Moving Colonies

[FaithUnkown]

Hello,

I'm a new ant keeper, this season will be my first and I have not yet gotten any queens. But I wanted to prepare ahead because this is the season here in the states.

My concern is that I will be moving within the next few months(I'm making sure not to move somewhere that won't let me keep the ants). Based on timing I'd expect any queen I get to still be in a tube, but I'm not really familiar with time-frames for nanitics and workers. The end of December being over three months away, and there's a chance I won't be moving until then, should I be worried about the colony needing a larger setup than a tube? How would transporting the colony work out? I'm not leaving state(NJ for reference of what species are possible for me to catch), and I'm not traveling very far, but is it safe to transport a tubs and tubes setup for example, or should I be prepared for them to be in an even larger setup? Should I play it safe and try see if I can buy a local queen AFTER I move(wouldn't this be the same as transporting them after catching them this month/next or no?)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

-Faith

[RubyAntKeeper77]

If it is the illegal to move your ants don’t.

With the majority of species that I know of you should be fine moving them, if you do get to the stage of tubs and tubes as you move I would advise getting all workers + Queen in a test tube then sealing it with cotton and then adding the tube back to the setup where you are going to live at.

If that in not possible there are two options

1. Giving the Queen + workers to a trusted friend or sell them on AntsCanada

2. (If you are not driving and in the same car.) set them on your lap then cover with a towel and make sure they don’t spill out during the ride

Don’t worry, most ants can handle the move, temp and moisture

WARNING: ants are really sensitive to vibrations (hence the towel) so if you use any of these options, or your own, be very sure to make sure that the vibrations, do not affect the ants.

[FaithUnkown]

I really appreciate the input, everything should be fine than. Definitely not making any illegal moves and can make sure to dampen the vibrations to prevent issues.

This helps put me at ease and get back to trying to find my first queen!