ANTSTORE World of Ants

[JimmyVe]

Yes it soaks up the water. It distributed the water in a part of the nest, what is nice. so if the ants like to sit dry they can. This is one off the best setups i know. And the easiest one.

[Azzer]

A few more pictures from tonight. They had a mealworm (superworm/king mealworm) that I sliced in two a few days ago along with some of the "pollen" food from AntStore, which they showed some interest in but not a huge amount. Tonight I took that out, and gave them a decapitated wax worm, along with some fish-food flakes.

They were really excited by the decapitated waxworm and the fish food flakes - within about 5 minutes of putting it in, the basin went from around 10 ants to around 40 ants. They quickly dragged the head of the wax worm (which I put in) all the way along the tube and into their nest along with some "big" pieces of fish food flakes. These pictures shows a few of them still swarming on the dish which had both foods in, you can make out the wax worm body next to a few of the "sticky fodder" food (again from AntStore, but I believe these are also a type of fish food?), and a large fish food flake being dragged out by an ant (which as I type is now half way up the tube to their nest).

I have also put in a piece (single segment, and I have peeled the 'skin' off one side of the segment) of satsuma in another dish for them - there have been a few ants on it and they do seem interested by it, but not as excited as the wax worm and fish food.

The body of the wax-worm still had a lot of life in it at first, which I did not realise until the ants started on it, when it 'sprang to life' and started thrashing around like the death roll of a crocodile. At one point it had around 14 ants or so on it at once (they basically covered it's body), all biting and stinging. It took them around 10 minutes to subdue it, and it is now lifeless (and so it should be after being decapitated, then stung and bit god knows how many times!).

They have really settled in!

Sorry the flash only went off on a few pictures (which is much better, as it lets you make all of the ants out much easier)... this camera is incredibly dodgy and usually won't flash at all (even when I set 'force flash' on). I need to buy a new one... anyone have any recommendations for a not too expensive (eg, £300 mark) camera that is good for close-ups, and isn't really complicated to use?

Anyway, here are the pics!

[sithmaster676]

is it possible to feed your ants fish food flakes as if it is i have so many for my tropical fish i suppose i could feed them to them
have you had any problems with this food source Azzer
Sithmaster676

[Sam]

Fish flakes have quite a high protein content, around 50% I think, and should be easy for the ants to dissect.

[Azzer]

Yes, in fact the AntStore does sell some "fish food flakes" themselves!

Also, just an update - when I got up this morning the waxworm seems to have disappeared! I had a peek in the nest (using a red light to minimise disturbance), but I could not see it anywhere! It was very, very dead, and could not have gone anywhere. Just before I went to bed last night the wax-worm had been dragged to the edge of the dish and was "wobbling" from side to side from a line of ants all on one side trying to shift it. If they have moved it then it's very impressive, but it seems to have been hidden somewhere. The alternative (and one I suspect from being unable to see it anywhere), is they have actually ripped it to shreds and devoured it overnight, which is quite a feat!

[Sam]

When buying your Myrmica rubra did you choose 50-100 workers? as there seems to be loads of em for a new colony.

[Azzer]

Yes, I did - I thought it better to buy get a slightly more developed colony from the beginning for the greatest chance of success with them!

[heeksy]

hello Azzer
thats a great set up, i was thinking of doing the same sort of thing with my Myrmica rubras. can i ask where you got that block of y tong from. did you get it from antstore or do you know a place in the uk that supplies it.

cheers

[Azzer]

I got it from AntStore as I was placing a relatively big order with them anyway - I got the 60*20*10cm YTong block (here) and two 30*20cm glass plates (here).

B&Q do Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar;
Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar
(44*21.5*12.5cm)

And the majority of builders' merchants' etc. would do them.

[sithmaster676]

hi all
thats good that B&Q sell them, makes it easier than having to ship them from Germany.
but i was wondering how often do you feed your colony fish flakes as im quite interested in using them, laso do the ants seem to enjoy them or not
thanks
Sithmaster676

[JimmyVe]

I do not think they eat it all at one night. Some ants are masters in hiding stuff ore themselves. I actually lost a colony in there farm once. they couldn't had left the nest. a few days they turned back up.

fish food flakes are not bad. but not enough, you still need to give them insects and sweetness.

Btw: nice pictures and good job.

[Azzer]

but i was wondering how often do you feed your colony fish flakes as im quite interested in using them, laso do the ants seem to enjoy them or not

Well my ants certainly are enjoying fish food flakes at the moment, but as JimmeVE rightly says, your best bet is to maintain a bit of variety for your ants, as well as providing a full range of things. Nothing can compete with fresh insects for the amount of goodness that can be had, so fresh insects are, in my opinion, 100% essential to maintaining an ant colony (eg you should not maintain an ant colony unless you can feed them fresh insects every now & then, if not "all the time").

But just on the fish food flakes themselves - yes, my colony really went quite wild for them! But remember that tastes in food differ not just on a species to species basis, but different colonies of the same species can have different tastes at different times (which can relate to the "needs" of the colony at the time). So give fish food flakes a try every now & then, along with fresh insect/fruit/other foods. If your ants don't like them one week, they may like them another week when the needs of the colony are different!

[JimmyVe]

But just on the fish food flakes themselves - yes, my colony really went quite wild for them! But remember that tastes in food differ not just on a species to species basis, but different colonies of the same species can have different tastes at different times (which can relate to the "needs" of the colony at the time). So give fish food flakes a try every now & then, along with fresh insect/fruit/other foods. If your ants don't like them one week, they may like them another week when the needs of the colony are different!

That is very true. Not al colonies of same species like same food. and it can depend from week to week. Like Azzer said try out and find out what your colonies like.

[Azzer]

Two more photos from just now, and the last two from this old camera. Tomorrow Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar arrives It has a 1cm macro lens, so should be great for close-ups of the ants!

Anyway these are both taken within about half an hour of putting in this fresh superworm (freshly sliced, yummy!). They've been dragging some of the bits around a bit in the dish. The fact the legs are still twitching (amazingly) hasn't bothered/interested them.

[JimmyVe]

Nice Azzer. Looks like a nice camera to. The pictures will be much sharper.