Lasius Niger problems

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AntAnett
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:28 am
Location: Poland

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 50035Post AntAnett
Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:15 pm

Yes, I have two colonies, but I was sure Lasius niger will die. Now I have hope again that everything will be fine :D

I will make fresh test tube with chambers. Maybe they will feel like a cool home to live in. Only I wait for my package with ant goodies. I have t-tubes portal there.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmiM_PNwB9wuId1eRfE0WDA/videos

AntAnett
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:28 am
Location: Poland

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 50596Post AntAnett
Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:37 am

A little update. My Lasius niger colony with problems, still is alive and now they are connected to the test tubes portal. They eat, and they have eggs. I don't know anything more than that, cause their test tube is very dirty and it's impossible to see them clearly. There are 4 workers, that means no one died. That is what I really apprieciate, cause loosing workers at this stage would be really a dissaster. Fresh t-tube is waitting for them to move in, but they only take water from there. Their cotton is dry.

I have currently 3 colonies of ants, two Lasius niger, and one Messor barbarus. Messors are fine, the other Lasius niger colony is also fine, they have about 15 workers. They are attached to small arena, and also they have fresh T-Tube if they wanted to move there, they don't. But their t-tube is OK, there is no need to abandon it.

I've bought a small formicarium, for about 100-150 workers, I don't know how much ants may live there. I know it's small.

https://www.wish.com/product/5b1faa6479dba21e3762bf4a

Now I'll wait a month or so (for shipment) and maybe Messors would go there. I need small nest that is really escapeproof. I also need to find and by some kind of the red transparent plastic cover, to be able watch them without stressing them.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmiM_PNwB9wuId1eRfE0WDA/videos

Molsonice02
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2018 9:20 am
Location: Northern B.C

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 51415Post Molsonice02
Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:37 pm

Any updates on your colony? Did the formicarium arrive?

AntAnett
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:28 am
Location: Poland

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 51487Post AntAnett
Wed Sep 26, 2018 6:24 am

This formicarium will need much longer time, cause I'm from Europe, and it's from China. I gues they send stuff the cheapest way posible :P So it need at least two more weeks. But I will be possitively surpprised, if it comes earlier :D
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmiM_PNwB9wuId1eRfE0WDA/videos

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 51526Post AntsLuxembourg
Thu Sep 27, 2018 12:54 am

No that's not the problem. They actually usually send stuff with a regular package service but it get's checked by duty cause they have to check every package deliverey to the EU from non EU Countries. xD

But sometimes the packages pass through the duty like normal packages and they get delivered on time. Right now everything should still be normal but wait until December. That's when the madness happens and everyone orders stuff online and the duty get's to work twice as hard without even being able to check for all the items. xD
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

AntAnett
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:28 am
Location: Poland

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 51726Post AntAnett
Mon Oct 01, 2018 6:29 pm

My L. niger 1 colony has 5 workers. That is cool, because One was born. But I'm still not on the bright side, cause they've came to me with 6 workers. 2-3 died, and 1-2 was born. I'm still missing one worker. It all goes really slow. They still sit in their first t-tube. It's dry and dirty. They go to the new t-Tube for water, but they remain in the old one. But I do not think they are going to die. This colony is small and it behaves like small colony. Now they have more peace and comfort cause they have T-tubes port with tiny out world, they do not afraid of foraging in something this small.

Almost the same situation I have with my L. niger 2 colony. They're t-tube is almost run of water, and it's also a bit dirty. But they have brighter situation, no one died, this colony has about 15 workers, now maybe even more, cause I think it has grown a bit not much, but a bit. They live in peace, they have small but not tiny out world, connected to the second, clear, t-tube. Also one ant goes there from time to time, but they remain in small t-tube.

There is also one new colony. Maybe calling it a "colony" isn't the best now, there is only the Queen and eggs, and it's Lasius flavus. I wanted this species, cause the workers are yellow and it's cool :D But no workers yet. Still waitting. The Queen has 100% honey in her t-tube, and she lives in complete peace and darkness.

And still I have Messor barbarus colony, no changes there.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmiM_PNwB9wuId1eRfE0WDA/videos

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 51734Post AntsLuxembourg
Tue Oct 02, 2018 2:13 am

Perhaps it's time for the drastic move then. It's basicly the last option which is to just dump them all into the new testtube. I think that's the best and only option if you want them to move. Right now the queen might also already prepare for hibernation since it starts getting cold outside.

I also got a colony which got a nearly fully died up testtube but they got more than 20 workers so I will have to see about that. They will move to a new home in 2019. :P

That's probably the best solution for showing them live on my streams. ^^
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

AntAnett
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:28 am
Location: Poland

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 51737Post AntAnett
Tue Oct 02, 2018 5:19 am

I will leave them this way, they know were the water is and the pupae are growing normally, if they are so stupid to live like this, it's their choice.Their t-tube is small, and the other is the same size and has chambers from styrofoam. There are much better conditions there, they will move eventually. I'm not worried anymore, cause they are eatting. I must learn patience and some sort od trust to them, to their nature.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmiM_PNwB9wuId1eRfE0WDA/videos

AntAnett
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:28 am
Location: Poland

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 52080Post AntAnett
Mon Oct 08, 2018 4:11 am

My problematic L. niger Queen died. It Happened yesterday. It's sad, really sad. But this colony wasn't OK from the beginning. The Queen didn't have much offspring. She had a lot of eggs, and larvae, but those were dissapearing quickly, so they were often eatten. They have honney, and insects to eat, they were never hungry.

But still I have other colonies, and they all are doing fine.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmiM_PNwB9wuId1eRfE0WDA/videos

AntsDakota
Posts: 1283
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:22 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Lasius Niger problems

Post: # 52113Post AntsDakota
Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:53 am

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:52 pm
Alright. Let me give you some help. The name circle is this. Egg, Larvae, Puppae, Worker. They go from Egg to larvae then to larvae which is when they look a bit like worms then they turn into puppae which is when they make a cocoon to change their shape. Some ants don't make a cocoon so you can see them turn into white ants. And then when they are done they hatch as workers.

About moving your colony. Just keep the light on that area. It will drive them out eventually but it can take some time. I had to move a queen and her eggs earlier because her testtube got mold from her wings. I had to make shake her testtube a little bit so she fell into the new one and then I used some very fine tweezers to move the eggs. Luckily I managed to move the eggs without destroying too many. But I'm lucky to be able to move them at all without destroying all the eggs. It's very difficult and not for everyone. You got at least some workers so they will do that for you anyway.

I would sugguest just to keep shining your light onto that testtube and to keep the rest of the setup dark. They will try to move pretty soon anyway because their nest loses humidity which means the nest dries out. The ants don't need this much food. Perhaps give them a drop of honey one a week until they got more workers. I got 8 colonies of lasius niger and they all were very hungry today because I didn't feed them often enough but I they didn't starve to death of course. I feed them last week so it's fine. You can give them a bit of honey (no need to mix it with water) and perhaps once every few weeks a piece of a mealworm. I'm not going to feed my colony any insects for now but a protein mix I bought from an antstore in Spain when I ordered some equipment.

The dead workers. Try to remove them from the setup because their bodies are just the left overs. I'm currently streaming a colony of my lasius niger on twitch and I do know quite a lot about ants in general but of course I'm far away from being an expert and always thirsty for knowledge. :D

If you have any more questions just ask me. Could you perhaps share a picture of your current setup with me so I could give you some ideas for improvement.
Here's how I tell others about the ant life cycle- the egg is self explanatory, the larvae are ant caterpillars, and pupae are ant cocoons (or chrysalis, depending on species.)
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

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