Formicarium for Temnothorax questions
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:57 am
Hey guys, eventually when my Temnothorax Curvispinosus colony needs a formicarium, I want to have something nice and small for them, since they're so tiny and tend to make small nests. AntsCanada is great but doesn't really have anything small enough (while looking nice) yet for what I'm looking for, plus I just wanted to shop around.
https://tarheelants.com/collections/for ... er-or-50mm
I'm considering the small inception chamber, does anyone have any experience with it? I have a few questions about it:
1) Is it worth paying extra for the water tower/humidity source to be inside the nest?
2) How deep is that sand? Is that hard surface with only a light dusting of sand, or is it more than a couple mm's thick of sand? I do not want thick sand, I only want a very thin dusting of sand at most. Unless they wouldn't dig in the sand? I'm worried if it's too thick, they'd try to nest in it or dig tunnels. The videos made it look a little deep...
2.5) -and adding on to that last question, is it possible to just dump out the sand and add back as much as I see fit?
3) Should I pay extra by checking the "tiny species" option rather than just "small species" for temnothorax? Should I just leave it at "small" or "medium" so they have room for their colony to grow more? I intend it to be a long term home for them since I heard Temnothorax rarely ever get big numbers.
Anyway, input appreciated! I have been doing research and watching videos on how these formicaria work, and I'm not really sure about how "user-friendly" they are, but it could be more fitting for my colony in the longrun. I just have very little point of reference as to how the exact nest will look at the different sizes, or what the substrate is like, with only pictures and some videos to look at. If anyone's had experience with similar products, let me know!
https://tarheelants.com/collections/for ... er-or-50mm
I'm considering the small inception chamber, does anyone have any experience with it? I have a few questions about it:
1) Is it worth paying extra for the water tower/humidity source to be inside the nest?
2) How deep is that sand? Is that hard surface with only a light dusting of sand, or is it more than a couple mm's thick of sand? I do not want thick sand, I only want a very thin dusting of sand at most. Unless they wouldn't dig in the sand? I'm worried if it's too thick, they'd try to nest in it or dig tunnels. The videos made it look a little deep...
2.5) -and adding on to that last question, is it possible to just dump out the sand and add back as much as I see fit?
3) Should I pay extra by checking the "tiny species" option rather than just "small species" for temnothorax? Should I just leave it at "small" or "medium" so they have room for their colony to grow more? I intend it to be a long term home for them since I heard Temnothorax rarely ever get big numbers.
Anyway, input appreciated! I have been doing research and watching videos on how these formicaria work, and I'm not really sure about how "user-friendly" they are, but it could be more fitting for my colony in the longrun. I just have very little point of reference as to how the exact nest will look at the different sizes, or what the substrate is like, with only pictures and some videos to look at. If anyone's had experience with similar products, let me know!