ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Andie]

My fault i just didnt notice the huge hole Messors will eventuall chew through the y-tong anyway so i think ill just leave it. The space will hold alot of seeds.

[bugsy]

What are you using as out break protection? Is it grease, if so what sort and how well does it work?

[Andie]

Yea, its castrol bearing grease and works a treat, the ants won't even try and walk over this. It dosent run either. It would probably look better if put on with a grease gun rather than just smeared. I also use it with my Camponotus xiangban which are escape artists and its kept them in so far.

[AntsEng]

I'm thinking about Buying these ants and I live in the uk so a heat mat will be needed?
+ I am going to all lengths to make there home as good as possible = Recreating the Desart Land they cam from
Anything I should know?


Thanks


Edward

[Andie]

Hi, if you are planning to buy a queen with perhaps her first brood its important not to disturb this species as the queen may panic and eat/destroy her brood. So leave well alone. Also remember that they also need to hibernate and although a heatpad is useful in our climate for them to emerge from hibernation and to extend the summer for them in our climate, you probably wont need to heat them through the summer. Saying that though they do like it hot in the arena but as long as temps are around 25c they will be fine. The colony will grow quickly and the arena will look like a tip if its not large enough or you get lazy like me lol, and don't clean up after them as much as you should. I bought my first queen in March or late feb, by then hibernation was nearly over so wait until then perhaps before you buy. Its up to you of course.
Thse ants will eat just about any kind of protein and of course seeds, foreingn fix mix is good, niger is loved and dandelion seeds when you have your first brood as the seeds are soft any easy to deal with for the first workers. I keep the nest bone dry but the ammount of ants probably give of enough moisture to provide the required humidity. In a test tube you will need the water reserve still until they have outgrown it. Hope this helps a bit.

[AntsEng]

Helps LOADS! I was going to buy 2 heat matts and A thermo? But should I just buy one for the arena?

Thanks


Edward

[Andie]

Providing your house isnt to cold all you should need is a very small 4 wat pad on the nest, just a small section of it so they would have a gradient for the brood. The arena, well i didnt really bother to much but you could have a spot bulb or something. Depends really on the ambient temps. When you get them they will need to stay in the test tube for a few months ideally. Dont be in a rush to give them something bigger. Don't keep looking at them ( difficult )

[AntsEng]

Ok, but would they grow faster and Stronger in higher heat levels (25-30)???? I have heard they are from the desert so I am going to buy some cacti to make the arena look good

[Andie]

Yes they love heat and will grow quickly in numbers if kept hot. Mine came from Portugal and i think Antstores come from spain so more Mediterranean then desert, succulents would be easier though plants would eventually be dug out by the ants unless you can devise some way they cant get to the soil.

[AntsEng]

Ok thanks for the advice, Only thing left for me to do now is save up the £200 needed for all the equipment and that Ants =D


Many Thanks


Edward

[Andie]

Old aquarium, couple of quid
Piece of y-tong 3 quid
Heat mat + thermostat 30 quid ish
some flexi glass and aquarium sealant, some sand and food.

Keeping ants dosent have to be expensive.

[AntsEng]

But if You want to Recreate the DESERT enviroment the come from naturally it does =D Thermo, 2 Heatmats, 11kg Sandloam (Will be used for my other ants) And many more =D


Thanks

Edward

[AstroAmbitions]

Hi Andie

How are these ants doing now? It's coming up to two years since the last post!

[Andie]

Hey its been a while but sadly I had to give all my ants new homes and I miss them dearly. Maybe in the future I can start with a new colony

[Simo_Roma]

Hello everyone! My name is Simone I'm Italian and I write from Rome !! nice photos !! not understand English I'm using a translator .... I also have a queen Messor barbarus, it has 4 workers, and 2 larvae !!
I have already placed in the arena with a water bottle for canaries, with wadding !!
I have ants Alpha C ..
I put 4 mosquitoes, with 9 seeds mixed
really enjoyed the meal !!!
Yesterday the Queen has eaten a mosquito!
is from September 12 that I own and I wanted to know when it will produce eggs?
soon will attach photos !!!
good colonization at all