Ant wont move into new test tube

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katherineschwab

Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 29182Post katherineschwab
Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:44 am

My queen camponotus doesn't seem to want to change test tubes. So far she has 1 worker, and several pupa. The cotton ball in her original test tube is completely dry and is starting to get moldy, so i attached another test tube to it with a fresh cotton ball and plenty of water. I have the new test tube in the dark and the old one in the light, but the most she does is walk to the part where they meet, then walk back to the old one. Once she scurried over to the new one, then ran back, and hasn't gone that far in since. I have the test tubes about 1/2 centimeter apart with a peice of breathable cloth wrapped around the gap to provide plenty of airflow. Do I need to have the gap with the cloth there or will there be enough airflow with them directly touching one another, and is there anything else i should do to get her to move over? Its already been about 4 days and she still doesn't even venture over. And could it be possible that the new test tube has too much water in it? It's not leaking, but could the high moisture cause her to not go over?

AntsRule
Posts: 813
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2016 2:02 pm
Location: Chester County Pennslyvania

Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 29198Post AntsRule
Wed Aug 16, 2017 12:25 pm

katherineschwab wrote:
Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:44 am
My queen camponotus doesn't seem to want to change test tubes. So far she has 1 worker, and several pupa. The cotton ball in her original test tube is completely dry and is starting to get moldy, so i attached another test tube to it with a fresh cotton ball and plenty of water. I have the new test tube in the dark and the old one in the light, but the most she does is walk to the part where they meet, then walk back to the old one. Once she scurried over to the new one, then ran back, and hasn't gone that far in since. I have the test tubes about 1/2 centimeter apart with a peice of breathable cloth wrapped around the gap to provide plenty of airflow. Do I need to have the gap with the cloth there or will there be enough airflow with them directly touching one another, and is there anything else i should do to get her to move over? Its already been about 4 days and she still doesn't even venture over. And could it be possible that the new test tube has too much water in it? It's not leaking, but could the high moisture cause her to not go over?
She needs more time. She will know when her current conditions become to dangerous for her. As long as the mold is not touching her or the brood directly its not doing much harm. Forcing the move will cause more harm than good. Just give her peace darkness and time. :D
With all the things ants can do, you wonder, who rules the planet :?

Keeper of:
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus
Pheidole sp.

katherineschwab

Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 29865Post katherineschwab
Tue Aug 22, 2017 11:35 am

Now she has 2 workers, and they have still not moved into the new test tube, even with the new test tube in the dark and the old one in the light. They seem to completely ignore the fact there is mold, as the queen and the workers both occasionally walk on or hang out on the moldy cotton ball. Could there be too much water in the new test tube, seeing as camponotus like it moderately dry? It has been about a week and a half since the first nanitic hatched, so should it be time to feed them a drop of honey? If so, should I put it in the part they stay in where i know they will find it, or should i try to use the honey to lure them into the other test tube?

AntsRule
Posts: 813
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2016 2:02 pm
Location: Chester County Pennslyvania

Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 29870Post AntsRule
Tue Aug 22, 2017 11:47 am

katherineschwab wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2017 11:35 am
Now she has 2 workers, and they have still not moved into the new test tube, even with the new test tube in the dark and the old one in the light. They seem to completely ignore the fact there is mold, as the queen and the workers both occasionally walk on or hang out on the moldy cotton ball. Could there be too much water in the new test tube, seeing as camponotus like it moderately dry? It has been about a week and a half since the first nanitic hatched, so should it be time to feed them a drop of honey? If so, should I put it in the part they stay in where i know they will find it, or should i try to use the honey to lure them into the other test tube?
Don't feed them in there current test tube. The mold is only really something to worry about if the cotton is completely black and the mold is spreading on the brood and queen. If the cotton is not completely black attach them to a small out-world with a drop of honey and maybe a cricket leg in the out-world.
With all the things ants can do, you wonder, who rules the planet :?

Keeper of:
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus
Pheidole sp.

katherineschwab

Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 29877Post katherineschwab
Tue Aug 22, 2017 2:21 pm

Should I feed them now or should I wait until there are about 10 or so workers?

AqdasHassaan

Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 29889Post AqdasHassaan
Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:05 pm

you can try giving them a drop of honey or sugar water in an outworld and see if they are interested or not.

katherineschwab

Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 30639Post katherineschwab
Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:04 pm

I think one of the nanitics might be dead. It's curled up in a corner next to the dirty cotton ball. The cotton ball still doesn't have a lot of mold on it, so I don't know if lack of food could have causes a death or what. The other nanitic is fine and is walking around with no problems. Any suggestions?

katherineschwab

Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 30640Post katherineschwab
Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:30 pm

I put the test tube in an outworld and put a drop of honey near the end of the test tube and they are eating it, but havn't gone into the other test tube i attached and put a little more honey in.

AntViking

Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 30641Post AntViking
Thu Aug 31, 2017 4:40 pm

katherineschwab wrote:
Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:30 pm
I put the test tube in an outworld and put a drop of honey near the end of the test tube and they are eating it, but havn't gone into the other test tube i attached and put a little more honey in.
Okay idk how much room you have too work with. But if you want them back into another testtube. Leave them in that outowrld. Get the new tube cover it with a cotton ball with a straw poking out big enough for her to fit through.. when the queen feels it's time to move she will move. There is no way to manually force them to move safely so all you can do is wait. Which I know from experience can really sucks sometimes

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Neo82172
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Re: Ant wont move into new test tube

Post: # 52650Post Neo82172
Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:51 pm

We're having the same issue with our camponotus, shes been trying to die on us since we caught her. Its been about 22 months since her nanitics have arrived she got up to about 25 workers. Then we set the test tube setup in the outworld of an omni nest vertical. Within 2 days they moved out of the test tube. I think it was too soon for them because now shes down to one worker and we've moved her back to the test tube setup. We have them setup to a test tube portal. Shes got a good clutch of about 15 eggs but they hardly ever eat. We have to put a drop of honey in the end of her test tube to get them to eat it. They dont touch crickets or superworms no matter how we do it. we now raise dubia roaches and they don't seem to be eating those either. I have only seen them eat from a piece of apple once. We have our camponotus test tube portal setup inside of an empty exo-terra terrarium with our aphaenogaster picea test tube portal setup. We're trying to replace the water in both portals so we have one new water test tube blacked out per portal while having light on the old water test tubes. Its been two weeks and neither queen has moved. Our aphaenogaster water is almost gone and the cotton ball is moldy on the claustral chamber side only. It's not the whole cotton ball but its still enough mold to worry us because the queen, brood, and workers are all in direct contact with the cotton that has mold on it. The camponotus test tube has more water left and no mold so we're less worried about her staying aside from the fact her brood is only at about stage 2 from egg to worker.

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