ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Cracksolja]

Hey all, going to get some of these in the next few months, build and reasarch over the next 3 months, I just want an exact list of what I will need in order to build a good colony. what type of leafs these guys need is there any specific plantation i need to invest in ?

The 3 basins I need will they nee to be big? im going to buying the big colony provided here!

Any info please let me no

[gabranth]

ok ive read your posts and you are a noob. don't get these ants there difficult to look after antstore puts it at lvl3 for a reason get experience with other types of ands e.g south european species first.

[Cracksolja]

I have kept in the past just not for about 4 years..... - I can see the class levels and I no there a much more difficult ant hence why Im reasearching first, I cant go an get beginner ants then move to experience ants I dont have the space to have several ant colonys in my room....

It's already filled with 2 Gecko Tanks, 1 HUGE bearded dragon tank, and a Terrarium for Fire Belly Toads, (7 of them) - And my ideas of having an Ant Colony are based around just 1 type of ant I want something a tad exotic, the l.Niger and Flavus iv kept in the past and done quite well with them considering nothing was bought from here, no official farms, Just a home made basin basically !

I appreciate the information given to me by you guys that I should start with an Ant that doesnt require so much care, But if I were to do such a thing IE get the l.Niger, im not going to have space to then start building a Leaf Cutter nest - I can give a visual of my room if someone can tell me if they believe I would have the space ......

There is how my room is it is mess when that was taken about 4 month a go, the layour remains just iv re-wrigged my wires, would they be suitable on top of my vivs?!

[The_Paranoid]

Don't want to kill your dreams ... but keeping Atta is really hard. Here is a video from an ant colony in nature

These colonies get huge very fast.
Here is some picture of an article in a german newspaper.

The image is only a part of the colonie.
After 3 years the colonie was occupying 3 rooms full of basins for the ants.
So i don't think that you can keep them for a long time.

If you really want to keep leafcutters, then i encourage you to choose Acromyrmex sp. Compared to Atta they establish rather small colonies with factor 10 or more smaller than Atta. But beware ... Acromyrmex need space, too.
Here's a picture of an Acromyrmex colonie of Erne.

[gabranth]

what type of leafs these guys need is there any specific plantation i need to invest in ?

they can have blackberry or raspberry leaves which they will need all year around do you have a green house? and this species is going to attract mits as its warm and humid so you will have to watch out for them

[Cracksolja]

Yeah im aware these can get big, thats why i dont want to host several colonys, id rather do my research on these and build over time before purchasing the colony its self, Ive seen one of the colonys at Chester zoo which was an open colony surrounded by a pond with these guys living in a form of tree!

Also long leat zoo I think in cornwall, houses a massive colony with like a main glass tank with tubes running through the top into another area it looks really good!

also the discovery channel aired something on them to, you can see it on youtube like a 565 SQ feet underground city built by these guys its really mental - but these are what I wish to keep - I have the money spare to invest in a really good home for them, providing I do my research I really cant see what more I can do, im not going to rush into buying them and thinking oh if i throw them in it will work, unfortuantly things are not as simple, I releasie they need several homes for rubbish and the fungus etc, but for now im looking to just set up an ideal place of living for them, get the temperatures right, brush up on what I need to no at the the same time and in between, and look to buy these guys after christmas !

=> edit Mod
post from 9:46am

Ah an the video you posted paranoid was the 1 i ment ha

[gabranth]

Yeah im aware these can get big, thats why i dont want to host several colonys,

they don't care what you want they will just keep getting bigger and bigger and what are you going to do then kill them all, release them into the wild like most creatures that have become to difficult to handle or they got bored of them

[JimmyVe]

These are in deed difficult ants to keep if you are aware of it we will help you.
I to would advice to consider keeping Acromyrmex rather than Atta.

[Phasmid]

Who are you getting the Atta from? I bought Atta cephalotes from a UK dealer and there was a mix up and I got an Acromyrmex octospinosus. So I didn't get the chance to try Atta, but what I can tell you is that with Acromyrmex, unless the colony is already bad or you have done no research at all, you can't go wrong and these ants are also very nice with the texture, shape and realy suprising strength of the armour (they are rock hard) and also the ability to communicate with sound.
The down side is that the qeen isn't amazingly huge and there are no soldiers (although the queen of acro is so loud you can feel your fingers vibrating if you pick her up,(not recomended incase you damge her)).
Also you have to watch out if the colony gets bored with a food plant or you forget to feed them cause they will try anything to break out.

[Cracksolja]

Cheers dude, apparently here is getting them I was speaking msn with "ANTSTORE" around november the Atta will be available, what do you mean about the acro queen being loud ?

Also what would oyu recommend Atta or the Acro he suggest Acro but im looking for something with soldiers also and acro doesnt ?

[JimmyVe]

Acromyrmex don't have soldiers but they also have a big difference in size of workers. The ants that go out for collecting leafs are much bigger than the workers that keep the fungus clean and healthy. The colony of Acromyrmex species just don't get so big as that from Atta species. That is why most people prefer Acromyrmex species.

[Cracksolja]

Ah right cheers mate, as I no the atta get massive the guy from antstore asked if I had a 4 bedroom house to house them in lol

Now id be interest in this species then, just if you dont mind, could you give me a list of what I need to keep them in ? im gonna buy around january time I think for now im going to go with L.Niger as ive read abit and for some reason ive had it in my head they grow rapidly when they dont ! - so I could easily house both by the sounds of things by rapidly I mena on the l.niger not to sure on acro ones tho anywere i can find a care sheet or something ?

[JimmyVe]

Yes Lasius niger grow very fast. But they also keep an hibernation period from about 4-6 months. Acromyrmex species also grows fast and don't keep hibernation.

What you need, basically; a tank for the fungus and a tank for feeding them. Also make sure you could expand the setup. The thank for the fungus needs to be controlled very well. It needs heating and needs to be kept moist. But not to moist and not to hot. If the temperature inside the farm stays to hot for a few days the queen could stop laying eggs. So it is important you can ventilate the tank where the fungus is in.

You could check out the German part of the forum here. There is a little bit more information about these ants.

[Cracksolja]

All very well but i dont speak german so I havent a clue but theres alot more pics on there though wish i spoke german

[Phasmid]

what do you mean about the acro queen being loud ?

Well these acro make a sort of vibrating sqeaky noise with their abdomem when threatend, it's just that the qeen vibrates her abdomem so hard that if you pick her up you can feel the vibrations in your fingers.