ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Sced]

You should try and take the cricket out of the tube because it may start to mould. Is the queen in hibernation?

[ralphdrake]

No she is not in hibernation

she has taken the cricket all the way to the end of the tube im not sure how to get it now but she seems to like it

[Sced]

Oh, well she wont be able to eat it all, and it will soon start to mould and the tube will be come unhygenic. A pair of tweexer might be able to get it out.

[ralphdrake]

why will she not eat it, she was eating it before? she may eat the whole thing.

[Sced]

Well it depends, how big is the cricket?

[ralphdrake]

he he we have some quick replies, the cricket is not very big at all i tryed to get the smallest one i could catch its about 1/3 the size of her so about 75mm

[Sced]

7.5mm you mean?
Well she might eat it all, she might not. But if you can see mould growing oh the cricket, then take it out.

[ralphdrake]

7.5mm yes sorry, i suck at maths, yeah i will not leave it in their for more than a week, thing is she has put the larvae closer to the opposite end so i dont want to injure them when i go in for the cricket

[JimmyVe]

That is true Ralphdrake, if it start to mould it could harm your queen and larva, you better take it out before you leave.

To make sure she is going to survive for 2 weeks:
You say your larva are in stage 3 so it wont take long before the first workers come out. They need food if they come out. so i guess you better connect to tube on an out world. than you can place some food in there and some honey and water. if it is outside it probably wouldn't mould. Try to give them small insects, like fly's are something. if you do that they are going to be fine for the next 2 weeks.

[ralphdrake]

o ok i see what you meen, what if i made one that wasnt quite as flash as that one for example an icecream container?

[JimmyVe]

That is fine to, it don't need to be this big (just an example). i it is smaller it is even better for a small colony. (this is a picture of my Lasius flavus just before they move to there bigger area)

[ralphdrake]

very nice it looks awesome im sure they will like it looks wicked, yeah i will do that thankyou for that good idea, I should probably still keep her in a dark spot i take it.

[JimmyVe]

it is better to cover up the nest area (here they are in a tube and i covered it with a pace of paper) but this way the workers can come out to eat and feed the queen. don't place the food to far away from the nest, because the first generation of workers are a little shay.

[ralphdrake]

Good job on getting this to 3 pages, yes i did notice the paper on it, i will have to put a lid on it so they dont get out, but their is that white stuff you can put around it so they dont get out im not sure what it is,

[JimmyVe]

That is PTFE (http://www.antstore.net/shop/index.php/ ... e-material) to keep the ants inside to make sure they can't come out i use a lid to. if your lid closes the hole thing you don't need to use a glide material. but if your colony gets bigger and you remove the lid for feeding they can escape, than it is better to use a glide material.
indeed 3 pages, but i guess you better move this subject to "experience with ants" on this forum.