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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2010 0:31:55 GMT 1
Hey, I'm sure you're glad since my last thread that I'm going to go for a home made plaster nest instead of gel for my colony. I had an idea I wanted to share with you guys. It is that I wanted to make a dark room, that has a moveable cover to make one of the rooms dark most of the time. The idea is that hopefully the queen will find it and be happier there, while I can still observe the rest of the group. Do you think this will work? Do you think that the queen will even find it? or choose to live in that particular room? I just thought I'd ask since you might be able to guess their behaviour more accurately. Also, as a side note, I understand that the nest may well be a bit too dry, so I was doing to have a small pot/bottle lid that I was going to have some cotton wool pads on, and keep that soggy at all times so that they have opportunity to drink. Will this be cool? Ah, and one final one... I was going to have 3 or 4 pipes that I could use to link to outworlds, and/or some kind of mild ventilation system should I need it. The pipes will be about 12mm across or so, will I be able to just block these with cotton wool, or will the ants move it? Oh! and one final final one... Can I order some ants now? I want 10 and a queen, will they be happy in the tube for a few days? Seems like it would be quite tight in there, but I hear of a lot of people keeping queens in them for a long period Thanks!
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Post by Myrm on Dec 16, 2010 0:52:40 GMT 1
I say make the dark room; it will be interesting to see what she makes of it. Queen ants like to feel safe and often they disappear into chambers out of view from our eyes. So try it and see what happens.
Yes, the soggy cotton wool is a good idea, though try not to make it swimming in water, just in case there are any accidents.
It is possible that the ants may try to move it. The trick is to pack it in tight enough that the ants can't drag it out, yet loose enough that air can filter through. I would try putting it in loosely at first and if the ants manage to move it or crawl past it, then pack it in a bit tighter.
You could order ants now. Antstore, for example are very careful as to when they send ants out and will check the weather report for the destination and only send when the weather is favourable during the journey.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2010 5:04:10 GMT 1
I say make the dark room; it will be interesting to see what she makes of it. Queen ants like to feel safe and often they disappear into chambers out of view from our eyes. So try it and see what happens. Yes, the soggy cotton wool is a good idea, though try not to make it swimming in water, just in case there are any accidents. It is possible that the ants may try to move it. The trick is to pack it in tight enough that the ants can't drag it out, yet loose enough that air can filter through. I would try putting it in loosely at first and if the ants manage to move it or crawl past it, then pack it in a bit tighter. You could order ants now. Antstore, for example are very careful as to when they send ants out and will check the weather report for the destination and only send when the weather is favorable during the journey. Yes. I quite agree. I must say that the dark room should be rather small, as a colony of ten workers will easily be able to hide completely out of view. Maybe 20 workers??
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2010 11:00:46 GMT 1
Yes that sounds a good idea
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2010 23:50:45 GMT 1
Sweet Giving it a go on the weekend then. Wish me luck! I'll think I'll order in the new year now, the postage is all backed up to hell, and I don't want them sitting there freezing
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2010 1:30:34 GMT 1
Sweet Giving it a go on the weekend then. Wish me luck! I'll think I'll order in the new year now, the postage is all backed up to hell, and I don't want them sitting there freezing Very good thinking.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2010 17:36:41 GMT 1
Good Luck with it. Keep us updated
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2010 18:28:11 GMT 1
Good Luck
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2010 19:03:53 GMT 1
Yeah cool, thinking of having a go tonight, I'll take pictures of the process if I can
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2010 19:08:21 GMT 1
Wow that would be awesome
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2010 19:13:11 GMT 1
Great! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2010 19:24:06 GMT 1
Remember to allow the rocks to warm up to room temperature if they have been outside in storage.
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Post by animal123 on Dec 17, 2010 20:10:21 GMT 1
Uuuu.... Cant wait! :-D
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2010 16:14:40 GMT 1
How did it go?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2010 20:21:06 GMT 1
Erm, not especially well! Here's what happened, in a step by step: Pour plaster: Get attractive lady-friend to stir. Overexpose image. Make cool shapes from plasticine Pour in second layer Pop out plasticine, then realise your second layer hasn't suck to the first Notice the cracks all along the base too from trying to get it out :\ I hear you need to wet the first layer to encourage adhesion, I didn't realise this. Live and learn. Here's my next plan: I'll keep you updated on that too!
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