tips or adice you may have.

Regards

Adam

Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Hello Guys well as promised there are some pictures below , The ants have settled in very well , there are still aload of eggs and i have some brilliant news , we have the first larva hatched

This is good for me as the last time i kept this species they ate the eggs as they were laid.

The larvae is very healthy and being feed by the workers who are eating about 3-4 crickets a day , there abdomens are all slightly extended so they are well feed. They have placed the larva on a cricket today and it was enjoying muching on a crickets head lol lol

Heres the pictures

Eggs and one healthy hairy larvae

Worker cleaning larvae

The Queen



Hope you like guys , will update in a few days , hopfully more eggs will be hatched


Please use this Discussion thread Link below for any questions ,help,tips or adice you may have .

Regards

Adam

Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Well a quick update , the colony are doing great , Other then one worker dieing in the outworld shortly after arriving there has been no problems , the colony are taking
crickets everyday and the eggs and the single larvae are still there , its a little bigger but not much. The queen is healthy and the workers still groom her alot. The workers are foraging in the main tank now which is great to see them scurrying around hunting , wagging there little adomens , its facinating to watch , They killed a spider yestarday and that was quickly carried into the nest.

The queen hasnt laid anymore eggs but i assume as the eggs they have hactch and pupate im assuming she will lay more.

Will add some more pictures this weekend.


Please use this Discussion thread Link below for any questions ,help,tips or adice you may have .

Regards

Adam

Click here for the discussion thread.

[adam james]

Hey guys just a really quick update as will be posting pictures and updating properly over the weekend , We have a second larvae hatched , the first one is doing great and has doubled in size , the second one is eating well aswell and the ants are catching and eating crickets every day now which is excellent

Please click link viewtopic.php?f=25&t=17267&start=0 for discussion thread

Regards

Adam

[adam james]

Hello Guys well heres my proper update with pictures , as you will see below , i got rid of the cabinate and have desighned a small formicarium that can sit on a shelf in my bedroom and is portable should i need to move it , it holds the plaster nests , has heating and moisture and red lighting to view ants without disturbence

The colony are doing great , the queen has laid a few more eggs and the first larvae is eating well and growing aswell. The second larvae has vanished , i assume it was eaten , it wasnt doing well and when it hatched wasnt the nice clear whitish colour the first one is , it was more yellow and then it darkend and i assume had died.

Some of the eggs have darkened and you can see the black dark spot that the larvae have so i know they will hatch in next few days .
The Ants are continuing to hunt in the outworld , still consuming 2-3 crickets every day , i have bought some mini locusts which are same size of the crickets . give them some variety , when the weather warms more i shall go hunting for small spiders and insects out in me garden aswell.

Heres a link to a youtube video of my colony Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

Heres some pictures of my new setup and my colony.

The Setup may look far to big for them but its deceiving , each chamber can only hold about 20 -30 workers and these colonys get upto 300 so will fill it one day, also they do go in all the chambers and put bits of insects in them etc.

Queen eating

Queen surrounded by her subjects




Please click link viewtopic.php?f=25&t=17267&start=0 for discussion thread

Regards

Adam

[adam james]

Hello Guys some great news , checked on the Ants today to see the first hatched larvae still there and growing nicely , but on looking i noticed the larvae was on a cricket and on that same cricket was 3 other larvae , yayyy , also there are still 15 eggs in the nest chamber so the queen is laying as the eggs hatch it seems

Will keep you posted lol and i will take some more pics the weekend again

Regards

Adam

[adam james]

Hey Guys a quick update , sorry i havent been able to upload some pictures , was really busy the weekend so will have to get some done asap

Well great news , the workers are still fine and the queen is still laying , there are currently 17 eggs in the nest and 3 giant larvae , they must be pupating soon because they are almost as big as the ants lol.

3 more newly hatched larvae were spotted yestarday so the eggs are hatching again. I have noticed aswell that while they have larvae there must be a constant supply of livefood in the nest chamber , as soon as they finish off the last insect the larvae only have to go without food for a day and they start shrinking . Usally by the second day they get eaten by the workers. I noticed this with the first larvae that hatched , it was growing great then they stopped catching live food for like a day and by that evening the larvae looked like it had shrunk, and then the next day it had gone. All that was left were the 3 hatched larvae that are soo big i also noticed with a constant supply of food in the nest the larvae grow alot quicker. So since they have been there i have made sure the ants had plenty food everday. Even when they dont go out hunting i place a few mini crickets in one of the nest chambers and within minutes the workers find them and paralize them , bringing them back to the main nest chamber.

Pictures soon to follow this weekend.

Regards

Adam