How to hibernate camponotus? Plus, a cautionary story about collecting items for Terrariums...

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MarketTree
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 10:26 pm
Location: Columbus, OH

How to hibernate camponotus? Plus, a cautionary story about collecting items for Terrariums...

Post: # 74057Post MarketTree
Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:09 pm

Hello,

First of all, I'd love some advice on how to hibernate camponotus pennsylvanicus. Right now, I have 2 colonies which are both in the early stages of development. 1 colony has 6 nanitics and is in an AC test tube. The other, (which I'll describe in a moment) I would estimate to have 20-30 workers and is living in a hollowed out piece of wood within a plastic container.

Right now, I keep them in an un-heated, un-cooled garage until they become established enough to move into terrariums. However, I live in central Ohio and our winters can get pretty cold, so I expect my garage to reach temperatures below zero degrees fahrenheit several times this season. Unfortunately, I also don't have an un-heated room in my house. The coolest room I have would be my basement, which typically stays around 65 degrees fahrenheit.

What would you suggest I do?
Do I even NEED to hibernate my colonies at lower temperatures? I know that lack of hibernation can decrease the colony's lifespan, but how detrimental would it really be?

Also, I want to give everyone a word of advice about collecting random items from their garden for their terrarium setups:
Yesterday, I decided to collect some old pieces of wood that had fallen from a tree. The pieces had some really nice lichens and loose bark, which was teaming with springtails and isopods. However, after I started cutting the wood into more manageable sized pieces, camponotus workers started pouring out of a couple of small holes. I lost maybe 10 workers before I could get the wood into a plastic container, but if I hadn't tried to cut the wood, I would have just invited a young carpenter ant colony into my home. :shock:

In the end, I'm estimating that they still have 20-30 workers lining in their original chambers. And they appear to have blocked off the openings, so I'm assuming the queen is alive and well. And I'm actually considering putting them into a terrarium now and not hibernating them this first year, partially just to see what happens. (Keeping them at around 65 degrees fahrenheit throughout the winter months.)

Here are pics of what I'm working with...
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MattAttack
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2020 9:59 pm

Re: How to hibernate camponotus? Plus, a cautionary story about collecting items for Terrariums...

Post: # 74094Post MattAttack
Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:26 pm

Definitely do NOT keep them in the garage. I would hibernate them in the fridge if possible(that's what I'm going with mine) Also you should keep your colonies in test tubes or their founding setups for the first year since temperatures and all that are controlled. I would recommend that the colony you found in the wood stay in the wood at least for now since they are probably stressed.

MarketTree
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 10:26 pm
Location: Columbus, OH

Re: How to hibernate camponotus? Plus, a cautionary story about collecting items for Terrariums...

Post: # 74108Post MarketTree
Sat Oct 03, 2020 2:36 pm

MattAttack wrote:
Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:26 pm
Definitely do NOT keep them in the garage. I would hibernate them in the fridge if possible(that's what I'm going with mine) Also you should keep your colonies in test tubes or their founding setups for the first year since temperatures and all that are controlled. I would recommend that the colony you found in the wood stay in the wood at least for now since they are probably stressed.
Ah. So the fridge would be a good place to hibernate throughout the winter months? Most fridges are kept around 40 degrees fahrenheit. Is that an optimal temp for hibernation? If so, I'll definitely do that with my smaller colony (6 nanitics) since they're still in their test tube.

As for the wild colony in the old wood, I've added some air holes, a test tube of water & connected their plastic container to a terrarium. I don't expect them to move over until the spring, but now they can explore at their own speed. (See pics below.)

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MattAttack
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Re: How to hibernate camponotus? Plus, a cautionary story about collecting items for Terrariums...

Post: # 74122Post MattAttack
Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:19 pm

Yes, the fridge will be perfect. I would say for the colony that's in the wood should just be left outside and they should be fine. The others you should begin in late October put them in the fridge for like a 1 hour each day then slowly work your way to leaving them in all day. Should take about a month or so.

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