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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2011 19:02:15 GMT 1
Yes don't disturb her I still agree with the other, buy a colony with workers already. You may get bored waiting for the brood to develop, it takes a vAry long time.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 8:33:59 GMT 1
Yes don't disturb her I still agree with the other, buy a colony with workers already. You may get bored waiting for the brood to develop, it takes a vAry long time. Right, heres the plan then: - Buy one of those thin little tanks and add the earth. - Buy a queen and a dozen workers - Add ants to little tank and let them, I assume, dig their own tunnels and get the queen settled in. - Watch queen lay eggs and ants care for them over next month or two. Go "awwwww" every now and again. - Leave alone until whenever we move (July/Aug) then set up big tank at new house - Add thin tank to big tank, run tube out, wait for ants to realise there is a big world outside their little home and forrage there - Ants will take care of the rest and move into the main tank when they are ready. Assuming that is all sensible, my only concern is when I come to move the small tank won't all the tunnels collapse and kill my ants? I can keep it relatively still, but a short car journey is still involved. I don't suppose there is any way to make the queen build her nest in the big tank where I can see it is there? Even if I convinced her to nest in, say, a plastic bottle then buried the bottle against the glass, I imagine she would move out on a whim.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 8:45:13 GMT 1
I would not let them into the soil yet for the reason you have said, moving could collapse tunnels.
Plus it will then be harder to feed them in a slim line tank before you get an outworld set up.
You don't need to move them into a set up straight away, they could live in the test tube until they have 100 workers or maybe more (depends on dirt/water supply etc) the only problem you will have keeping them in the test tube is that it's hard, but not impossible, to feed them. Perhaps
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 8:50:08 GMT 1
You could try a slim line ant farm or cover the sands of the tank that the soil is against with some material. That way if they dig near the edge light won't get into the nest. Make a starter hole with a stick near the edge and hope they use that too. Most importantly, put the testtube in the set up and leave them to it. You may find they don't move out for a couple of weeks or may only take hours before they start digging. Just remember they know what best for them. They should be ok as long as they are secure and the nest doesn't slide about.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 10:02:40 GMT 1
Ok, new plan! Tupperware box with a little sand/earth in it, add cotton wool with sugar water, bit of food etc... Add test-tube in a shaded corner, leave be. Then they can settle and there will be no tunnels to collapse, but they can have a wander. #Edit# Arghhh so many questions! Assuming I keep the test-tube somewhere shaded (or wrap the tube in cloth or something so it is dark) the ants won't mind the soil/sand only being shallow will they? They don't need depth to dig in until there are... over 100? of them right? I want to see my colony start so I want the queen to stay put in the tube, then later when it is established they can go underground out of sight.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 15:04:31 GMT 1
Yeah that is good. Don't make the soil too damp else they will dig. Wrap the tube in some like tin foil. 100 workers will be a long wait let them have a proper nestonce you have finished moving house. :-)
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 15:23:52 GMT 1
Oh I will At most they will have to wait a couple of months in the box (and even then it will be a good size with toys and hiding places
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2011 19:50:51 GMT 1
Right, we have a firmish moving date of late August, so I am going to order a queen and half a dozen workers then put the tube in a 10cm/20cm tupperware box with pin prick air holes. Then hopefully by the time I put the box into the main tank in 2 months I should be on the way to having some new ants I realise the queen will not need feeding at first, but I assume the ants themselves will? Is it just a case of cotton wool dipped in sugar water? Oooh, I realised as I was feeding the birds this morning the bird food is grain and mealworms, could I put a (hard) mealworm in every now and again or do they have to be 'fresh' (if so there is a pet shop over the road that sells crickets, worms and such for lizards)? How hot can it get before the ants become inconvenienced? Now the sun is out more the attic room (where the ants will be living) gets quite hot. Not like scaulding hot, and they would be inside some shelves well out of the sun, but still quite warm. Will they be ok or do I need to find somewhere else?
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2011 20:30:38 GMT 1
Worth is good, they will develop faster. The workers will feed the queen so leave her to them. Sugar water in wool sounds good, you will need to buy some fresh mealworms, it is the juices the ants like.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2011 13:51:41 GMT 1
Planning ahead a little, but when I come to set up a big tank, would the ants object to me giving them artifical tunnels? As in, could I make a system of rooms and tunnels out of straws and boxes (for example) then bury them in soil, so the ants then use the tunnels I have made? I'm thinking for safety so the tunnels don't collapse at any point, as well as because I am a control freak. They can still use their own tunnels if they like, but mine would be nicer And they could coincidently go to the edge of the tank where I can see them.
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