2 year old queen having trouble

Discussion on our AntsCanada ant videos and your suggestions for future videos

Moderator: ooper01

RedX72
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:46 pm

2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85475Post RedX72
Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:23 am

I found this queen two years ago and at first i wasnt sure if she had mated as it took her a long time to lay her first eggs. I have her in a test tube set up and over 2 years she has had a total of 7 workers. I was worried about her personal food stored and started feeding her honeycomb and home cultivated roaches, and she eats regularly. I have had to move her a few times to a new tub as she has run out of water but she always moves on her own without trouble. Usually she has about 3-4 eggs in her brood and currently has 3 workers but the brood always seems to get neglected aside from one egg and even that doesnt always survive. 4 workers is the most shes had at any given time and her brood is slow to grow year round, so much so that for every new worker, an old one passes. My other nest is thriving so i was wondering if perhaps it was something that i am doing or if it might just be the queen. She doesnt seem to be cannibalizing her brood and there is no mold in her set up. Her workers take care of her but once again, they just dont seem to care too much about the brood and its been 2 years. Any ideas of what is going on?

User avatar
Antloverhuman
Posts: 1134
Joined: Wed May 19, 2021 3:38 am
Location: Delhi, India

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85478Post Antloverhuman
Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:38 am

You could be causing her alot of stress. Try looking at her every week or so. Do they live in a very cold place. Try using a heat mat or a heating cable but only heat up one side of the test tube. Feed them more protein
Ants I have-
camponotus compressus colony- the shadow warriors.
Pls just let me have a tetramorium colony

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85481Post AntsLuxembourg
Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:28 am

Hm this sounds like a very strange case.
I'm sure you have taken the usual steps. Checking only 1-2 times per week, leaving her in the dark, no regular disturbances by sound, vibration or light, offering food after the first workers have arrived.

To me it sounds like the queen either doesn't care much or she was an unlucky catch. You could try to brood boost her which means you could try and take some of the eggs / larvae from the other colony and put it into the other testtube. But only if it's the same species and if you feel confident to do so. It doesn't have to be many but 5-10 should be fine for both colonies to handle.
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

RedX72
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:46 pm

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85512Post RedX72
Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:08 am

Antloverhuman wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:38 am
You could be causing her alot of stress. Try looking at her every week or so. Do they live in a very cold place. Try using a heat mat or a heating cable but only heat up one side of the test tube. Feed them more protein
I typically check her once a week when i feed her and she and my other colonies are currently in the same dark place and she's the only queen not thriving. When i do feed her, a lot seems to get wasted. Should i try feeding her more often but smaller portions maybe? Im afraid to stress her but i could give it a try

RedX72
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:46 pm

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85513Post RedX72
Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:10 am

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:28 am
Hm this sounds like a very strange case.
I'm sure you have taken the usual steps. Checking only 1-2 times per week, leaving her in the dark, no regular disturbances by sound, vibration or light, offering food after the first workers have arrived.

To me it sounds like the queen either doesn't care much or she was an unlucky catch. You could try to brood boost her which means you could try and take some of the eggs / larvae from the other colony and put it into the other testtube. But only if it's the same species and if you feel confident to do so. It doesn't have to be many but 5-10 should be fine for both colonies to handle.
Ive never heard of brood boosting 😳 it sounds really cool but unfortunately i dont have another queen of the same species. But i will keep that in mind for future colonies, thanks!

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85515Post AntsLuxembourg
Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:18 am

RedX72 wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:10 am
Ive never heard of brood boosting 😳 it sounds really cool but unfortunately i dont have another queen of the same species. But i will keep that in mind for future colonies, thanks!
Ah. Ok, then I must have misread or confused something. I thought you had 2 queens of the same species in testtubes and you could have tried that. Btw could you specify what ant species it is? maybe she is missing something in order to lay eggs and have a growing colony.
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

RedX72
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:46 pm

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85734Post RedX72
Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:42 pm

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:18 am
RedX72 wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:10 am
Ive never heard of brood boosting 😳 it sounds really cool but unfortunately i dont have another queen of the same species. But i will keep that in mind for future colonies, thanks!
Ah. Ok, then I must have misread or confused something. I thought you had 2 queens of the same species in testtubes and you could have tried that. Btw could you specify what ant species it is? maybe she is missing something in order to lay eggs and have a growing colony.
Im not actually sure what kind of species she is. At first i thought she was a fire ant queen but the more her workers developed the more i realized they are larger and a mix of deep red and black. I think they might be some kind of carpenter ant but i havent been able to confirm it

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85746Post AntsLuxembourg
Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:53 am

RedX72 wrote:
Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:42 pm
Im not actually sure what kind of species she is. At first i thought she was a fire ant queen but the more her workers developed the more i realized they are larger and a mix of deep red and black. I think they might be some kind of carpenter ant but i havent been able to confirm it
If you have pictures of the queen and workers, then people could try to identify her or at least give you an idea on what kind of ants you are keeping. ;)
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

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

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85882Post SolenopsisKeeper
Mon Dec 13, 2021 1:56 pm

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:53 am
RedX72 wrote:
Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:42 pm
Im not actually sure what kind of species she is. At first i thought she was a fire ant queen but the more her workers developed the more i realized they are larger and a mix of deep red and black. I think they might be some kind of carpenter ant but i havent been able to confirm it
If you have pictures of the queen and workers, then people could try to identify her or at least give you an idea on what kind of ants you are keeping. ;)
Just a question for everyone, could it be possible that he is keeping a slave-ant spieces that relies on other colonies for workers? I have read about these ants, but never kept them. It does sound like the images on google when you search slave ant…
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: 2 year old queen having trouble

Post: # 85896Post AntsLuxembourg
Tue Dec 14, 2021 2:33 am

Well since there are no pictures to ID the queen and he also doesn't know what species she is, we can only make wild guesses and that's all. :/
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests