Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

[Warden]

Don't invest much in my inexperienced advice, but I would guess hazards from food spoilage would be something they would cope with before succumbing to. If you provide a fresh nest tube they may relocate everyone and let the shrimp keep on keeping on, or they may recognize the hazard and remove it when its an issue.
Worst case though might be they mistook such a non-local and foreign food for brood and are committing to a fatal mistake. If this is the case, any damage you cause removing it can be recovered from more easily than an outbreak, and you could always collect and return the brood to the enclosure with a toothpick if any stick to the shrimp.

[Alex07]

Do you have a way to cool them slightly so they aren’t so active? Is the shrimp easy to access?

Well I unplugged the heating cable so it dropped about 7 degrees but the thing with the shrimp is that it's kinda big and the ants put their eggs (not the larva or pupai) in FRONT of it. So the eggs are tiny with a big piece if shrimp and it's in the middle of the test tube... I'm forced to be a bystander!

[sartwell90]

Do you have a way to cool them slightly so they aren’t so active? Is the shrimp easy to access?

Well I unplugged the heating cable so it dropped about 7 degrees but the thing with the shrimp is that it's kinda big and the ants put their eggs (not the larva or pupai) in FRONT of it. So the eggs are tiny with a big piece if shrimp and it's in the middle of the test tube... I'm forced to be a bystander!

My Tetramorium colonies have been a pain for how they relocate their food - so I've been limited to giving them only a leg at a time etc. then removing it after a few days if they haven't. So I feel your pain. Previously they have put their garbage on the cotton ball which is a very difficult spot to retrieve it from so I find I have to be one step ahead of them for that. The workers there are now getting comfortable enough to search for food outside of the test tube which really helps since now I can put it in a much easier to access spot.

In other news, The Carpenters are up to 21 or 22 workers - which already passes the upper estimate I had for total before winter. It's getting to the point where it's getting harder to count them. They still have about half their brood pile left and I believe the queen is on an egg-laying break. So well timed for the coming hibernation, if only I had that level of planning prowess! If it is indeed how many eggs, larva and pupae that it appears to be. This queen that started with only 2 nanitics might very well hit 40 workers or more before the winter, talk about prolific! I'm so proud of her.



And the troublesome Tetramorium, only kidding - aside from how they have been storing their food they've been very accommodating. I was trying to get a picture of the brood but then the queen and workers all joined the frame so here's the whole family.

[Kherafox]

Awesome pictures, sartwell!! I love them. I'm thrilled your Camponotus have grown so quickly, it uplifts me a little, hoping to someday see that in my own home. I love the home-taken pictures instead of edited footage. Granted, both have their awesomeness, but it just gives me hope.

My little Queen Minnie is still doing her slow movement stunts, being upside down or on the water cotton ball for a while. I don't see any change in her or any eggs (I think). There are a few tiny specks at the bottom of the tube but I think either something from the cotton, or they may be light reflecting off scratches in the plastic. She still has her wings, and this morning was investigating the cotton plugging the exit.

Would it be an ok idea to set up a more proper tube for her and let her move? I'm worried about the water cotton running dry since it's not set up right.

I'm also suspecting she might be a male, more and more. Hmm.

[sartwell90]

Awesome pictures, sartwell!! I love them. I'm thrilled your Camponotus have grown so quickly, it uplifts me a little, hoping to someday see that in my own home. I love the home-taken pictures instead of edited footage. Granted, both have their awesomeness, but it just gives me hope.

My little Queen Minnie is still doing her slow movement stunts, being upside down or on the water cotton ball for a while. I don't see any change in her or any eggs (I think). There are a few tiny specks at the bottom of the tube but I think either something from the cotton, or they may be light reflecting off scratches in the plastic. She still has her wings, and this morning was investigating the cotton plugging the exit.

Would it be an ok idea to set up a more proper tube for her and let her move? I'm worried about the water cotton running dry since it's not set up right.

I'm also suspecting she might be a male, more and more. Hmm.

Is it possible to post a pic of Minnie? I'd be able to tell you for sure if she was a queen or male alate.

This queen started slow too, because it was several weeks between the first 2 nanitics and any new workers, a GAN farmer did most of the early leg work on my C. novaeboracensis queen, so in that regard I've been spoiled. My Tetramorium colonies are going through the paces of the slow start though.

I think of colony development kind of like a pipeline, they have to lay eggs, which have to develop then eclose into larvae, which have to develop and become pupa, then they have to pupate and eclose into workers. During that whole time the queen will usually be laying more eggs, which means that there eventually is a more steady stream of ants reaching the adult portion of their life-cycle. Once the pipeline is filled, the flow of new workers progresses much faster.

[Kherafox]

Is it possible to post a pic of Minnie?

Not with the current phone or camera I have. They're years out of date, and even trying to take pictures of the yellow crazies that are feral around here was nothing but a blur. So, not really. Looking into phone upgrade, so if she's around that long I can probably get a good pic then. One thing that makes me think male rather than female is the gaster is more pointed at the rear than rounded.. but not much. And she still has her wings. Not that that's a tell-tale sign, I know, but I dunno.

I'd think about going looking for queens again but, not really any sign of rain in the next week, and then there's this from the local weather statement: ".HOT CONDITIONS FORECAST TODAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND... AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES TODAY AND WEDNESDAY ARE FORECAST TO REACH 104 TO 107 DEGREES IN MANY AREAS." Humidity's only about 50% forecasted. I'm disappointed. I might have to wait til spring and that's a long time to wait when I finally put my commitment into trying.

[CANant]

Awesome pictures, sartwell!! I love them. I'm thrilled your Camponotus have grown so quickly, it uplifts me a little, hoping to someday see that in my own home. I love the home-taken pictures instead of edited footage. Granted, both have their awesomeness, but it just gives me hope.

My little Queen Minnie is still doing her slow movement stunts, being upside down or on the water cotton ball for a while. I don't see any change in her or any eggs (I think). There are a few tiny specks at the bottom of the tube but I think either something from the cotton, or they may be light reflecting off scratches in the plastic. She still has her wings, and this morning was investigating the cotton plugging the exit.

Would it be an ok idea to set up a more proper tube for her and let her move? I'm worried about the water cotton running dry since it's not set up right.

I'm also suspecting she might be a male, more and more. Hmm.

Does your possible queen look like this Queen?
https://images.app.goo.gl/ZPcSPdsZdb8oLBHUA

Or this male?https://images.app.goo.gl/nHq7a31kk1kvyFPH9

[Kherafox]

Does your possible queen look like this Queen?
https://images.app.goo.gl/ZPcSPdsZdb8oLBHUA

Or this male?https://images.app.goo.gl/nHq7a31kk1kvyFPH9

Yeah 'she' definitely looks more black than dark brown, smaller head, more streamlined gaster, more like the male. Should I let the little one go?

[CANant]

It’s possible it’s a princess too (unfertilized queen)
But usually the males have very small head compared to the queens and even workers because they don’t need the strong mandibles for fighting, digging or foraging.

[CANant]

Do you have a way to cool them slightly so they aren’t so active? Is the shrimp easy to access?

Well I unplugged the heating cable so it dropped about 7 degrees but the thing with the shrimp is that it's kinda big and the ants put their eggs (not the larva or pupai) in FRONT of it. So the eggs are tiny with a big piece if shrimp and it's in the middle of the test tube... I'm forced to be a bystander!

My Tetramorium colonies have been a pain for how they relocate their food - so I've been limited to giving them only a leg at a time etc. then removing it after a few days if they haven't. So I feel your pain. Previously they have put their garbage on the cotton ball which is a very difficult spot to retrieve it from so I find I have to be one step ahead of them for that. The workers there are now getting comfortable enough to search for food outside of the test tube which really helps since now I can put it in a much easier to access spot.

In other news, The Carpenters are up to 21 or 22 workers - which already passes the upper estimate I had for total before winter. It's getting to the point where it's getting harder to count them. They still have about half their brood pile left and I believe the queen is on an egg-laying break. So well timed for the coming hibernation, if only I had that level of planning prowess! If it is indeed how many eggs, larva and pupae that it appears to be. This queen that started with only 2 nanitics might very well hit 40 workers or more before the winter, talk about prolific! I'm so proud of her.



And the troublesome Tetramorium, only kidding - aside from how they have been storing their food they've been very accommodating. I was trying to get a picture of the brood but then the queen and workers all joined the frame so here's the whole family.

Great pictures sartwell90!!
I wish I could get pictures like that. Your Camponotus colony is doing very well and they all look healthy. Your Tetramorium colony has so many eggs. Great start!
So neat to see and hear about the progress of everyone’s colony’s.