ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Varban]

varban if you can get your hands on some brood, the key is to put in a bit of pupae that way even if she consumes some of the pupae enough will make it to turning into workers. Also, if she is that carnivorous, try suspending in some a piece of dead insect. Maybe if her appetite is satisfied she will refrain from consuming pupae.

That's why I was asking how long for puppae to turn into worker 2 puppaes left lets hope she is satisfied. 2 left and 1 big larvae that will turn into puppae soon and a clump of eggs.

bob: It's dandelion you are talking about. Dont think i can find seeds of it in the wild this time of the year ...

Jimmy: I gave her those after i boiled them. I just defrosted 2 in the microwave to see if she will eat them. The ones i gave her before were untouched so doubt she will this time.
As for disturbing, sadly i need to keep track of the puppaes she eats so I look once a day. I just uncover the ground above where she is in the test tube i dont move her or anything.

[JimmyVe]

did you cut the worm in two ? they are a bit hard, she will probably not be capable to cut them herself.

I not sure this will stress here out, but this species are know to be very stressful. The guy i buy my queen from told me (for a young colony) only check on her once a week. And it worked. But like i said before, not al queens are the same.

[Varban]

I cut the larve in 3
I remember you said many times she gets stressed very easily, but so far whenever i uncover to take a look she doesnt run away or anything, she keeps doing what she does so i assume she is not stressed. In fact most times i have to wait up to a minute for her to move since she is usually over the eggs, larvae and puppaes so she needs to move so i can see them.
Also is she is stressed she stops laying eggs, but so far she keeps laying so I think i am not stressing her. Anyway lets hope at least one of the puppaes turns to a worker soon.
She comes outside the test tube around midnight, even though the lights are still on i guess he internal clock says its night so if i am still up I will see if she will go for the chopped larvae if not i will find it tomorrow before i go to work.

[JimmyVe]

I'm sorry if i repeat myself.

Well than i'm out of options.... sorry.

[Varban]

Well nothing to do anymore today anyway

On a positive note there is some grass growing in the corner where i planted seeds so i can always start keeping grass

Would she go for popcorn

[JimmyVe]

Well nothing to do anymore today anyway

On a positive note there is some grass growing in the corner where i planted seeds so i can always start keeping grass

Would she go for popcorn

lol Always look at the bright side of live. Hope it works out for you and your queen.

[Varban]

I will give popcorn a try, I read somewhere messors like it.
In the mean time i took the lazy way out and ordered dandelion seeds from ebay for £1, they should be here by monday, hopefully at least 1 puppae will still be there then.

[JimmyVe]

Sure do, try out all things you think of that will work. if you find something let us know, if someone else has the same problem than we know a way to solve it.

[Varban]

Right a quick update on things, I should probably rename the thread name at this stage

Anyway without jinxing anything one of the puppae has grown pretty brown, which means its digestive system is ready to work so I hope anytime between now and tomorrow or at latest wednesday the worker will hatch. Hopefully my carnivourous queen won't have any cravings, although the latest egg pile has expanded :S

The last larvae formed a puppae finally and the 2nd puppae is starting to turn brow too. Fingers crossed she doesnt eat them all again!

I've expanded the seeds menu including grass, dandelion and loads of random ones which i have no clue what type they are. So once the worker hatches hopefully she will start feeding the queen.

[JimmyVe]

Looks like it turns out well. I hope so.