ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Jay2slow]

Hi anyone got any usefull tips for keeping Pheidole pallidula, like, what they eat, suitable enclosure, cheers

[Zagone]

They eat pretty much anything, and they don't seem very picky about where they live either. I have a friend who keeps them in a series of connected testtubes and they seem to love it.

[donbilbo]

As you have put this in questions for beginners i just have to tell you those ants are not for beginners. Those ants do not need hibernation, they are only 1-2mm "big" (workers), their soldiers can chew through silicone and they can escape through smallest openings. Best of all they are a well known pest ant living in houses in southern europe.

[Jay2slow]

I realise they might not be for beginners, i have kept Lasius niger since i was a child, havent had a colony in a couple years though, i wanted more of a challenge and a ant species different from my local ones, the fact they are known as pests does not put me of at all, i have kept lots of different species of insects, arachnids etc that some people would view as pests, but i like them, they fascinate me. I only recently found out you could buy ants online, i used to look all the time in the past and could never find anything, so when i found this company and seen the variety of ants they had i was over the moon. If the ants do escape then i will learn from my mistake and correct it, i would be thankfull for any advice you anyone can give on Pheidole pallidula, i hope i havent come across as cheeky or arrogant, cheers

[donbilbo]

i knew you would say that. you just have to realize if those ants escape they could do some serious damage whereas other exotic ants just would die.

Its a good start to set up a basin with a lid that is permanently fixed to the basin. you could for example duct tape it and remove the duct tape when you want to feed them. they also need a warm spot in their nest in order to produce soldiers. I would recommend a nest inside of the basin, not some kind of ytong or gypsum connected externally.
Those ants love to dig so if you do not want them to dig wherever they want you could cover the whole basin with a thin layer of gypsum. i found out they do not like oil at all but that might change when the colony is like 5000 ants.
If you want to give them sugar or honey make sure to only give them microscopic sized portions or they will just drown or stick in it due to their minimal size. Loads of insects of course but some people give them plant seeds, too.

[Jay2slow]

I have an antfarm for the nest with a beton nest a one side of it, that i got from antstore and then i have that attached to a basin i also have a heat mat on the side of the farm where the beton nest is, i tried to take pics to put up but it says the pics file size is too big

[SteveUK28]

If you wanna have a looksie about pallidula take a look at my pics in the pictures n video section.. pallidula worm hunting... im gonna be uploading some new pics later on.

[Mr_Major_Mellow]

messor barbarus are great for intermediate

i got my pallidula from antstore, she had no fat reserves and no eggs, she died within the week, with the shipping it was really expensive, thanks antstore!

you can pic up messor for around like 5-10 £ on uk websites so shippings cheap, got mine from antstore though, had her for about a month or to and i have 4 workers 3 dolls lava and a egg clump =D without heating, going to get a heat mat this weekend though.