Used sand in Ant tower. Help

[Killaved4]

So i used red sand in my ant tower and apperantly thats bad because the tunnels can collapse. The queen has already moved into said tunnels and i dont know what to do. I have been keeping the tower fairly damp as to aviod the sand drying out and the tunnels collapsing

[SolenopsisKeeper]

So i used red sand in my ant tower and apperantly thats bad because the tunnels can collapse. The queen has already moved into said tunnels and i dont know what to do. I have been keeping the tower fairly damp as to aviod the sand drying out and the tunnels collapsing

The queen have workers?
If so, you can dump them out( not suggested) or don’t water the dirt for a while to cause a move into a test tube.

[Antloverhuman]

Have you loosely put the sand in or packed it down a little. If you have packed it down then there is less chance of tunnels collapsing. You will have to shift them quickly because if you don't water the sand it will be more likely to colapse

[Killaved4]

Im watering the sand about every few hours or so and the tunnels seem to be holding up. it is coarse sand kinda gravel like so the chunks are just big enough for the ants to hold them. the problem with not watering the tunnels is i dont want them to collapse and the queen to die before she moves back into the test tube. the tunnels i can see built up agiant the glass seem to be holding up pretty well and lightly tapping on the glass or shaking the table doesnt seem to cause any disturbance. I dont want to do something as drastic as dumping it out becuase again the might hurt the queen and i really have no safe way to dump them back in. I ve decided to just keep watering them and see what happens, best case scenario the ants move into the water test tube on their own and i get to add soil to the sand.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Im watering the sand about every few hours or so and the tunnels seem to be holding up. it is coarse sand kinda gravel like so the chunks are just big enough for the ants to hold them. the problem with not watering the tunnels is i dont want them to collapse and the queen to die before she moves back into the test tube. the tunnels i can see built up agiant the glass seem to be holding up pretty well and lightly tapping on the glass or shaking the table doesnt seem to cause any disturbance. I dont want to do something as drastic as dumping it out becuase again the might hurt the queen and i really have no safe way to dump them back in. I ve decided to just keep watering them and see what happens, best case scenario the ants move into the water test tube on their own and i get to add soil to the sand.

That would probably be fine, you could also try slightly heating a tube… Some ants will LOVE this and go out f their way to get heat to the queen and brood.