Death by food

Posts and questions relating to ant diet & nutrition. Let us know what you’re feeding your ants.

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Mcrummett
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2018 12:38 pm

Death by food

Post: # 49515Post Mcrummett
Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:32 pm

So my colony is a mere few months old with 8 workers and I somehow have lost one to... food. I put a small amount of food on some foil and a day later one appears to have gotten caught in it and died. How do they manage that?!

Austheboss
Posts: 101
Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2016 3:17 pm
Location: Boston Area

Re: Death by food

Post: # 50140Post Austheboss
Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:57 pm

Mcrummett wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:32 pm
So my colony is a mere few months old with 8 workers and I somehow have lost one to... food. I put a small amount of food on some foil and a day later one appears to have gotten caught in it and died. How do they manage that?!
Sorry this is really late...
Some ants are pretty small and if the food was sticky like honey or similar than it can be easy for them to get stuck if one of their legs touch it. Imagine a massive glob of honey, and trying to drink from it with your mouth without hands. You may want to put this food in a bottle cap to make it easier? Also, ants can live for very long after drowning. One time, I had a tetramorium worker almost entirely submerged in hardened sugar water (it got stuck in the sugar water, and then the water evaporated), and I washed the ant out, and it was perfectly fine later. (the colony had around 3 workers and no near eclosing pupae, so I was certain that it was the same ant) So if you have a drowned ant in honey, just wash it off and put it near the test tube as it may still be alive.
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Hunter36o
Posts: 376
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:57 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Death by food

Post: # 50171Post Hunter36o
Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:33 am

It also depends on the food you use. I ise honey from a jar, the one people would use in place of sugar for tea and coffee. It's not as sticky and my ants seem to sit on it while eating and walk away (these are also nanitics so they are tiny) that in mind I though one had gotten stuck and died but after watching for a while I honestly think she took a nap on top of it because she walk away after a few minutes.
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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