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Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:39 am
by JustinCredible
Awesome! thank you.
I will be updating every time something happens or if I need help/advice.
I see you have 2 queens of the same species. Any tips etc?
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 5:33 pm
by antnest8
can't wait until they can move into the giant terrarium
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 5:58 pm
by Hitch3
JustinCredible wrote: ↑Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:39 am
Awesome! thank you.
I will be updating every time something happens or if I need help/advice.
I see you have 2 queens of the same species. Any tips etc?
Well, they are pretty easy to care for, they grow fast, and are a very common species in Australia.
At this stage, I would feed them with a cricket leg and a cotton ball soaked in honey, although I feed one of my (2 workers) colony straight honey and they never seem to drown like pheidole and other smaller species.
They should be kept in the test tube unti they start to fill it up. However, I moved a twenty Worker colony into an ants Australia size 1 formacarium, and they are thriving, despite the nest being triple their nesting space needed. They are not *hugely* affected by large nests.
Also, Iridomyrmex Bicknelli prefer are dryer nest than usual.
That’s about it. Oh, and if you got a good queen, you may easily have 800+ workers in six months,
but that is at optimal temperature and humidity.
Cheers!
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 7:14 am
by JustinCredible
Hitch3 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 08, 2018 5:58 pm
JustinCredible wrote: ↑Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:39 am
Awesome! thank you.
I will be updating every time something happens or if I need help/advice.
I see you have 2 queens of the same species. Any tips etc?
Well, they are pretty easy to care for, they grow fast, and are a very common species in Australia.
At this stage, I would feed them with a cricket leg and a cotton ball soaked in honey, although I feed one of my (2 workers) colony straight honey and they never seem to drown like pheidole and other smaller species.
They should be kept in the test tube unti they start to fill it up. However, I moved a twenty Worker colony into an ants Australia size 1 formacarium, and they are thriving, despite the nest being triple their nesting space needed. They are not *hugely* affected by large nests.
Also, Iridomyrmex Bicknelli prefer are dryer nest than usual.
That’s about it. Oh, and if you got a good queen, you may easily have 800+ workers in six months,
but that is at optimal temperature and humidity.
Cheers!
So i have had a hard time trying to get this colony going. I'm obviously doing something wrong.
The colony will grow to 3 - 4 workers then after a few weeks die. She will lay more eggs and the same thing will happen.
I figured I must be underfeeding them so i started putting in a crushed meal worm plus the cricket leg and honey. It didn't make a difference.
Should the test tube be in darkness? I keep her in complete darkness in a draw that varies between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius, is that to hot or to cold? Should she be exposed to sunlight at all.
At present i have 1 brand new worker that must have hatched less than 4 days ago. That's it.
How long does it normally take to go from egg to worker? It seems to take 5 weeks + -
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 4:13 pm
by antnest8
that seems like a correct time. I would cover the test tube/nest because it might be the stress that keeps her from laying eggs with her workers
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 6:46 pm
by JustinCredible
antnest8 wrote: ↑Mon May 28, 2018 4:13 pm
that seems like a correct time. I would cover the test tube/nest because it might be the stress that keeps her from laying eggs with her workers
It is covered. The only time she is uncovered is when i put food in there.
The other problem is; do i keep putting food in there?
She is fully claustral right, but because she has had a cycle of workers that have died would she have enough food in her to wait for new workers or????
Oh god I'm stressing.
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 10:26 pm
by Hitch3
Can you take a photo of their set up for us?
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 4:40 pm
by antnest8
just for clarification i meant covered by letting no light get in
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 11:56 pm
by JustinCredible
Hope this link works....
So there absolutely no light when this draw is cold.
I'm actually questioning the temperature in there. As the room is 18 - 20 degrees Celsius but i guess the draw could be cooler. Should I put a heat matt in there or maybe half under the container?
She used to have drift wood in there that kind of covered her egg stash which i removed because it got mould on it. Should I giver her another piece...?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/161832868@N08/shares/Wf9098
Re: Camponotus or Iridomyrmex colony.
Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 5:42 am
by antnest8
i would give her another piece of driftwood or test tube because she needs a nest of some kind
