Natural Set up

[BluMoon]

Hi there,

I know that there are some ant keepers that give their queens a natural space for their founding stage, where they dig their own claustral chamber. I wanted to do the same for my queen, but I was wondering how she would get water.

It has been a couple of weeks now that I have had this Pavement ant queen, who I caught during her nuptial flight. I am quite sure she has mated ( because I saw it in action ) but she still has not laid any eggs. It is becoming close to winter now, so will she hibernate, and so should I just let her lay eggs in spring?

Thanks

[qwerty264]

I would always recommend the test tube setup to any ant keeper as it is way easier to monitor. I've successfully tried keeping a trap jaw queen in a natural setup but had to eventually let the colony go as i was too busy with too many colonies to take care of. I assume she drinks water from the moisture in the soil so i always made sure to keep one side of the setup moist and the other side dry, this is to let the queen have a choice on which part of the soil she prefers most. I also always made sure to keep the humidity and moisture at a constant level. As for hibernation, i'm sorry but i have no experience in hibernating ants as i live in a tropical country, good luck!

[BluMoon]

Thanks for the help
I am now looking after a strobe ant queen,
I believe that they are also in south-east asia