ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Purifier]

How miszt said: A Ytong is not a good choice. But pictures sax more than 1000 words, so here are some pics of an german keeper from Polyrhachis dives....there you can see how the basin should look. And you can see that te colony gets BIG, too

[SteveUK28]

Miszt do u think it would be better for me to get Messor Spec. then ?

[miszt]

I'd recomend Messor or Camp personally as a good 2nd species, Polyrhachis dives are wonderful, but I think confidence is key when it comes to keeping exotic ants, particuly destructive species.

Really, if you are gonna keep Polyrhachis dives, u need a big setup, although you can keep them in a tank (like the ones purifier posted) imo that wont allow them to really do what they do best, which is somthing like this...

[SteveUK28]

ohh wow.. thats 1 massive setup... costin shed loads lol

[miszt]

I'm building somthing similar with a tropical aquarium in the base, about 30% finished now, but I wont put it together until I move in jan

[SteveUK28]

Miszt u r da man... What do u think of Camponotus ligniperda?

[JimmyVe]

That would be the nicest farm i have ever seen miszt. Good luck on building one of you one.

[miszt]

its nearly finished its not as hard to make as you might think, i'll take sum pics and post up a DIY for making one when i put it together at my new house definitly worth making for anyone with enough space, i've built it out of a wardrobe, so only takes up ~2m x 1m the hardest part will be water proofing and ant-escape proofing, although I think I am probly going to use electrical escape proofing around any holes they might be able to get thru, shuldnt matter to much as the water/island setup shuld keep most of them back


Great news to, my colony has moved! woot! well at least I am 99% sure they have all moved, looking into the new basin, theres alot of ants in there, and they are busy weaving their new nest, aswell as digging tunnels i'm going to give it a few more days before i take out the old island and inspect it...heres hoping half the colony doesnt come flooding out! think i will do it in my bath tub full of water! (cold water shuld help 'chill them out' a bit aswell)

[Purifier]

Nice that they finally moved to the wished place
And im looking forward for these pics, must look great!

A nice Monday to everybody!!

[SteveUK28]

<--also lookin forward to the pics.. I am DEF gonna keep these ants at some point.. and as i now have a spare room to keep my ants i would prob try makin myself the same sort of thing you are miszt.. so that guide ur planning on making would be soooo helpfull..

@Purifier... Happy Monday to you aswell my friend

[sithmaster676]

yeah everyone seems keen on getting some pics hopefully it all goes well for you.
Sithmaster676

[miszt]

well, I've been feeding them 5-10 crickets a day now for about a week....

but the queens are still being killed I estimate that at least 100 queens have been slaughterd now

I removed all the cork from the original nest, and found about 40 queens still there, and some workers, cant really tell whether there is any brood still there, as I dont want to disturb the soil to much incase I bury them, so will have to wait another week or so to see....the water is really gross now, mold is covering most of the surface! eek

[SteveUK28]

lol miszt that dont sound good..

[Purifier]

You dont keep them in the basin with the gross mould water?! You move them into another basin, right?

I really dont know why they kill other queens. Maybe Jimmy could say something about it

[miszt]

yeah of course, the new basin is well away from the mold they have a bridge to get into it......I *think* they have all moved now, i've not seen any activity in the old basin for a few hours now, so i've removed the bridge and sealed the new basin....will put the old one in my bath in a little while, probly friday, to check theres none left, then i can clean it all out!