Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

[QJH2023]

Mine are awake as well, sort of. I have been using wild ants as my guide, since I only keep native ants. Was out Wednesday when the weather was in the high 50's and saw some wild girls, so I took my colonies out of the fridge. Since the tube was about dry, I put them into the outworld of a mini omni nest and plugged up the cells beyond the outworld (it's attached to the nest). I expected them to go into one of the cells beneath the outworld, but the queen (Xena) seems to have set up in one corner of the outworld near the opening to the nest under a piece of moss. Meh, no reason she can't settle in right there if she wants to. She only has about a dozen workers, so I had plugged off all but about a test tube's worth of room, so maybe she just likes the open space after her tube? Her workers have already explored the nest (and pulled on the cotton, the little snots, I had to make sure the other cells were well blocked), but now they're all camping under the moss in the outworld. Maybe Xena is just an outworld kind of girl? Anyway, the point of all this rambling is that they seem to be mostly snoozing. C. Penn is listed as nocturnal, although I've seen them awake at all hours, but day or night, they're mostly snoozing. Did I maybe wake them too soon? I hope I didn't cause them any harm!

give them a week to come around mine take like 3 days to fully get back t normal

[Alaydia]

They're more active now, but once again, very picky eaters. They're turning up their noses at the dead cricket, the bit of banana, and even the blasted brown goop that was all they would eat before. I tried a bit of strawberry, but can't tell if they've been at it or not. So it seems they're back to their former picky habits. I'll have to get to the pet store and get some wingless fruit flies, see if they'll eat those. It seems they're more interested in arranging the nest they've built in the corner of the outworld right now.

[Alaydia]

hmmm i see camponotus is a popular species i will do some research on it(care sheets). i heard they grow slow(thats not a problem). is a ant tower big enough?

I'd planned to put one of my two colonies into an ant tower mini, but unfortunately the queen did not survive the winter. I fully intend to use mine to house a starter colony. The only real downside is that you can't see much of what they're doing and the bigger ants might need the spacer thingy inside (this is a technical term, pay attention!) removed so they have enough room. Otherwise, they're squished against the side. For Campos that aren't too big, I think towers are a great choice. The ants can dig their own nests out, expand at their own pace, and they're easy to connect to another nest or outworld for more space. Hybrid nests, you really need to wait until you have lots of workers before you move them in because even the minis are a bit too much space for a small colony. I have my current girls in an omni mini with all but two of the holes blocked off with cotton. My thought was they'd nest in those holes and have a nice little outworld to explore and be fed in. Instead, they blocked off the entrance to the holes and currently live in a piece of moss in the corner of the outworld. Ants. They're finicky buggers.

[AM1C39]

They're more active now, but once again, very picky eaters. They're turning up their noses at the dead cricket, the bit of banana, and even the blasted brown goop that was all they would eat before. I tried a bit of strawberry, but can't tell if they've been at it or not. So it seems they're back to their former picky habits. I'll have to get to the pet store and get some wingless fruit flies, see if they'll eat those. It seems they're more interested in arranging the nest they've built in the corner of the outworld right now.

It could be because they are not hungry. You should give them a bit of honey.

I'd planned to put one of my two colonies into an ant tower mini, but unfortunately the queen did not survive the winter. I fully intend to use mine to house a starter colony. The only real downside is that you can't see much of what they're doing and the bigger ants might need the spacer thingy inside (this is a technical term, pay attention!) removed so they have enough room. Otherwise, they're squished against the side. For Campos that aren't too big, I think towers are a great choice. The ants can dig their own nests out, expand at their own pace, and they're easy to connect to another nest or outworld for more space. Hybrid nests, you really need to wait until you have lots of workers before you move them in because even the minis are a bit too much space for a small colony. I have my current girls in an omni mini with all but two of the holes blocked off with cotton. My thought was they'd nest in those holes and have a nice little outworld to explore and be fed in. Instead, they blocked off the entrance to the holes and currently live in a piece of moss in the corner of the outworld. Ants. They're finicky buggers.

If you put them in a hybrid nest they will just live in the water test tube for a while, so they will not be harmed .

[adragondream]

Hi,

Does anybody know about what kind of biome Camponotus Nicobarensis might like? I want to build a terrarium, but there seems to be a bunch of conflicting information online. Also, are they polygamous or monogamous? While most western sources seem unsure, local sources seem to show that the queens will work together if introduced early.

JZ

[SYUTEO]

Hi,

Does anybody know about what kind of biome Camponotus Nicobarensis might like? I want to build a terrarium, but there seems to be a bunch of conflicting information online. Also, are they polygamous or monogamous? While most western sources seem unsure, local sources seem to show that the queens will work together if introduced early.

JZ

C nicobarensis is usually found in tropical rainforests, so they like a rainforest biome. I never kept C niconarensis before but I have seen some people with multi queen Camponotus nicobarensis colonies. But I recommend you to keep your queens in seperate test tubes cause you'll never know if they will fight or not.

[JCamponotus]

I have a Camponotus Hercules colony that is almost 1 year old with roughly 50 workers that are currently in a 3 test tube with AC Test tube portal and small outworld set up.

I need to upgrade their nest. Is the Hybrid Mini Nest a good fit for Camponotus? The description on the store does not mention Camponotus as their list of ants. If not, does anyone have any advice? The colony is too small for the full fledged Camponotus Hybrid Nest 2.0. I am not interested in the tower, because I would like to be able to view the Queen from time to time.


https://www.AntsCanada.com/shop/new-hybrid-nest-mini/
https://www.AntsCanada.com/shop/new-camponotus-hybrid-nest-2-0-copy/

Thanks,
JCamponotus

[AM1C39]

The hybrid nest mini will be good for camponotus for a couple years.

[Antmanboy]

I have a Camponotus Hercules colony that is almost 1 year old with roughly 50 workers that are currently in a 3 test tube with AC Test tube portal and small outworld set up.

I need to upgrade their nest. Is the Hybrid Mini Nest a good fit for Camponotus? The description on the store does not mention Camponotus as their list of ants. If not, does anyone have any advice? The colony is too small for the full fledged Camponotus Hybrid Nest 2.0. I am not interested in the tower, because I would like to be able to view the Queen from time to time.


https://www.AntsCanada.com/shop/new-hybrid-nest-mini/
https://www.AntsCanada.com/shop/new-camponotus-hybrid-nest-2-0-copy/

Thanks,
JCamponotus

I think it will do very well! Just a reminder dont fill up the hydration chamber all the way as it is not personalised for Carpenter ants and they prefer a drier nest! I wish you good luck!

[adragondream]

Hi,

Does anybody know about what kind of biome Camponotus Nicobarensis might like? I want to build a terrarium, but there seems to be a bunch of conflicting information online. Also, are they polygamous or monogamous? While most western sources seem unsure, local sources seem to show that the queens will work together if introduced early.

JZ

C nicobarensis is usually found in tropical rainforests, so they like a rainforest biome. I never kept C niconarensis before but I have seen some people with multi queen Camponotus nicobarensis colonies. But I recommend you to keep your queens in seperate test tubes cause you'll never know if they will fight or not.

Thank you!

Rainforest biomes are quite fun to build. This I will enjoy. (...I sound like a villain) If the Camponotus Nicobarensis is polygamous, it might be nice, since this will help with one of the larger problems with large species, which is a low reproduction rate.

I'm excited XD.

JZ