Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

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BillPisechko
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2022 11:47 pm
Location: Springfield, MO USA

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92331Post BillPisechko
Sat May 14, 2022 11:39 am

SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 11:19 am
Antloverhuman wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 11:14 am
BillPisechko wrote:
Fri May 13, 2022 8:27 pm
My Wakooshi nest and outworld have "landed" in Chicago! I should get it Monday or Tuesday!!!


Peace & Happy Anting... Bill P. 8-)
Dang, i completely forgot that wakooshi was a store :lol:
Didn’t even know it was a store until a few days ago :lol:

Their formicarium are quite modern, a bit too much for me. But if I ever need 3d printed ant nests, I’ll know where to go
Yes might be a bit pricey especially if buying for multiple colonies. it's my first so maybe I splurged. :mrgreen:

I think I paid life $56(including shipping to US) for small nest(1 size up from starter) and out world, some feet to raise nest and out world to allow for heat cable and a silly handle that suctions to red top. I liked the look (like that ants care lol) and also nest is half gypsum and half cork. Took me forever to decide between AC, AUS Ants, Tarheel(gorgeous but pricey), Antopia and the other vendor that does the really nice brown 3d printed product. Like most things we buy for pets or was more for me than the ants although I think dual media nest is nice.

I do see a Tarheel (glow) setup in my future though. Lol
Bill P.
NOOB Ant Keeper :ugeek:
1st Ant Colony(May 22) - C. Herculeanus

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92333Post SolenopsisKeeper
Sat May 14, 2022 4:06 pm

BillPisechko wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 11:39 am
SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 11:19 am
Antloverhuman wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 11:14 am


Dang, i completely forgot that wakooshi was a store :lol:
Didn’t even know it was a store until a few days ago :lol:

Their formicarium are quite modern, a bit too much for me. But if I ever need 3d printed ant nests, I’ll know where to go
Yes might be a bit pricey especially if buying for multiple colonies. it's my first so maybe I splurged. :mrgreen:

I think I paid life $56(including shipping to US) for small nest(1 size up from starter) and out world, some feet to raise nest and out world to allow for heat cable and a silly handle that suctions to red top. I liked the look (like that ants care lol) and also nest is half gypsum and half cork. Took me forever to decide between AC, AUS Ants, Tarheel(gorgeous but pricey), Antopia and the other vendor that does the really nice brown 3d printed product. Like most things we buy for pets or was more for me than the ants although I think dual media nest is nice.

I do see a Tarheel (glow) setup in my future though. Lol
Tarheel takes around 3-4 weeks to be done being custom. I ordered a mini hearth 2.5 weeks ago, and still no email update or arrival.

I will give you a life lesson… never order from aus ants. It takes around half a year to get to the US, and it’s insanely expensive. Next time I will order what I call the American aus ants, buckeye myrmecology. Nice selection of nests, but no outworlds yet. They also sell some common ants, and have full approval from the USDA.
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

BillPisechko
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2022 11:47 pm
Location: Springfield, MO USA

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92334Post BillPisechko
Sat May 14, 2022 4:43 pm

@SolenopsisKeeper I liked the AusAnts stuff but then saw a post about ease of cleaning of the material. That plus the long wait kept me from ordering from them.

I bought my queen and workers from Buckeye. Great price and better service before and after the sale. He's a good guy.

Gonna try and feed a little aguave nectar and super worm tonight. I'll post the results.
Bill P.
NOOB Ant Keeper :ugeek:
1st Ant Colony(May 22) - C. Herculeanus

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92336Post SolenopsisKeeper
Sat May 14, 2022 5:33 pm

BillPisechko wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 4:43 pm
@SolenopsisKeeper I liked the AusAnts stuff but then saw a post about ease of cleaning of the material. That plus the long wait kept me from ordering from them.

I bought my queen and workers from Buckeye. Great price and better service before and after the sale. He's a good guy.

Gonna try and feed a little aguave nectar and super worm tonight. I'll post the results.
Buckeye myrmecology is truly a good company. Haven’t ordered, but have heard great things.

Looking forward to the results! ;)
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

BillPisechko
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2022 11:47 pm
Location: Springfield, MO USA

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92339Post BillPisechko
Sat May 14, 2022 7:32 pm

Update 5/14/22 - First Feeding

So the actual count is Queen + 6 workers. I thought there were only 4. Lol

Bought some super worms and some Organic Agave Nectar today. Haven't ordered byFormica nectar yet and this stuff will be a tad thinner consistency and more water content than pure honey.

Cut little tiny piece of worm off and put it in tube. Caused quite a stir I'll tell you. The interruption got a couple of the workers all stirred up. Was going to feed worm and nectar, but I didn't want to stress them.

I'll post pic link below to my Drive folder dedicated to the new family.

A couple of the workers went right to worm bit. In the 2-3 minutes out took me to clean up and grab phone, in pic you can see a couple of workers feeding and another already feeding the queen!!! I think that's all a good thing, but you can look at pic yourselves.

Put them back in the dark and will check tomorrow for feeding progress and will give a couple of drops of Agave Nectar to see if they like it. I am cautiously excited! :D

In pic you can see where they have been pulling at cotton on water end of the tube. Time for outworld and nest I think. Thoughts??

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17oaWxgb3VEAPnL1-l5rUzZL4Y42KlWN7

That's it for now. This ant keeping so far reminds me of ***** highschool. Everyone is in to the dark, you don't know what's gonna happen and it's over in 2 or 3 minutes. :lol:

It should get better when I get them in nest and out world. That's it for now.
Bill P.
NOOB Ant Keeper :ugeek:
1st Ant Colony(May 22) - C. Herculeanus

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92340Post SolenopsisKeeper
Sat May 14, 2022 8:06 pm

BillPisechko wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 7:32 pm
Update 5/14/22 - First Feeding

So the actual count is Queen + 6 workers. I thought there were only 4. Lol

Bought some super worms and some Organic Agave Nectar today. Haven't ordered byFormica nectar yet and this stuff will be a tad thinner consistency and more water content than pure honey.

Cut little tiny piece of worm off and put it in tube. Caused quite a stir I'll tell you. The interruption got a couple of the workers all stirred up. Was going to feed worm and nectar, but I didn't want to stress them.

I'll post pic link below to my Drive folder dedicated to the new family.

A couple of the workers went right to worm bit. In the 2-3 minutes out took me to clean up and grab phone, in pic you can see a couple of workers feeding and another already feeding the queen!!! I think that's all a good thing, but you can look at pic yourselves.

Put them back in the dark and will check tomorrow for feeding progress and will give a couple of drops of Agave Nectar to see if they like it. I am cautiously excited! :D

In pic you can see where they have been pulling at cotton on water end of the tube. Time for outworld and nest I think. Thoughts??

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17oaWxgb3VEAPnL1-l5rUzZL4Y42KlWN7

That's it for now. This ant keeping so far reminds me of ***** highschool. Everyone is in to the dark, you don't know what's gonna happen and it's over in 2 or 3 minutes. :lol:

It should get better when I get them in nest and out world. That's it for now.
Well, I have noticed in small colonies the queens are used as repletes, and look physogastric when really, they just have food in their social stomach(This also may be **** from recently mating not completly sure yet)

Also, yes, Camponotus can be a bit aggressive at times, but worker bites just make you itch for a few hours.
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

BillPisechko
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2022 11:47 pm
Location: Springfield, MO USA

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92362Post BillPisechko
Sun May 15, 2022 5:21 pm

Update 5/15/22 - Good news, Bad news & HELP!

Good news, the beetle piece was hollowed out so they ate it all.

Bad news, I found two dead workers! :cry: No idea why. Is this normal? Could they eat too much?

Good news, I put a drop off nectar in there and they went right to it. I check later tonight to see if it's gone.

Check out my test tube for me. Cotton that is supposed to give water is brownish and pulled on. Should I pull it out and replace with clean cotton? I have no purified water. Could they be thirsty? Did I stress them? See pics of you like:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17oaWxgb3VEAPnL1-l5rUzZL4Y42KlWN7

Thoughts???
Bill P.
NOOB Ant Keeper :ugeek:
1st Ant Colony(May 22) - C. Herculeanus

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92367Post SolenopsisKeeper
Sun May 15, 2022 7:12 pm

BillPisechko wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 5:21 pm
Update 5/15/22 - Good news, Bad news & HELP!

Good news, the beetle piece was hollowed out so they ate it all.

Bad news, I found two dead workers! :cry: No idea why. Is this normal? Could they eat too much?

Good news, I put a drop off nectar in there and they went right to it. I check later tonight to see if it's gone.

Check out my test tube for me. Cotton that is supposed to give water is brownish and pulled on. Should I pull it out and replace with clean cotton? I have no purified water. Could they be thirsty? Did I stress them? See pics of you like:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17oaWxgb3VEAPnL1-l5rUzZL4Y42KlWN7

Thoughts???
Do they have brood? Most Camponotus have 2-3 workers when second generation of workers comes. Did you catch the beetle or buy it as a feeder? You don’t need purified water, I don’t use it and my ants are fine. If half of the Cotten is covered(in mold), attach a new tube and keep both dark.
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

BillPisechko
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2022 11:47 pm
Location: Springfield, MO USA

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92370Post BillPisechko
Sun May 15, 2022 7:32 pm

SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 7:12 pm
BillPisechko wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 5:21 pm
Update 5/15/22 - Good news, Bad news & HELP!

Good news, the beetle piece was hollowed out so they ate it all.

Bad news, I found two dead workers! :cry: No idea why. Is this normal? Could they eat too much?

Good news, I put a drop off nectar in there and they went right to it. I check later tonight to see if it's gone.

Check out my test tube for me. Cotton that is supposed to give water is brownish and pulled on. Should I pull it out and replace with clean cotton? I have no purified water. Could they be thirsty? Did I stress them? See pics of you like:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17oaWxgb3VEAPnL1-l5rUzZL4Y42KlWN7

Thoughts???
Do they have brood? Most Camponotus have 2-3 workers when second generation of workers comes. Did you catch the beetle or buy it as a feeder? You don’t need purified water, I don’t use it and my ants are fine. If half of the Cotten is covered(in mold), attach a new tube and keep both dark.
No brood that I can see. Bought superworms from pet store.
When outworld gets here, I'll put tube in out world and make sure it's dark all the time and provide some heat too. Thanks
Bill P.
NOOB Ant Keeper :ugeek:
1st Ant Colony(May 22) - C. Herculeanus

BillPisechko
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2022 11:47 pm
Location: Springfield, MO USA

Re: Bill P.'s Camponotus Herculeanus (Dark Morph) Journey & Journal

Post: # 92403Post BillPisechko
Mon May 16, 2022 6:00 pm

Update 5/16/22 - No more bodies & Agave GOOD!

Cracked open the container I have my test tube in and NO NEW DEAD BODIES! I was very happy to see that state of affairs.

Pulled cotton and gave them a drop of Agave Nectar and it seems to be a big hit. Drop from a couple of days ago was gone! When I put it down, Queen and two workers ran right up and started drinking.

Can anyone think of a down side to feeding this as carb?

Once out world gets here I'll wrap test tube in paper to darken and put in out world. This will make feeding of protein and carbs much easier and no disturbing the tube.

Lastly, I think I have some brood under cotton pulled out from water end. I'll try and look later, but I'm so very cautious about adding stress that I hate to the the touch tube at all. Silly isn't it??!! That's it for now.

Peace & Happy Anting...Bill P.
Bill P.
NOOB Ant Keeper :ugeek:
1st Ant Colony(May 22) - C. Herculeanus

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