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Post by Myrm on May 30, 2012 21:07:16 GMT 1
Hi frogger1
Welcome to the forum and thank you for supporting us by joining.
A few years ago I had a large mite infestation in my Tetramorium impurm colony. I got rid of them by allowing the soil to dry out (I was keeping it too humid).
Hopefully it is just the one ant of yours that is affected, but the likelihood is that due to the close proximity of ants to each other in the nest, these could well spread. Hopefully you have managed to separate the only ant affected. Keep us posted as to how things work out.
Hope you enjoy your time with us.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2012 21:23:41 GMT 1
Thanks very much! Being a species that likes a fair bit of humidity, if I lower it will they be able to survive with just a water bowl? I heard this species can die within a day if humidity is too low. I too hope it's just this one ant that is infected but I have a feeling i've seen a few on other soldiers aswell. I will post an update soon! Thanks again
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2012 21:24:40 GMT 1
I wouldn't risk it, by lowering the humididty.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2012 21:26:46 GMT 1
I would advise you to maybe take that said ant out and keep doing that until they are all gone.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2012 21:40:21 GMT 1
Thanks for all you advice, the soldier i've been talking about has been in its own tub for a few hours now. I checked it a moment ago and it was almost dead but I gave it some honey water and it seemed to liven up. I think to get the other soldiers to come out i'll have to bait the ants with some food. I hope I can get past this but from how fast said soldier has become infected and nearly died is very fast, it must've been within the last day. I will try find more infected though, i'll update later with what happens.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2012 22:51:59 GMT 1
Well I had a look at the ants, I picked out random workers and they're covered in mites too so I left it for tonight. I am trying to get in contact with the seller, hopefully tomorrow i'll get to talk to him about this. I also tried lemon juice and nothing at all :/ I'll update tomorrow
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2012 7:29:10 GMT 1
What an absolutely horrible name! My name is Miles?! I'm no parasite! Well, some have used vinegar as well. I would suggest continuing the use of lemon juice though, as the effects may not have begun yet. (Edit -- Oh wait, you mean you might try to place predatory mites names H. miles?)
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2012 15:43:33 GMT 1
Haha I used some more lemon juice earlier and still nothing has happened, my soldier is dead and there are workers that are becoming heavily infested. I have ordered some A. Cucumeris, similar to H. Miles apparently just they don't eat as much. They'll be arriving tomorrow but they come in sachets and realease when there is high humidity so i'll have to put them straight into the setup. I'll update what happens with them!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2012 14:59:38 GMT 1
Another update. I fed my ants yesterday and got a very very weak feeding repsonse compared to what there feeding response is usually like. Well after that I received my A. Cucumeris and introduced them into the setup. They started to release from the sachets they arrive in almost instantly. Today whilst putting food in the feeding repsonse was very aggressive, with hundreds of workers and some soldiers. Obviously with all these ants coming out I got a good look to check for parasitic mites, the soldiers have lost alot of the parasitic mites compared to a couple days ago when I feared they would die because of how infested they were. The workers also look in good shape, I haven't seen one heavily infested ant today, neither any that seem to be irritated by mites, rubbing them off of their body for example. I'm not sure if the A. Cucumeris have had a significant impact or if it's just a coincidence, thanks for reading!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2012 15:02:09 GMT 1
Glad to hear your ants are starting to recover! ;D
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Post by Myrm on Jun 2, 2012 15:06:12 GMT 1
Sounds like things are improving. Well done Frogger1
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2012 15:48:29 GMT 1
Thanks guys! I guess only time will tell if they are ok or not so fingers crossed!
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