ANTSTORE World of Ants

[A_Wilhelm]

Hi all,

I was thinking of using plasticine to fill a gap in my formicarium. Is plasticine safe to ants and, if it is, can Lasius niger dig in plasticine?

Cheers!
A_Wilhelm

[JimmyVe]

I don't think they can dig in plasticine but i'm not a 100% sure it is safe to use inside a farm.

[A_Wilhelm]

Thanks JimmyVe, your answer is much appreciated

Anybody knows if plasticine is safe to ants?

Cheers
A_Wilhelm

[akell]

I just got a little L. niger colony. I can give the plasticine a try and get back to you. If they die, you guys can all chip in and get me a replacement. But seriously, I have been thinking about using plasticine too. I am going to try to use it as a connector filler. I will let you know how it works out.
Jimmy, it's great to have your advice in the forums, we appreciate it.

[A_Wilhelm]

Hi akell,

Thanks a lot! Please let me know how it goes. I don't think plasticine is harmful to ants, but wanted to make sure.
Anyway, I hope everything'll be ok with your Lasius niger and don't worry, we'll raise some funds if they die. After all, this is scientifically important

A_Wilhelm

[akell]

We could write an incomprehensible paper on the results and send it to Nature. They might publish it.

Vacuum Stable Air-Reactive Modeling Compound Toxicity and Lasius niger.

[JimmyVe]

Thanks Akell. Glad to help people out with the things i have learned over the years.
Good luck with your little project.

[akell]

Well, good news. L. niger does seem to care about plasticine. They did a little investigating at first and after one week they don't seem so have suffered any ill effects.
Now maybe you guys can help me out. I finally broke down and got a gypsum nest. Do I put water in the open rectangular channel and hope some moisture gets through or does this retangular channel serve some decorative function? I know it may seem like a silly question to some of you but I use glass basins for every ant I have and I just can't seem to make heads or tails of this thing.
Thanks in advance.

[A_Wilhelm]

Great, akell! I'm still preparing my formicarium, so I'll add the plasticine now that I know it's not harmful. I can't help you with your question about the gypsum nest, though, but I'm sure the experts will answer that.

Thanks again!

[akell]

Hi A_Wilhelm,
If the gap isn't too wide, why don't you use slicon? It's more durable than placticine. But the pasticine I used is working just fine, so, whatever's best for you. See you around,
A

[JimmyVe]

Do you mean the gypsum nests from Antstore ? Yes you should put water in the open rectangular. That should work. (i don't have such farms but that is the way to do it)

If it is possible i always use silicon, like Akell said, it lasts longer.

[A_Wilhelm]

Yeah, I know silicone works fine, but the gap I'm filling is way too large for that. In my case, plasticine is the most practical thing, and it's also in a place where it's easy to replace if needed. I think it'll be ok.

Thanks all of you for your replies!

[akell]

Hi A Wilhelm,
I just thought of something, hope it's not two late...If you haven't put your ants in yet, then the absolute best thing is Tamiya Modelling Putty. It's a kind of liquid styrene. I have used it to fix ornamented picture frames and to fix glass to wood, all sorts of stuff. It takes a day to dry ane thenyou can cut it or sand it or chisel it. Sorry I didn't think of ot before. Of course he fumes it gives off when it is drying are lethal, but once it is dry I suppose it would be the same as having a model airplane in youe ant tank. I mean formicarium.
The plasticine is still in with my little niger colony. I think they like it. They are alot larger than I thought, is 60-80 mm the normal size for this ant? I'm kidding. I was watching that old movie, "Them", it's great. "Hmm, what kind of thief would go to all this trouble just to stael sugar?", and "...Smells like...GIANT ANTS!!!"
What the hey, I'm in a good mood, Got a huge Polyrhachis dives colony and put them in a basin just now. I feel good.

[A_Wilhelm]

Hi akell,

It's not too late yet, my ants will be placed in the formicarium around the end of February, so there's still plenty of time to improve it!

Tamiya Modelling Putty... I'll try and get hold of that.

Thanks for your advice!

Just a question: your Lasius niger are not digging in the plasticine, are they?

[akell]

No, not the Lasius niger, but there are only 5 of them. The Polyrhachis dives are digging through it though.
I have a big Polyrhachis dives colony and they dug through about 4 cm of plasticine in 36 hours. I guess we have established that it is not harmful, but effective for containment, I don't know...
Maybe Tamiya putty, let it dry and cure for 72+ hours, and the cover that with a layer of silicon. There, that should do it!