ANTSTORE World of Ants

[joshjw]

I will most likely be buying a Lasius niger queen with eggs and larvae of different stages without workers and I would like to brood boost but I cant find a reputable store that sells them.
If you know anywhere that sells them please let me know.


Please don't start saying bad things about brood boosting and me being impatient just please let me know where I can buy Lasius niger brood.

[Markus]

How would you know that they are both the same species!?

Some characteristics need a very good microscope and a lot of knowledge.

The wrong species could bring problems like killing the brood, parasites and so -
just for pushing the colony?

>Please don't start saying bad things about brood boosting and me being impatient just please let me know where I can buy Lasius niger brood.<

Sorry, but that's not how this Hobby works,
you can't tell us of problematic ideas and that we should not critisice you,
it's still not a right idea!

[joshjw]

ok ill just let nature take its cause.

[Camoth]

Just out of curiosity; why would boosting be problematic? Is it something ethical or practical?

[joshjw]

maybe the brood could be from a different species that could harm the queen.

[Camoth]

Aha, okay. Thanks for the explaination.

[Sojave]

Thats a small problem on colonies with some normal workers. Worker would kill them if they hatch or use the wrong brood as food earlier. I think parasites are a small problem generally too.

But a queen without worker could be killed like Markus said. A single queen eats some of her brood, if she cant feed them. It could happen, that some of the older brood is dying ect and so the whole process slowed down. Her food reserves are wasted on wrong species, dying brood (even is the worker is dying within the cocon, its wasted),larvae and maybe the eggs (?)could be used as food. Also the queen could get problems with her pheromons, or she frighten from the pheromons of the new brood and gets stressed.

The brood with which the colony is puhed, should be also only cocons.
Ah this is quite complicated for me to explain.

Anyway, if you want to push, (we cant controll you) then wait until 10 workers. Only a few cocons, and make sure, that die cocons are the small ones. At autumm there should be any new queens in there anymore. Of course males are a problem too, on lasius niger i think its impossible to make a difference to the normal worker cocons. Maybe the cocons from the males are a bit smaller?

If you gather some cocons after you have 10 workers, from what you think, is Lasius niger, then take up to 10-15 only. If its the wrong species, they should be able to handle it. Queens and males shouldnt be in there too anymore. We musnt forget, that the additonal brood is moved inside of the nest every day too. For a single queen, its to much uneffizient work.

Hope its understandable, have changed the lines ect sometimes... This text isnt good^^

[Camoth]

That's okay, I understand what you're trying to say.

On another Dutch forum they are talking about boosting a lot and they just said it's cheating but they didn't say it could be harmfull, so thats why I was wondering.

[Sojave]

In my opinion it isnt cheating. Nobody have to stand for jury or get along with a book full of rules.

But

the animals should be treated as good as possible. Nothing wrong with pushing a small colony in the right amount early (if youre willing to take the "medical" risks, which should be normally small). Its only cheating if the antkeeper have to show how cool he is in some ways... Really? There are enough beginner who are starting with exotic and posting pictures and then it stopped. They selled it^^ Of course, the wouldnt say, that the colony died in nearly 95% of all cool antkeepers. So the cheating point is complete obsolete, as long as its the right amount, right species and the colony is old enough for the pushing. I think, our hobby isnt good to show off either. They should buy expensive and fast cars. Ah, one moment, that isnt good either for the boys.

So, we are responsible, that our animals (may it ants or dogs ect) are treated good. I have to admit, that we antkeeper have some problems at certain points and have to deal with some unwanted actions. First, the setup should be big enough and good for the species. We cant copy the nature, but most species dont need a copy, they develop well in our setups and that is what we wanted.
Remember that most keeper dont get to the point, where you have to add the 3rd arena. But if its our pet and it lasts so long, at some points we have to reduce the amount of ants. Personally i see the whole colony as 1 pet, not every ant. Maybe the Queen is an exeption on 1 queen colonies because her end is the end for the colony too. I wasnt in the position that i had to dispose some worker, so that i neednt to add a new arena.

The problems are often nothing directly the ants and their behaviour. Its the keeper. I dont mean it evil or so, but young kids see these pictures from exotic ants or big colonies from their homeland. The addional enthusiasm is doing the rest. Its easy to post a lot stuff and starting discussions. Every day they have to wait is one day to much and so they are posting instead. But most of it is already written a houndred times. Older ant keeper disapier with the time where you can see very good setups and big colonies. Sometimes i read a new thread or posts but i close it fast or dont answer in it.

Not cheating and i allow pushing as long as the parameters are good. I am complete against pushing as long as a claustral species like Lasius niger have no workers or not enough. (Some circumstances from above have to be cleared)

a bit offtopic: i think the system how you find an article from the shop is used often wrong by this people. Its the same on amazon ect. If the new beginner read it, it gives most of the time no good information. And if they get their package and they do a rating, the delevery time shouldnt be part of it. So we get statements that some species are uncool or hard to keep. Of course, a lot of species arent for beginner. Its not a matter of time or money...But its impossible now to change this in the world.All shops have to deal with this.

[Camoth]

Wow, thats a great way to put it into perspective for a newbie like me

I don't feel like boosting my colony. If they don't make it, then they don't. And I will try and learn from my mistakes. But I can understand it when you put it like that when all the workers have perished and you're just trying to keep the queen and colony up.

I'm in no position to judge anyone. I don't know much about ant keeping, but as with any other pet I have owned and own; forums with information from people with experience and knowledge are a gold mine for people like me. Especially when there is people with different views on certain topics, so you can see both sides of the coin before making a decision for yourself.