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Ant Diets

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:25 pm
by Jadeninja9
Is it true that you're supposed to vary with the insects you feed your ants, or else they won't be getting the proper nutrition they need? For instance, I shouldn't feed my small colony only mealworms forever?

Re: Ant Diets

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:56 pm
by idahoantgirl
Jadeninja9 wrote:
Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:25 pm
Is it true that you're supposed to vary with the insects you feed your ants, or else they won't be getting the proper nutrition they need? For instance, I shouldn't feed my small colony only mealworms forever?
Honestly, it doesn't matter tons. It is probably a good idea to occasionally buy some crickets or cockroaches, but they aren't going to die if you only feed them worms. You would probably experience more growth if you had a varied diet, but there are no stats on it.

Re: Ant Diets

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 3:19 am
by Serafine
A one-sided diet isn't good for most animals, ants included. The risk of them lacking certain nutrients is definitely there, so it's best to feed them different insects (as well as some fruits and nuts if the take them). Also from time to time you should add something salty (like bacon or some drops of salt water).
My ants mostly eat (and prefer) bee pupae yet I still regularly add some spiders, grasshoppers, frozen raspberry bits, bacon, etc. to their diet and most of the time they take it.