New ant hobbyist

[Marcolepsy]

Hey gang,

New ant enthusiast here.

I caught a camponotus queen (at least I’m 99% sure, it has an enlarged mid body with wing scars). I put it in a test tube setup on about June 1st, but it may be worth mentioning the test tube was very small, she could still turn around though. I also ordered an ant farm to move her to after she layed some eggs.

I left her in the tube in the dark undisturbed until the farm arrived.

At this point she had not layed a single egg. Being an impatient beginner, I moved the test tube into the outworld of the farm and pulled the plug. This was about June 15. She has still yet to lay an egg.

The new farm is small - the outworld is about 10x15 cm and the Formicarium is sized to match. I can post a picture of the queen or ant if necessary.

I have since read that camponotus often take a long time to start a colony, and that you should not move them from a test tube early.

My question is this: should I leave her as is, or put her back into a test tube? Should I get a larger tube or will another small one be fine?

Any tips or suggestions will be greatly appreciared! If she fails I may look in to buying from the GAN Project. I don’t seem to be able to find any outdoors!

[AntsIkhlef]

(please picture) Hi! i'm also new yet to find a queen, but people have made me learn a whole lot. Carpenter ants are veryyyyy slow and the queen will very much take as much time as possible, this is why i'm looking towards a Lasius niger queen instead of a camponotus ,( coz i'm impatient too... ) but keep on taking care of her... hopes she start laying eggs!

[AntsIkhlef]

i recommend the test tube from the AC shop, and yes i would put her back into the tube

[Marcolepsy]

Heya, me again.

Here’s a picture if you’re interested! It’s a link to my google drive. Maybe not the best lighting but I tried. Can someone comfirm what type this is?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9Vf50hXksy9LXViMFN2Q3puSms

Ok, so I will put her back into a test tube as recommended. Can anyone recommend where to buy one? I would order from AntsCanada but I would like it asap... do pet stores sell test tubes?

Thanks everyone for your help and interest!

[Marcolepsy]

Ohhh man ok got an update for you.

I hope you get a kick out of my enthusiasm, this is very exciting for me!

Ok so I went to the dollar store and bought these plastic vials they had which would work great for queens. I brought it home and tried to poke my queen to make her go in the tube. She was very stubborn and retreated to the Formicarium part of my farm. Then I got the good idea to use light to get her out. I used the flash on my phone and finally got her back into the outworld. Then, with the bright light on, I noticed something I hadn’t before. She HAS laid eggs! In the outworld of the Formicarium. They are very small and similar color to the floor so they are really hard to see! Now that she is back in the outworld I see that she is tending to them.

I really hope I didn’t stress her out so much that she eats the eggs! I heard that can happen.

So I guess I’m leaving her out of the test tube for now.

I’ll add some more pictures to my google doc with brighter light so you can see her.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9Vf50hXksy9LXViMFN2Q3puSms

Ohhh man I’m so stoked!!

[AntsIkhlef]

oh damn! but watch out! if she takes care of her eggs and keeps them together in a clump it probably means that she is fertilized and if treated right.... She will probably produce a great colony! good luck mate hope she does good

[AntsIkhlef]

guess that you are a ant pioneer now

[AntDudeUSA]

Ohhh man ok got an update for you.

I hope you get a kick out of my enthusiasm, this is very exciting for me!

Ok so I went to the dollar store and bought these plastic vials they had which would work great for queens. I brought it home and tried to poke my queen to make her go in the tube. She was very stubborn and retreated to the Formicarium part of my farm. Then I got the good idea to use light to get her out. I used the flash on my phone and finally got her back into the outworld. Then, with the bright light on, I noticed something I hadn’t before. She HAS laid eggs! In the outworld of the Formicarium. They are very small and similar color to the floor so they are really hard to see! Now that she is back in the outworld I see that she is tending to them.

I really hope I didn’t stress her out so much that she eats the eggs! I heard that can happen.

So I guess I’m leaving her out of the test tube for now.

I’ll add some more pictures to my google doc with brighter light so you can see her.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9Vf50hXksy9LXViMFN2Q3puSms

Ohhh man I’m so stoked!!

congrats man I caught my camponotus queen around the same time I think I caught it the third of june but anyway my queen has already laid eggs and the eggs (some of them) have transformed into cocoons and I have one worker now my advice would be to let her tend to them and just forget about her for around 3- 4 weeks then check they take a long time to hatch and mature so just be patient and by reading all of the other things you've done with her so far I think just letting her think your not there anymore would greatly reduce the risk of her getting stressed

[Marcolepsy]

She moved the eggs into the Formicarium and hasn’t eaten them since so I think I’m all good! And yes, I’ll be leaving her in the dark for a few weeks now. Thank you!