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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2012 21:47:50 GMT 1
It has always been my intention to one day own and raise a leaf cutter ant colony.
There are various colonies currently avaliable.
I've got my eye on an Atta colony and I would be appreciative of anyone who has kept leaf cutters or has any advice on how they should be kept.
I like to do things properly and correctly, as I think as the ants are in my care they need to be given the best chance possible to become as successful as possible.
Of course leaf cutters are a significsant amount of money to purchase and if i am to get them, like I said, I wish to do it correctly.
Any advice on how they should be kept, past experiences or anything that can help me, i'm very greatful.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2012 21:51:19 GMT 1
Well as far as I know nobody on here has them.. They are also extremely hard to look after!
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2012 21:53:49 GMT 1
It's not a good idea to buy Atta.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2012 22:02:03 GMT 1
They are expensive to buy, perhaps thats why? I've heard they are hard to look after, but I have seen such simple set ups be effective and allow them to thrive, even something as simple as a plastic container with no medium and a moist peice of cotton wool for humidity and water and a heat mat to get the right temperature.
I shan't underestimate how hard it is to keep them, but when I see an easy set up like that it makes me wonder why everyone doesn't do that :S
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2012 22:03:40 GMT 1
@ batspiderfish, would you care to elaborate?
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2012 22:09:55 GMT 1
They might only appear to be easy to look after, but after a queen and her fungus culture has been shipped over thousands of miles, both are very stressed and often perish; keep in mind that caring for Atta also means caring for their fungus. If that fungal culture becomes infected despite the Atta's best efforts, the entire colony dies.
Additionally, most of the Atta which are available come from countries which also harbor Solenopsis invicta, countries which don't ordinarily allow ants to be exported (Atta, themselves, are also agricultural pests.) It's questionable where these colonies come from, but with a company as large as AntsKalytta having recently been caught smuggling, it's likely that these colonies were obtained illegally. For such a common ant in those areas, this would explain the price.
Lastly, Atta colonies grow to be absolutely enormous. They aren't really suitable for hobbyists.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2012 21:20:34 GMT 1
I do understand that the fungus is the ants' main food source and without that, the ants won't survive. Yes I had heard about AntsKalytta being involved in some form of illegal activity. But the colony I was looking at was on Antstore. But because of the difficulty of keeping these ants, and as I said a rather high price, I opted to go for a native ant; Myrmica rubra which I collected earlier today. But thank you for your input, it was helpful
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2012 21:27:15 GMT 1
Collection? I take it you live in Germany, I guess that saves extorationate shipping prices...
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2012 21:31:56 GMT 1
Collection? I take it you live in Germany, I guess that saves extorationate shipping prices... Yes, if it were not for the shipping cost, we'd be absolutely laughing!
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2012 17:46:57 GMT 1
Search on google for Acromyrmex or Atta setups on German ant forums. If you don't know German, just use Google Translate.
They have some rather amazing Leafcutter ant farms over there in Germany. If I get an Acromyrmex/Atta queen this year, I'll be copying them. They are really big into their ants over there, and rather good at keeping Leafcutters.
The main things to keep in mind, if anyone ever decides to keep Leafcutter ants...
1. Exact temperature at all times 2. Exact humidity at all times 3. Leafcutter ants are really good escape artists
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2012 18:10:47 GMT 1
No, sadly not Jon, if I did I wouldn't ever leave the shop ;D I meant that I went out and collected them from the wild, I took a small portion of a large nest with some queens, workers and brood. I have to say they look splendid I agree Drew, the shipping costs are practically 3 times the actual cost of the ants! Oh to live in Germany *Sigh*. Thanks Vendayn! But I think for the time being my Rubras will keep me quite content ^^
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