Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

[anonymous1234568]

They aren't eating them if I give them sugar water will that be better? How should I give it, just pour it in, or get some cotten to dip and then put it in.

[ArizonanAnts]

You could try making a little bit of sugar water. Get some tin foil or a plastic water bottle cap and put a few drops and observe. Also try feeding them different insects and/ or meats.

[Hawkeye]

How is everyone and your colonies doing? My Camponotus vagus is growing steadilly by the looks of it. Well I assume they are that is, as they decided to dig into the shallow ground of the arena I made for them... For ages there was only one lonely ant worker foraging around on the surface every once in a while, but today there were two.
They seem crazy about maple syrup and have been dining on a variety of all sorts of insects. Today I bought some feeder insects for them, so I don't have to chase them down in the garden all the time. If you translate their name literally they're called curly flies, called because they have curled wings which prevents them from flying. They're about half the size of a common housefly, so perfect for my ants to chase down and drag back to the nest

[NoviceAntKeeper]

Hey guys! So I got a Camponotus Vicinus queen about 15 days ago, any care tips for founding stage? I’ve checked on her twice since and always used a red flashlight (like those candy lollipop things I just use it’s red light).She hasn’t payed eggs yet even though when I got her I gave her a bit of honey and only checked on her once a week. Any ideas? Thanks!

[Hawkeye]

Hey guys! So I got a Camponotus Vicinus queen about 15 days ago, any care tips for founding stage? I’ve checked on her twice since and always used a red flashlight (like those candy lollipop things I just use it’s red light).She hasn’t laid eggs yet even though when I got her I gave her a bit of honey and only checked on her once a week. Any ideas? Thanks!

Hi there!

In the founding stage it is very important that you leave her alone as much as possible. Put her in a dark, warm cupboard somewhere and don't check on her for at least 3 weeks... We all know it's hard to resist the urge. Every time you check on her, it will cause her stress, which in turn makes her deem her surroundings unfit to raise brood, so she might actually eat any eggs she already laid at that point. She won't need any food for weeks, just access to water

[NoviceAntKeeper]

Okay, thanks! I’ll update on her in a few weeks I guess.

[DaMormon]

Hello all,

I am new to ant keeping and to the forum. This season I was lucky enough to find my first black carpenter ant queen. I have her in a test tube set up. She had 3 nenantics when I checked on her this past Monday, but by Wednesday all 3 had died. The queen seems to be OK, still has a 4 eggs and 1 larva.
I am trying to figure out what happened so I don't have a repeat. I only check on her 1 time per week, that's also when I was feeding the nenantics. I was feeding crushed meal worms and honey. Temperature stays around 78 degrees. Not exposed to light.
I don't have any idea what happened. What is your opinions?

[Hawkeye]

Hello all,

I am new to ant keeping and to the forum. This season I was lucky enough to find my first black carpenter ant queen. I have her in a test tube set up. She had 3 nenantics when I checked on her this past Monday, but by Wednesday all 3 had died. The queen seems to be OK, still has a 4 eggs and 1 larva.
I am trying to figure out what happened so I don't have a repeat. I only check on her 1 time per week, that's also when I was feeding the nenantics. I was feeding crushed meal worms and honey. Temperature stays around 78 degrees. Not exposed to light.
I don't have any idea what happened. What is your opinions?

There might have been some contaminants in the food you offered, or they might have just suffered from stress. When you fed them, did you remove any leftovers say a day or two later? Just a queen and 3 nanitics won't actually need that much food. A fruitfly would be sufficient for instance.

[Hawkeye]

Hello all,

I am new to ant keeping and to the forum. This season I was lucky enough to find my first black carpenter ant queen. I have her in a test tube set up. She had 3 nenantics when I checked on her this past Monday, but by Wednesday all 3 had died. The queen seems to be OK, still has a 4 eggs and 1 larva.
I am trying to figure out what happened so I don't have a repeat. I only check on her 1 time per week, that's also when I was feeding the nenantics. I was feeding crushed meal worms and honey. Temperature stays around 78 degrees. Not exposed to light.
I don't have any idea what happened. What is your opinions?

There might have been some contaminants in the food you offered, or they might have just suffered from stress. When you fed them, did you remove any leftovers say a day or two later? Just a queen and 3 nanitics won't actually need that much food. A fruitfly would be sufficient for instance.

***** = c o n t a m i n a n t s... not sure why the site thinks that's a bad word...

[antnest8]

Hello all,

I am new to ant keeping and to the forum. This season I was lucky enough to find my first black carpenter ant queen. I have her in a test tube set up. She had 3 nenantics when I checked on her this past Monday, but by Wednesday all 3 had died. The queen seems to be OK, still has a 4 eggs and 1 larva.
I am trying to figure out what happened so I don't have a repeat. I only check on her 1 time per week, that's also when I was feeding the nenantics. I was feeding crushed meal worms and honey. Temperature stays around 78 degrees. Not exposed to light.
I don't have any idea what happened. What is your opinions?

There might have been some contaminants in the food you offered, or they might have just suffered from stress. When you fed them, did you remove any leftovers say a day or two later? Just a queen and 3 nanitics won't actually need that much food. A fruitfly would be sufficient for instance.

***** = c o n t a m i n a n t s... not sure why the site thinks that's a bad word...

Ants = A n t s
Super = s u p e r
contaminants = c o n t a m i n a n t s

Are all bad words according to this
Wait did they fix this???