The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

So recently I just got a Calomyrmex Albertisi queen and not much is known about these ants, but I'm hoping I'll be able to raise it to become a decent/small colony, but anyways this species is semi-claustral and I currently don't have an outworld (It is being delivered though, it is just it has been delayed and that's making me worry even more) but I do have my queen in a test tube setup as of now. What I really need to know is,

1. How many times do you feed a Semi-Claustral queen? I know that you can try observing her activity in the outworld to see when she wants food, but again, don't currently have an outworld.

2. How long could it last in a test tube, and is it too stressing for her that she may die (it is obviously disrupting her natural instinct)?

3. I heard that this species' queen may not accept many foods that other normal ants do, so could I get some suggestions on other food products? I currently have mealworms and crickets waiting to be fed to her.

Also, I feel really stupid for not getting an outworld beforehand, and for getting a species that isn't very well known, and is semi-claustral, but even though I'm just a beginner with barely any experience, I really do hope that I can raise the colony to have at least 5 workers, as I've compiled weeks of research before this. Anyways, I'll be open to as many questions as there are, I'm just finding it really hard to get proper solid information on this species at the moment. And if you don't have exact answers but suggestions/advice, then it is fine, I totally understand.

Thanks!

Anything can be an outworld. For my test tube outworlds I use small Tupperware containers. You could use an empty butter container for example. You don’t need a big fancy outworld for a test tube.

Just put the test tube into a container then drop food into the container. But make the test tube opening small by putting attaching a tube or straw. The queen will come out and get it if she wants it. If she drags food into the test tube she’s going to be good for a week at least probably even longer. If she doesn’t take it after 4 days it’s going to dry up and be no good to her. So you would have to replace it with a fresh juicy one. She may not take it until she has larvae that are a certain size. Also provide her with sugar water at all times.

JoeHostile1 wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2019 9:39 am

Anything can be an outworld. For my test tube outworlds I use small Tupperware containers. You could use an empty butter container for example. You don’t need a big fancy outworld for a test tube.

Just put the test tube into a container then drop food into the container. But make the test tube opening small by putting attaching a tube or straw. The queen will come out and get it if she wants it. If she drags food into the test tube she’s going to be good for a week at least probably even longer. If she doesn’t take it after 4 days it’s going to dry up and be no good to her. So you would have to replace it with a fresh juicy one. She may not take it until she has larvae that are a certain size. Also provide her with sugar water at all times.

Question, I currently have my queen hooked up with a heating cable, and she is currently really liking it as it is slowly becoming winter here, would there be any way that I could do this with the outworld setup? I'm thinking of taking out small holes to fit the cable through and underneath the test tube, but I'm not even sure if I should do this.

I don’t have much experience with heating cables. The experience I do have with them didn’t work out well. All I know is that you don’t want the heating cable to actually be touching the test tube. Some queens will stay where it is too hot until they die. When they have workers they’re less likely to die because the workers will make the queen move. So you want to make sure the temperature is never high enough that could kill the queen.

Well, my Queen has been surviving on that heating cable for about a week now and I think she has layed another egg since seeing her for the first time. Thanks for the advice anyways!

Okay Update,

I've gotten her set up on the Outworld and she's been relocated to my sunroom. I'm going to be hoping she stays alive tonight as it's her first. I've decided to add the heating cable but because she's in the sunroom, I may turn it from midday to evening. I got a quick peek of her test tube and it is quite dirty so I'm going to be moving her to a new one tomorrow. I also think she has eaten one of her larvae (Can queens eat their own larvae? The one I think she ate was small) but I think I also saw another egg attached to the egg she layed a few days ago. All of this commotion should end tomorrow as I move her to a brand new test tube, but I'll probably give her until midday so she's calmed down to move her. Anyways, Advice and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

Hi, the mealworms and crickets are excellent for most of the pets, I suppose they will love it.