Camponotus Nicobarensis - pair of queens how often to feed

[Mvegt86]

Dear all, greetings from Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

I'm fairly new to the hobby, did some lasius Niger colonies in the past but it never really worked out, mostly in hibernation times. This time I want to purchase good equipment.

I've just got my camponotus Nicobarensis in. Still in the test tube.

I've fed them a honey water drop which they really liked, gave another drop 3 days later but had doubts how often I should do this. In nature they queens at first don't have any food, right?

Can't add pictures due to size? 1.8mb per picture, pixel 6 pro, is not that large?

[Antloverhuman]

Use imgur or google photos, share the photo as a link.
Is it just the queen? In that case dont feed her. Just wait untill the workers arrive.
If there are few workers (anywhere between 1-7), feed her once a week with any sugar and protein (small quantities. You can also alternate by giving sugars one week and protein the next)
If the colony is bigger, feed her twice a week or once a week with more food

[Mvegt86]

Thanks for the help. Won't feed them again until the first workers arrive.

Hereby the photos of both queens and some brood.

https://imgur.com/a/gXJPjUF

[antperson24]

Once the first workers arrive, wait about a week, then feed them a small drop of honey then the week after that try feeding them a small insect. Just be carful so you don't feed them too much.

[Mvegt86]

Thanks, I'll post an update once the first workers arrive, will be in approximately a month I guess.

[Mvegt86]

New update.

Colony is growing fast.
Unfortunately I got some mold.
Ordered a new nest for transfer. Will arrive next week.

https://imgur.com/a/zWEzoAk

[antperson24]

Man, those are some pretty ants!

[Mvegt86]

Thanks!

So, I've bought the new camponotus nest including arena. Will arrive tomorrow.
What's best to use within the nest to keep the nest sufficiently wet, but also not to get mold?

[antperson24]

Thanks!

So, I've bought the new camponotus nest including arena. Will arrive tomorrow.
What's best to use within the nest to keep the nest sufficiently wet, but also not to get mold?

What nest did you buy?

[Mvegt86]

I've bought the camponotus hybrid nest 2.0.
Really like it so far. Not yet started with the outside world that came with it in the full pack.

But, refer to images below, I've got a new problem again. As mold was my biggest problem I thought giving them a very large cricket leg which they couldn't move/pull into the nest, but, well, they were stronger than I'd expected.
What do I do? Colony still small, so could try to remove the cricket leg, but maybe others have better solutions?

Underneath the nest is cotton with water, a cricket leg combined with high humidity will realize mold fast I'm afraid. And what are solutions to make sure this doesn't happen again?

Normally I start with really small nest, so I asked AntsCanada how it worked with this nest, they said it's fine, but I'm still really afraid that if they will create a waste location within the nest, unabling me to clean/remove...

Hope someone can help out:)

Regards, Martin


https://imgur.com/a/epejtc8