ANTSTORE World of Ants

von **FormicaFun** » 10. Jul 2012 11:22

Incredible yet true, my Camponotus ligniperdus ants manage to end up in the INSIDE of the water well....

One day I checked on them and there were TWO ants walking around at the top and inside of the dispenser, of course they couldn't get out anymore so I had to evacuate them myself by taking off the lid and quickly dropping them into the arena. However, how did managed to get inside in the first place is something I couldn't figure out. The little opening at the bottom is flooded with water and, unless I have an amphibious species :p, ants generally don't swim. I had even filled the opening with pebbles because in my FIRST water dispenser, which was for reptiles and too big, some had drowned in the opening.

Today I got the answer to the mystery. I was checking the arena and saw that two workers were investigating the water well. They were going around the opening, waving their antennae and trying to find a way inside (they probably think it's a cave or something they can settle in :p). Everytime they touched the water they kinda thought..."hmm this is wet so there's no entrance here"...and paused to clean their antennae. One, however, went deep, stuck her legs into the water and reached under to the edge of the opening where it connects with the main water tank and BOOM!, she's knocked off her feet by an air bubble going up in the main water tank that apparently was created by her messing around. Then, she lays on her back, paralyzed by the force of the air bubble and sinks to the bottom of the opening. So I immediatly open the lid and grab the tweezers, but by then she had gained conscience and what does she do...instead of crawling UP towards the opening, she crawls INSIDE the main water and only there goes up! So she ends up in the top, trapped!

Amazed as I am that I got the chance to see this, I'm worried about this happening again. I took out the water dispenser, but this is my second allready and they need a continuous water supply. I'll try and fill the opening with even more stones I guess...but I would appreciate any suggestions! I'm also curious whether anyone has had the same experience! I tried complaining to ANT STORE that these water dispenser are not good for ants but they just told me to fill it with pebbles...something that hasn't worked so far.