I need feedback on my design and plans!

[Hawkeye]

So a quick update on my now nanitic-less queen...

Yes my queen who had 3 healthy nanitics before, is now on her own... The third one died the other day, so I am guessing the small 20mm centipede wasn't the problem after all.

When I checked on her to see how much of the peanut butter I gave her she had consumed (she apparently really liked it) I had a short-lived moment of excitement. Two more nanitics had eclosed and were in the tube with her! However, upon closer inspection, I found they were lying dead on their backs in the tube with her this afternoon.

Could my queen be suicidal and killing her own offspring? Maybe feeding and removing leftover food has been more taxing on her than I thought... She still has a good number of eggs, larvae and pupae, so I'm just gonna butt out at this point and won't check on her again for another 2 weeks or so.

The other queen seems happy in her new test tube, but hasn't produced any eggs yet. I set free 2 of the 'new kids' queens as one was barren and I offered the eggs of the other to present to the egg-less queen. I carefully scooped them up with tweezers (no pinching involved) and then deposited them on the inside of her external cotton plug. Now it's just a waiting game to see if she recognises and accepts them as (her) eggs.

[Hawkeye]

On an unrelated note:

I am happy to see that we have actually gathered a little 'Camponotus crew' here, who are all active on the forum as well. I've seen you guys' posts helping people with advice, identifying ants, etc. And I really enjoy sharing experiences with you guys.

I was wondering if you guys would like me to ask the moderator to change the title of this thread into 'Camponotus Crew' as it has become a thread about much more than just my designs? Maybe you guys can incorporate the link in your signatures as well, so it is easier for new members to find it?

What do you guys think?

[Hawkeye]

Actually I thought it would be easier to just start a new thread all together. Could you guys do me a favour and introduce yourselves on:

https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=15267

Simply state where you are from, which species you have and then we should be off to a good start!

[LasiusSapien]

Could my queen be suicidal and killing her own offspring?

if she is killing them then tha't cuz she's low on protein try her on protein only foods for a bit see if that helps also just had a thought to day "red light bulb" you reckon that will reduce stress when having to interact with queens during the founding stages?

[Hawkeye]

Could my queen be suicidal and killing her own offspring?

if she is killing them then tha't cuz she's low on protein try her on protein only foods for a bit see if that helps also just had a thought to day "red light bulb" you reckon that will reduce stress when having to interact with queens during the founding stages?

The red light bulb definitely wouldn't hurt. Not sure about the lack of protein, you'd think she be eating the insects I have her if she was low on them? Also they were still intact, the dead ants that is...

[CANant]

Oh no!! That’s awful news Hawkeye! Hard to say what is the cause..we may never know. I truly hope she can recover. I would personally start her fresh. In a clean closed off test tube and definitely leave her alone for a while. I’m personally very hesitant about offering food of any kind in the test tube (nest) simply because of mould issues and how sensitive they can be. All my queens were fully claustral of course. I’ve also had a queen eat her brood and pupae (caught her in the act and they were almost gone by the time I figured it out) but I now know it was because she needed the protein and I was only offering liquids (honey, water, etc) to her nanitics. I also know they will not do well or she can eat her eggs if she becomes stressed or doesn’t feel safe. That’s why disturbing her and the colony a lot doesn’t usually go well.
Not saying you are doing any of these just mentioning my experiences. It could have been something in the soil even. Where did you collect the soil? Is it possible it had fertilizer or something harmful in it?
Anyway very much hoping all will be ok in the end and she will start over.
Ohh almost forgot. I came across a tip that might help if you have to feed protein to a small colony or queen. Haven’t tried it myself yet.
Use a cricket leg (hind leg of course) and tie a thread to the non meaty area snug so it won’t come loose but not too tight it will cut it in half. Run the leg into the tube and have the tread run all the way down the inside of the tube past your cotton plug. Then you can easily remove the uneaten remains when needed- no mess.

[Hawkeye]

Oh no!! That’s awful news Hawkeye! Hard to say what is the cause..we may never know. I truly hope she can recover. I would personally start her fresh. In a clean closed off test tube and definitely leave her alone for a while. I’m personally very hesitant about offering food of any kind in the test tube (nest) simply because of mould issues and how sensitive they can be. All my queens were fully claustral of course. I’ve also had a queen eat her brood and pupae (caught her in the act and they were almost gone by the time I figured it out) but I now know it was because she needed the protein and I was only offering liquids (honey, water, etc) to her nanitics. I also know they will not do well or she can eat her eggs if she becomes stressed or doesn’t feel safe. That’s why disturbing her and the colony a lot doesn’t usually go well.
Not saying you are doing any of these just mentioning my experiences. It could have been something in the soil even. Where did you collect the soil? Is it possible it had fertilizer or something harmful in it?
Anyway very much hoping all will be ok in the end and she will start over.
Ohh almost forgot. I came across a tip that might help if you have to feed protein to a small colony or queen. Haven’t tried it myself yet.
Use a cricket leg (hind leg of course) and tie a thread to the non meaty area snug so it won’t come loose but not too tight it will cut it in half. Run the leg into the tube and have the tread run all the way down the inside of the tube past your cotton plug. Then you can easily remove the uneaten remains when needed- no mess.

I sort of took your advice. I didn't want to transfer her and her brood into a new test tube, as I feared that would stress her out even more. I did however plug the outside of her tube with a cotton wad which I slightly moistened and let a drop of honey saturate it.
That should at least negate any outside influences and offer a bit of food at the same time. I covered the tube with dead leaves from a house plant and resituated her entire setup into a dark cupboard.
Now as hard as it might be, I will leave her and her fellow queens alone for at least a week as I don't want to have any other deaths on my conscience...

The soil itself was the kind of soil you use for insect eating plants. So very low in nutrients and it definitely didn't have any fertiliser in it.

[CANant]

Oh no!! That’s awful news Hawkeye! Hard to say what is the cause..we may never know. I truly hope she can recover. I would personally start her fresh. In a clean closed off test tube and definitely leave her alone for a while. I’m personally very hesitant about offering food of any kind in the test tube (nest) simply because of mould issues and how sensitive they can be. All my queens were fully claustral of course. I’ve also had a queen eat her brood and pupae (caught her in the act and they were almost gone by the time I figured it out) but I now know it was because she needed the protein and I was only offering liquids (honey, water, etc) to her nanitics. I also know they will not do well or she can eat her eggs if she becomes stressed or doesn’t feel safe. That’s why disturbing her and the colony a lot doesn’t usually go well.
Not saying you are doing any of these just mentioning my experiences. It could have been something in the soil even. Where did you collect the soil? Is it possible it had fertilizer or something harmful in it?
Anyway very much hoping all will be ok in the end and she will start over.
Ohh almost forgot. I came across a tip that might help if you have to feed protein to a small colony or queen. Haven’t tried it myself yet.
Use a cricket leg (hind leg of course) and tie a thread to the non meaty area snug so it won’t come loose but not too tight it will cut it in half. Run the leg into the tube and have the tread run all the way down the inside of the tube past your cotton plug. Then you can easily remove the uneaten remains when needed- no mess.

I sort of took your advice. I didn't want to transfer her and her brood into a new test tube, as I feared that would stress her out even more. I did however plug the outside of her tube with a cotton wad which I slightly moistened and let a drop of honey saturate it.
That should at least negate any outside influences and offer a bit of food at the same time. I covered the tube with dead leaves from a house plant and resituated her entire setup into a dark cupboard.
Now as hard as it might be, I will leave her and her fellow queens alone for at least a week as I don't want to have any other deaths on my conscience...

The soil itself was the kind of soil you use for insect eating plants. So very low in nutrients and it definitely didn't have any fertiliser in it.

That’s good about the soil. Keep us posted. I’ll be anxiously waiting for an update in a couple of weeks.

[Hawkeye]

Hello boys and girls!

I have thus far been good, and haven't checked on my ants yet. I have, however, moved them to the basement where it's slightly cooler than the rest of the house, as we're having temperatures up to 40 degrees Centigrade over here.

There is some progress on de paludarium design side of things:

I have been given (still have to go collect it) another aquarium measuring 1m20 x 40 cm x 53 cm including the top. So I have decided to use that one for my refugium instead, and use the 80cm x 40 cm x 45cm as the terrarium. Furthermore, someone in a town only a couple of kilometres from here, had some spare gravel for me to use in the refugium.
To give my aquatic creatures some more space to manoeuvre, I decided to increase the width of the main tank from 1m20 to 1m40. I've gone for a somewhat more sleek or modern look in my updated designs. As always I am eager to hear what you guys think.





Instead of the plumbing outside the tank, I now want to drill holes in the bottom and feed the pipes through there. With the refugium being 40cm wider, I had to rearrange the filterpumps to sit behind the refugium, but that actually shortens the distance the water has to be pumped, so it's a benefit!

The greater refugium allows for a bigger space for shrimp & fish to breed and plants to grow (first 2 compartments) and still leaves me enough room to hopefully breed some water fleas and such in the last compartment.

[sartwell90]

Actually I thought it would be easier to just start a new thread all together. Could you guys do me a favour and introduce yourselves on:

https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=15267

Simply state where you are from, which species you have and then we should be off to a good start!

Awesome idea, Hawkeye, I'm going to post up my intro post their when I'm home from the lab!