Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

[NoviceAntKeeper]

I've been tryin to find Camponotus queens here in Houston (the suburbs). All I can find is RIFA. Any tips on Camponotus queens in my location?

[Hawkeye]

I've been tryin to find Camponotus queens here in Houston (the suburbs). All I can find is RIFA. Any tips on Camponotus queens in my location?

Try looking in parks, or forested areas?

[NoviceAntKeeper]

Okay, thanks

[Matthew407]

Hello, I have recently caught a Camponotus pennsylvanicus queen and had some questions on care. I watched the AntsCanada video on how to care for this genius and they said to keep them in tube until they had 20 to 50 workers. My questions are. First, how do you feed them in the tube and remove trash without them escaping? Second, at what point should I start putting food in their tube? Third, what food is best for them at this stage? Last, will they suffocate in such a small space considering they are so large and tightly packed together? I would appreciate any help you could give me as I have always loved this species of ant. I caught two queens last year but accidentally killed them when I placed part of their tubes on a heating mat. I don't want to mess it up this time.

Thanks,

Matthew407

[ridgewalker]

Hello, I have recently caught a Camponotus pennsylvanicus queen and had some questions on care. I watched the AntsCanada video on how to care for this genius and they said to keep them in tube until they had 20 to 50 workers. My questions are. First, how do you feed them in the tube and remove trash without them escaping? Second, at what point should I start putting food in their tube? Third, what food is best for them at this stage? Last, will they suffocate in such a small space considering they are so large and tightly packed together? I would appreciate any help you could give me as I have always loved this species of ant. I caught two queens last year but accidentally killed them when I placed part of their tubes on a heating mat. I don't want to mess it up this time.

Thanks,

Matthew407

Hi and Welcome to the crew, I am new ant keeper too. I caught the same camponotus Penn. just back in April. So you don’t need to feed her until she has her first workers. From my experience, I would highly recommend buying in AntsCanada Test tube portal, test tube adapters and plugs. I find anytime you open the test tube, they get all stressed. The test tube portal allow you to place food into the portal and the workers can drag it back to the test tube, without stressing them too much. As far as food goes, start looking for where you can regularly find small bugs. Grasshopper, roaches, spiders. Also you will need a sugar source, if you get the ac portal, you can connect another test tube with sugar water or honey water, the same way as a regular test tube setup with the cotton ball, so they don’t drown. Don’t worry about the small space during the time the queen is laying her first eggs. The small space make her feel safe. You will find that when it’s time to expand the workers will be trying crawl pass the cotton ball that blocking the test tube. Hope this info helps

[ridgewalker]

So when I woke up this morning, I noticed the camponotus penn. queen and all of her workers moved themselves out of their original test tube and into an empty test tube that was connected to the ac portal. I had just clean the empty test tube. It was their where they placed all their trash, so it was getting kind of nasty. Now that it clean, I guess they like it. I thought they would want to be near the cotton ball for the humidity for the brood. I know they understand their needs better than I do. I’m not sure if they move because they like the clean space or if the humidity was too much for them.

[Alaydia]

Hello! I'm also just starting in the world of ant keeping, and my special interest is the lovely Camponotus, especially C. Penn. Despite being in Pennsylvania, we, unfortunately, don't have many of them near me. Nearly all of the common ants I stumble over are C. Novaeboracensis. They're pretty, but I recently moved down here from further north, and I miss my black beauties. I started loving them from when I was a child and stumbled over one of their nests being destroyed by red ants. As a result, I absolutely HATE red ants!!! I even tend to avoid the AC videos featuring them. Ah, childhood trauma! My current adventure started when a beautiful winged C. Penn queen crawled up right next to me on my porch. Meant to be! Currently I have two C. Penn queens and, just because, one C. Nova, all with eggs and larvae. Looking forward to my first workers!

[RaptorAnts]

I am going to get a gan ant queen sometime this month. It is a Camponotus of some sort. When I get her I will send pictures and y'all can tell me what kind of Camponotus she is. I am in Arizona btw.

[ellie5010ml]

Hello! I'm new to ant keeping and recently caught a Camponotus Pennsylvanians queen. I have her in a test tube set up and am trying to leave her alone. I have part of the test tube under a 7-watt heating mat that I'd typically use for my snakes, as I read an increase in heat can encourage laying. I'm now learning that this can overheat or kill her... should I remove the mat?

[Isoroku55]

Hello! I'm new to ant keeping and recently caught a Camponotus Pennsylvanians queen. I have her in a test tube set up and am trying to leave her alone. I have part of the test tube under a 7-watt heating mat that I'd typically use for my snakes, as I read an increase in heat can encourage laying. I'm now learning that this can overheat or kill her... should I remove the mat?

Hi and welcome,
I personally wouldn't use it, since the danger outweighs benefits. Camponotus ants are about patience, I myself have moved my colony from last year to ytong formaciarium yesterday, there are about 15 workers now.
I've found that after 1st workers arrived it's easier to put test tube (nest) inside another container (outworld) and leave it open. really easy to feed them without stressing them. (If you use raw honey it will last for really long time, I'm using parts of pill plates for honey, works well)