ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Kale^^]

Hi. I just ordered stuff from antstore, including 2 messor barbarus queens.(2 because i wanted to have spare in case the other dies or something)
I have questions:
What's the best setup for them? (I know, testtubes for small colonies, but what after the colonies come bigger? Do they chew trough y-tong?
What temperatures are the best for them?
Anything special about humidity?

These are the first foreign ant species i have ordered, so i need advise. Any kind of advice is very gratefully accepted, you can even tell something i didn't ask you to tell =)

Thanks, Kale.

[miszt]

Kale, u've been on this forum long enough to know to do ur research before you get ur ants

Yes they do chew thru ytong, they like it dry and hot, so 25-30 would be good, with a cooler area of the nest for them aswell

You can use ytong, as long as you remeber to keep it in a sealed tank, otherwise they will also be fine in a farm

These colonies get very large very fast, tbh a queen isnt going to die unless you do something wrong, in which case both will die anyway (unless there is a problem with the Queen, in which case AntStore will replace her)

Good luck have a browse thru the experience threads, u'll find lots of info, but u know that already dont ya

[Kale^^]

Yeah, i've been here for quite long now, but i'm just exited I'll turn this topic to a diary later, that's my plan. I'll go search for some barbarus-info!

[KiamCameron]

Messor Barbarus are great I had a big worker had orange head then after 2 days it went black lol so im guessing it was a new born Must get mine into a tank now they keep crowded the enterance with like 7 workers Im up to about 30 workers

[Kale^^]

How long u've had them?

[KiamCameron]

About 4 months I think I cant remember they started with 5 workers then one died but now there thriving

[JimmyVe]

These ants are in deed great, but don't forget (like miszt said) they grow fast. And they need much seeds and insects. I have a few pictures of my colony in the dutch section. (of this forum) My colony is pretty big now.

Good luck with yours.

[Kale^^]

Ants have arrived. Didn't take too long, i'm happy that atleast the ants arrived healthy and there are a couple more workers than i expected there to be. Only some cover sheets missing and wrong needles, which disappointed me quite a lot. Anyway, ants are here, some brood with both colonies, queens are bigger than i expected (<3) and i'm hoping these will fill my tanks soon. Seeds and insects won't be a problem. I'm letting these ants to be covered with the pvc foils i ordered, they seem to be calming down and they have already gathered all brood back to one pile.

[JimmyVe]

Nice for you Kale, i wish you good luck with your colonies.

[Kale^^]

Thanks Jimmy. Also forgot to mention, but feel free to move this to "experience with european ants" if you wish.

[Kale^^]

Gave both colonies their own beetles. Seems like they have been touched at least, some legs ripped i guess.

[JimmyVe]

Thanks Jimmy. Also forgot to mention, but feel free to move this to "experience with european ants" if you wish.

Done

[Kale^^]

Great Will post some pics of the ants as soon as possible.

[Kale^^]

Gave both colonies some grass seeds. I'm gonna be away for 8 days starting from tomorrow and i hope nothing bad will happen.

EDIT: now there's some messors carrying the grass seeds inside. A lot of them have been carried already.

[JimmyVe]

If they have enough food, water and the nest is moist enough they should survive 8 days without any problems.