ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Skippy]

It is Formica rufibarbis

[Skippy]

Havu you recept or photos of it? It could be good material. But I normally prefer ytong.

Greetings Skippy

[Werty]

Very nice photos! :]

Skippy he means this Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar. It's made from gypsum powder. Large part of Europe including Finland calls Plaster of Paris "building gypsum" or just gypsum.

[4mykids]

Hello,

That is correct however I mix the Paris of France at a ratio of 25% Plaster of Paris 25% sand and 50% coconut fibre. The coco fibre was my secret mixture and that is a strong attraction for the ants. They move out of what ever I have them housed in and head directly towards the coco fibre. The reason I mix it with the Paris of France is because it prevents collapse when moving the Formicarium.

I have used the coco fibre itself with incredible results but just wanted to try something different. I have started keeping a heat pad under the Formicarium and the responce was incredible. The Queen produced much more eggs after I provided this heat.

I love the pics - good stuff -

I'll figure out how to send some myself - the Queens: they are LARGE & can not really move around in the test tubes I have them in.

[JimmyVe]

looks like the Plaster of Paris thing works well for you, maybe you can put it in a topic here at the forum.

(for my larger queens i use bigger tubes. )

[Skippy]

OK ,I already know what is Plaster of Paris .normally I call it gypsum or in Slovakia - "sádra" .I use for queens tubes 2x larger like is queen wide. I it is good for her ,no stressing and she can normally making eggs without problems.

Greetings Skippy

[Skippy]

My last fotos of Formica rufibarbis

[JimmyVe]

Great picture skippy.

[Skippy]

Thanks Jimmy
,but this foto is last ,because I go to trade with this colony

Skippy

[Skippy]

Photo of my Formica polyctena with workers in tube

[Bob]

4mykids do tell us.....what do you mix the plaster of paris with? ordinary sand? Also which percentages of either do you use in your mixture? Secondly how do you moisturize the nest? Do you stand the nest in water? It would be great if you could show us pics of your set up or set ups. They can always help others, especially novice enthusiasts.

[Skippy]

So ... that material what you can see on photos (with small holes) is ytong ,I dont know if you have it in USA ,so no plaster. Some nests (if ants need big humidity) are all in bigger water tank. Other nests are in water only by part of formicarium ... I´ll send photo to 15 minutes

Skippy

[MrILoveTheAnts]

The first ones look like Camponotus to me. Could be Formica though.

[Skippy]

Here is it

@MrIloveTheAnts

It is on 100 percent Formica

[4mykids]

Sorry guy's - a little slow on the rsponce, I didn't read this until now Bob. Ok, I know use a 50/50 ratio of Paris of France and Perlite. I posted a picture of it here.

They are much more active now that they are out of the test tube.

They actually shared a cricket - I have to attach a foraging area soon -