Using OmniNest as Semi Claustral Founding Chamber

[MimzytheBun]

I have two Myrmica queens I've had for about a month now, and boy they are proving to be quite stubborn ladies. I made my first post here: viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1896 about the set up I had made with small outworlds and testtubes. I left them in this set up, checking up and feeding about one a week though neither have seem interested in any of the fruitflies I've provided, only honey. My wingless ant, "Penelantpe" as we've come to call her, did lay what appeared to be two eggs in the test tube but was never watching or caring for the brood when I checked.

Fastforward to this weekend and my OmiNest Small arrives. Penelantpe has shown the most promise with laying eggs but also wanders the most, so I devised a new format of founding chamber for her using the nest I'd love feed back on. This is what is looks like:
I bought "red" cellophane to cover the clear nest in hopes of giving her a bit less stress when I check up on her for water and such, but as you can see when I actually spread it over the acrylic the color is much closer to pink.



As you can see, I've blocked off all but three of the chambers with cotton. The three chambers which the queen does have access to have a thin layer of black sand to hopefully make her feel more at home. The cotton is wetted to different degrees, and one of the blue sponges is soaked while the other is not to create a moisture gradient across the nest.

This is how I am feeding her, with a miniature spoon holding a drop full of honey in the top singular chamber. I have to say I have had a great deal of trouble with the "lids" for the Omni Nest rooms, some of them are very tight and I doubt I'll be able to get them off without disturbing the nest.

I did manage to grab a few pictures of her in the nest, but I only have my terrible phone camera so I apologize you can barely see an ant. I promise the reddish brown blob is, infact, an ant. She was very still grooming her gaster when I started taking photos but at the close ups she moved around and decided to pose right up against the lid for me.

That is it for now, I tried to transfer the one egg left in her testtube to the new nest but I don't know if it survived the trip (so tiny I can barely see it!). I'm keeping the nest in a small walk in closet with no vents or windows, with a space heater set to keep it to 21c - with an excellent temperature sensor and automatic shut off. I'm really hoping that Penelantpe will begin laying again soon and she will have at least some brood before hibernation. If anyone has suggestions with my set up, or things they have found work well with the Omni nest, I'd appreciate any comments!

[seahehern]

Most people do not place it is such a huge area because ants like areas small and compact like a test tube or a large test tube and if it is semi claustral u need to feed it which is quiet hard #AntLove .

[MimzytheBun]

Most people do not place it is such a huge area because ants like areas small and compact like a test tube or a large test tube and if it is semi claustral u need to feed it which is quiet hard #AntLove .

The reason I moved her into here was I felt that my other test tube+out world set up was too large and she was often wandering around ignoring her brood. It really isn't that large of a space, only three little rooms each about the size of a stretched quarter. And in this set up, I am using the top third little room (as the coverings are each removeable) to put food in and out. When more ants arrive I will likely use the test tube portal to connect to a feeding test tube so I do not have to continually bother the nest.

I could always limit her down to only two rooms, but I was worried constraining her too much would mean that she wouldn't be able to move her debris/trash/poop away with only a food room and a nesting room. She seems to be quite the roamer, all over her original large home and she wasted no time exploring every inch of the three rooms when I introduced her.

[seahehern]

oh ok but how do u feed it just wondering #AntLove .

[AuntLinda]

oh ok but how do u feed it just wondering #AntLove .

This is how I am feeding her, with a miniature spoon holding a drop full of honey in the top singular chamber. I have to say I have had a great deal of trouble with the "lids" for the Omni Nest rooms, some of them are very tight and I doubt I'll be able to get them off without disturbing the nest.

[MimzytheBun]

Update! - Snatched from the Jaws of DEATH

Well forum we had a doozy of a day here. It all started when I was watering the sponges in the nest, and noticed one of the plastic sides of the formicarium wasn't flush with the nest holes beneath it. Wanting to investigate more, I brought the Omni Nest to my living room and started fiddling with screws. One thing lead to another and I come back from the bathroom to find... QUEEN ANT MISSING.

I'm instantly freaking out, thinking about the nest of fire ants that is going to grow in my walls, and searching the whole room top to bottom. After almost an hour of searching, my boyfriend calls out he can see a spider actively wrapping something up, and the something is ant sized. My heart sunk (though I thought it was a better outcome than rogue fire ants) and I asked him to grab the bundle so I could "confirm the kill". He scares off the spider, scoops up the silk cocoon and transports it to my desk. Using tweezers and a single pin, I start pulling apart the spider silk as gently as I can.

Low and behold the cocoon wiggles! So being super super cautious now I continued to work like a surgeon with fine needle nose tweezers and the pin, the hardest part was creating resistance to pull the silk off of her. I couldn't squeeze her, so it was a constant struggle trying to get her free. Big gaster, check. Hooded thorax, check. I knew for sure this was my Penelantpe and I was going to do my damnest to get her through this. I got the boyfriend on google, which said water wouldnt help so all I had was my delicate attempts to get the sticky webbing off. It took about half an hour, but I'm proud to say that I actually somehow managed to do it! I got her gaster free first, which she thanked me for by spending the rest of the time trying to sting the tweezers as I worked around her abdomen. Her antennas came out last, which was slightly comical to see her pulling her whole body against the one string I was trying to free with the tweezers.

She didn't escape this brush with spidery death completely unscathed though, two of her legs (one on either side) seem to be functioning poorly. I'm hoping this is an injury that will heal or an affect of spider venom which will wear off, but only time will tell. After such a stressful experience I scooped her back into the Omni Nest, shrinking her area down to only a single room.

She was not calming down and continuing to pull at the cotton and climb the walls, so I offered a small amount of honey in a tube connecting to the nest.
After trying to squeeze out of the gap for a good while, she finally walked into the tube but had no interest in the food. All she wanted to do was pull at the cotton and look for a way out. On the way back into her nest her bum legs had her fall into the honey drop which was nerve wracking, but she managed to pull herself out quickly without needing my assistance. If nothing else, it was kind of cute and reassuring to watch her groom the honey from all her legs successfully.

I'm really hoping she is going to pull through this whole ordeal, because man it would be pretty amazing if she goes on to raise a colony. I turned her room temp up to 22c for tonight, fingers triple crossed she pulls through the night.

[Lukestewart]

Wow. Look forward to an update

[Serafine]

Best wishes to your queen, I really hope she makes it.

[MimzytheBun]

I just checked up on her briefly and she made it through the night! She moved a bit when I looked at her with light, but didn't walk and her legs still look sprawled. I think the best thing for her now will just be leaving her alone for a week or so, and then I'll check her again and offer some more food. I think I'll try protein first and if she has no interest I'll give more honey. Thanks for all your interest and best wishes, the tale of Penelantpe continues

[Lukestewart]

Any updates?