The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Hello everyone!

Last Friday (28Jul), I caught I believe to be a Camponotus Pennsylvanicus queen in Halifax, NS. I installed them on a standard test tube setup, however, I wonder if they have enough space. Looking at how the queen has trouble turning around, I wonder if the test tube will quickly be crowded once I have nanitics (finger crossed she lives long enough for that!). Do you guys think I should switch her to a tube with a larger diameter, or will it be fine?

You should probably add more space

30x200mm test tubes work well with Camponotus.

Alright, I'm gonna order 30x200 mm test tubes then!

However, now that some of them have eggs, how difficult is it going to be to make them move? I heard that it can be stressful for them and slow down their growth. Also, when should I move them? Once they have a few nanitics?

Wrap something around the larger test tube so it is dark. Put the front of the smaller test tube into the larger test tube. Usually the ants will pack their stuff and move to the darker test tube. Worked perfectly for my 4 worker Campo colony. Then plug the larger tube.

Serafine wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 03, 2017 9:14 pm

Wrap something around the larger test tube so it is dark. Put the front of the smaller test tube into the larger test tube. Usually the ants will pack their stuff and move to the darker test tube. Worked perfectly for my 4 worker Campo colony. Then plug the larger tube.

Ok! At the moment, I only have a queen and a bunch of eggs that are one week old or less. Should I wait to have a few nanitics first?

You could put the two tubes together darken them both and wait. Probably she'll move to the larger tube. That way you don't have to disturb her too much.

Ok, I will try that. I wonder if she will move soonish or if she will wait until she has nanitics first...

if your talking about moving into a nest, then I would suggest 25-50 workers.

Not a nest yet, no, I was wondering whether I should move her to a bigger test tube or not, considering that she can barely turn around in my current one.