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Hybrid nest shipping takes too long

Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 6:41 pm
by Antmansam
I have two tetramorium queens in test tube set ups at my house and I am going to order the tetramorium hybrid nest set up. I was going to wait until one of them has eggs to order it just in case they die. But if they do have eggs the time until they hatch is about a month and on the AntsCanada website it says there are so many orders for it it will take 5-6 weeks to ship. So is it ok to keep the queen and the workers for a week or two past how long they should be in the test tube?

Re: Hybrid nest shipping takes too long

Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 9:49 pm
by AntOblivion
Yes, it's ideal that you only put them in a nest when they have 20 workers

Re: Hybrid nest shipping takes too long

Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 11:02 pm
by ooper01
Also, Hybrid Nests have been shipping a little sooner than 5-6 weeks. The past month or so they have been going out in 2-3 weeks.

Re: Hybrid nest shipping takes too long

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 5:16 am
by Antmansam
Thanks for the help. I just wanted to get other people's opinion on it before i order it. ;)

Re: Hybrid nest shipping takes too long

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:45 am
by idahoantgirl
Actually, 20 is the bare minimum. 25 -50 is usually recommended.

Re: Hybrid nest shipping takes too long

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 11:50 am
by Antmansam
Ok thanks :)

Re: Hybrid nest shipping takes too long

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 7:49 am
by Serafine
You should NEVER force your ants to move anywhere unless their survival is threatened. Force-moving a colony into a formicarium can seriously stall their development. Tetramorium are such small ants that they can easily live in a 150mm test tube with more than 100 workers. Best is to put the test tube into an outworld, attach the nest and wait for them to move. And it's better to always offer them a new test tube when the old one runs dry.
The ants will move to the nest when they're ready but small colonies develop A LOT better in test tubes than in formicaria.