Camponotus Journal

Discussions about the care and keeping of ants

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MorbidBugg
Posts: 284
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:11 pm
Location: Orangeville

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 42137Post MorbidBugg
Mon Jul 23, 2018 10:53 am

Camponotus N. Colony update
Went to see if she had moved tubes yet(been about half a week she thinks the new tubes a bathroom so...) might need a new, new tube...Queens am I right?
Anyway the one larva became a pupa in that amount of time and a few of the medium larva are now full sized and about to do the same. Here are some cellphone pics will update real camera pics I took as well tonight. I decided to try multiple cameras at once to see what gives me the best picture. .. without having to buy a new special point and shoot lens... lol

Anyway, cellphone pics.
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Ants are life's most successful invaders. Understand and respect that power.

TheRealAntMan
Posts: 620
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 42163Post TheRealAntMan
Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:47 pm

Update: We should be at 10 workers, but we are nine. One of the workers died mysteriously, and was consumed. After that I gave the half a superworm, seeing that they need it. Btw all this happened 2 days ago. Now the worm is hollowed out and I’m waiting for them to take it out so I can get it.
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An ants' strength can be rivaled by few animals compared to relative body size.

TheRealAntMan
Posts: 620
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 45731Post TheRealAntMan
Thu Jul 26, 2018 6:14 pm

Update: There’s really nothing to update on. We’re at 11 ants now. They’re eating more superworms, every 4 days and honey every 3.
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An ants' strength can be rivaled by few animals compared to relative body size.

MorbidBugg
Posts: 284
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:11 pm
Location: Orangeville

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 46157Post MorbidBugg
Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:00 pm

So not much to update on this week the pupa should be starting to enclose any day now and I should get my first 1-3 workers. Yay.

On a side note: update once I've gotten a few workers I'm going to be putting the colony into a plaster nest I had made. I was also super lucky today and someone was throwing out an old grungy aquarium that I was able to aquire. Got it home gave it a good soap/vinegar and hot water rub down as she's as clean as new it's 30 x 18 x 12(few movement scratches everywhere but nothing that would warrant a Crack or even visibility loss. I plan over the fall winter to come up with a great out world for them. It is big enough that they should never get bored and allow me to build something I can be super proud of. It will most likely be a natural terrarium with a few plaster nests for satellites and ease of cycling I will probably video tape the creation when I'm finally satisfied with plant choices soil choices and whether or not I'm going to include a tiny waterfall/pond in it but anyway if anyone had good suggestions for plants that grow well by all means lemme know, and if they are natural plants found in the wild I am a gardener and am willing to propagate my own plants rather than spending a fortune on some designer plant (and I'd rather avoid shopping site like wish and such because I don't know if I'm comfortable with heavily engineered plants.)
Ants are life's most successful invaders. Understand and respect that power.

MorbidBugg
Posts: 284
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:11 pm
Location: Orangeville

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 46161Post MorbidBugg
Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:24 pm

Here are some pics of the nest/aquarium(yes it's empty but for how long)
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The long tube will be for water / humidity control the short tube will be food tube/ nest entrance when they grow big enough to explore
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It's slanted as an aesthetic reason... sadly the corners broke due to weakness.
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Ants are life's most successful invaders. Understand and respect that power.

TheRealAntMan
Posts: 620
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 46566Post TheRealAntMan
Sat Aug 04, 2018 2:45 pm

Some very sad news to report :cry: . Before going to work today, I checked on my C. Pennsylvanicus colony to find my queen actually very strangely. She was moving her legs as if she were trying to shed wings even though she didn’t have any. I would have recorded it but I didn’t want to be late for work. I put honey and superworm guts in the AC portal for her. Coming back today I saw this:

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She had died. I’m not sure what had happened yesterday her gaster was very physogastric. She was acting normally, laying eggs as normal and doing nothing else. Not sure what had happened.
An ants' strength can be rivaled by few animals compared to relative body size.

MorbidBugg
Posts: 284
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:11 pm
Location: Orangeville

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 46629Post MorbidBugg
Sun Aug 05, 2018 10:17 am

OMG RIP. Let's see if we can't figure this out. What kind of honey /brand what were the Temps in her room. Did she come with any mites I didn't notice any from your pics so I doubt that. Did you seperate her from the colony incase she was parasitized?
Ants are life's most successful invaders. Understand and respect that power.

MorbidBugg
Posts: 284
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:11 pm
Location: Orangeville

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 46639Post MorbidBugg
Sun Aug 05, 2018 11:01 am

Also may be trivial but what did you do prior to feeding that day do you have anything that you may have accidentally transferred on to the meal worm when feeding time comes (hell maybe the scissors were used for something without prior knowledge)
Ants are life's most successful invaders. Understand and respect that power.

TheRealAntMan
Posts: 620
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 46654Post TheRealAntMan
Sun Aug 05, 2018 3:01 pm

MorbidBugg wrote:
Sun Aug 05, 2018 11:01 am
Also may be trivial but what did you do prior to feeding that day do you have anything that you may have accidentally transferred on to the meal worm when feeding time comes (hell maybe the scissors were used for something without prior knowledge)
MorbidBugg wrote:
Sun Aug 05, 2018 10:17 am
OMG RIP. Let's see if we can't figure this out. What kind of honey /brand what were the Temps in her room. Did she come with any mites I didn't notice any from your pics so I doubt that. Did you seperate her from the colony incase she was parasitized?
As far as I know, did nothing new to the way I kill my superworms. I freeze them, cut them, and squeeze out the guts in the AC portal on a piece of aluminum(they rather eat it like that instead of having the guts still inside the worm). And as usual, the workers like the foil clean. I also put organic honey mixed with Aquafina water. The brand of honey is Organics When I came from work home the guts were dried on the foil and the honey water seemed untouched. Btw the scissors I use are the only for cutting open superworms. After every use I always clean the scissors. The temperature in the room was 76 degrees Fahrenheit in the morning. Later in the day it goes down to 80 Fahrenheit (I try simulating the sun’s heat). I doubt she had mites, as I never saw any. Her workers seem fine, one even eclosed today. They won’t let get her; they lick her, stimulation her legs to move, and I even saw them once try trophallaxis. It’s sad, she’s dead and they don’t know what to do. She might have had a disease though because before she died, she was moving her legs like she was trying to shed invisible wings. I guess I’ll just keep the colony since they’ll die anyway.
An ants' strength can be rivaled by few animals compared to relative body size.

MorbidBugg
Posts: 284
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:11 pm
Location: Orangeville

Re: Camponotus Journal

Post: # 46876Post MorbidBugg
Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:13 pm

update:

Clan supernova is upto 2 workers now and a bunch of pupae so i introduced the plaster nest and gave them some syrup water and 2 fruit flies in the feeding tube the older of the two was quick to check out the new nest and got distracted by the syrup water while the queen and the newest worker hung back waiting for news of this alien nest that was placed before them.*side note it was a non option to leave them in the tube as it was out of water and they refused to move after two weeks just used the new lean tube as a bathroom
Ants are life's most successful invaders. Understand and respect that power.

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