Food help for Camponatus Queens

Posts and questions relating to ant diet & nutrition. Let us know what you’re feeding your ants.

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HelixHelix

Food help for Camponatus Queens

Post: # 31566Post HelixHelix
Mon Sep 18, 2017 10:54 pm

Hello! This topic prolly dovetails into keeping too, since I'm new, but my queens haven't been doing well. Workers have been dying and they have no new eggs. Both queens look lethargic too... :(

Well, I've been giving them small pieces of fruit, and trying to clean the area I feed them too. (As soon as there were 3 ants hatched my mom basically shoehorned me to god be them an out world). What should I supply for protein? Both are extremely small, so crickets and such would be wasteful. Flies, perhaps? And how frequently should I feed?

I would love to get the queens healthy again and laying, but I'm also afraid my mother might be stressing them out by constantly checking on them.

YSTheAnt
Posts: 145
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 10:53 am
Location: Bay Area

Re: Food help for Camponatus Queens

Post: # 31584Post YSTheAnt
Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:53 pm

I would recommend pinhead crickets (the really small ones), fruit flies, and mealworm segments. I would avoid flies as they can carry insectisides and can be parasitic, and are dangerous to feed to your colonies.

The reason for lethargy is probably lack of sugar or moisture, or maybe they are just trying to hibernate. As for eggs and brood, my camponotus stopped larva development already because it's close to hibernation and egg laying also stops and or slows down at this time.
Check out my blog: bayareaants.blogspot.com
Keeper of:
Camponotus Modoc(6 workers)
Pheidole Spp (2 queens, about 10 workers)
Possibly parasitic Formica (further ID required)
Novomessor Cockerelli (10+ workers)

HelixHelix

Re: Food help for Camponatus Queens

Post: # 31616Post HelixHelix
Wed Sep 20, 2017 7:29 am

@YSTheAnt

Oh! I actually didn't consider hibernation, as the room I keep them in has been dipping into the 70s and high 60s (a good hibernation temp prolly).

As for feed, I actually gave them fruit flies! They responded very well, but surprisingly cucumbers are a favorite! The flies are safe, to my know-how, since they're from culture in my university (perks of working in the genetics labs). If they are compromised, I'd know.

YSTheAnt
Posts: 145
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 10:53 am
Location: Bay Area

Re: Food help for Camponatus Queens

Post: # 32506Post YSTheAnt
Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:26 pm

Yeah, your flies are probably safe then. Also, temp doesn't always trigger hibernation. Mine decided to start hibernating end of August when time was still round eighty degrees some days. They have minds of their own...
Check out my blog: bayareaants.blogspot.com
Keeper of:
Camponotus Modoc(6 workers)
Pheidole Spp (2 queens, about 10 workers)
Possibly parasitic Formica (further ID required)
Novomessor Cockerelli (10+ workers)

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