Should My Colony of Tetramorium be growing?

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UpperLeft
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Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:53 pm
Location: Utah

Should My Colony of Tetramorium be growing?

Post: # 74249Post UpperLeft
Wed Oct 14, 2020 2:13 pm

Hi there, I'm new to ant keeping and have been reading lots in the forum to try and see if I could find an answer to this but haven't seen one yet. I have a new Tetramorium colony still in a test tube and when I got them, they had about 10 workers with a small pile of brood. Since I've gotten them about 20 days ago, they seem to be at 10 workers still, and the pile of brood seems exactly the same size. Meanwhile, the cotton in their test tube has gotten moldier and moldier, and the water is all but gone. I've provided them with a new test tube to move into, kept the new test tube dark, and they are eating what I've been feeding them, both carbs and protein, but I'm wondering, is it normal for the colony to not grow at all in 20 days? Could they just be preparing to hibernate? And from most of the responses I've seen on this forum, I'm just supposed to let them choose when to move into the new test tube, but could the state of their test tube be affecting the growth of the colony?

Weaver
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:53 pm
Location: Dayton Ohio

Re: Should My Colony of Tetramorium be growing?

Post: # 74368Post Weaver
Sun Oct 25, 2020 3:24 pm

I do know ants are picky and slow when it comes to moving the nest. Whatever you do, do not force move them. I made this mistake. They are pretty smart when it comes to mold. Some mold dont bother them, but what will bother them is the water source being dried up. Even though the water is gone. They still have some in their bellies, and some water is still in the cotton, most likey cant tell with a human ***** eye. They will begin to move cause of the water, and dont worrie the ants will distance them selfs away from bad mold. Just make sure the transition from the old test tube to the new test tube is fairly simple. I suggest the AC portal. From the sounds of it your ant colony is doing fine and better then some of my colonies. You also have to think they are nearing hibernation and will become way less active. Good luck! Keep us updated 😀
Keeping the following colonies:
x3 Tetramorium
x1 Camponotus Pennsylvanicus
x1 Cremogastor

AntsLuxembourg
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Re: Should My Colony of Tetramorium be growing?

Post: # 74385Post AntsLuxembourg
Tue Oct 27, 2020 3:01 am

Hey,

Sorry for not replying earlier. I will assume that the colony is preparing to hibernate as so many colonies do right and this means that they might not want to hatch. So you should prepare to cool them off. I don't know your exact species but you should try to hibernate or at least prepare them. This means get them into a new testtube, give them some time to rest and then start the hibernation process.
I also have to move 2 colonies for hibernation and their setup is moldy. Normally ants can handle the mold but I must say this is a pretty bad case of mold and therefore I will have to do a manual transfer. You should try to make them leave the old testtube. It depends on how you set up or connected the second testtube. If they are next to each other in a container you can just dump the queen, workers and eggs into that and they will move into the testtube as soon as they see fit for their nest. :)
If you have them basically plugged to each other you should just turn the testtubes and make them drop into the new one and keep them like that until they have moved out as much of the eggs as possible.
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

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