New Colony, HELP!

[SeanSz]

Hey everyone. I have been wanting to start an ant colony for some time, and finally found a red imported fire ant queen this afternoon after a big rain. Because I had not planned to start a colony for another few weeks, I did not order any test tubes, and at this point it is too late. Does anyone have experience with starting a brand new colony in a terrarium or “critter keeper” type enclosure. I am currently holding her in one of my fish aquarium nets, and she is resting in the dark. Any help would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

[ANThonyluscious]

Wow that is one heck of a spot you are in, if I could be of any assistance I will try my best. A critter keeper enclosure is not ideal for your queen starting out, I don't know how long it would take for you to get a test tube shipped to where you live but it is not to late. I would put her in the critter keeper for now with some way of providing water until the test tubes arrive. I suggest ordering AntsCanada Test Tubes and Test Tube Rack. Also I personally purchased a fifty pack of test tubes on amazon (only 8 bucks) to capture and raise my queens in until I can determine if they are fertile and then let them transfer themselves (by way of AntsCanada test tube portal) one by one into AntsCanada test tubes so that I can easily attach them to the Test Tube Portal and other items later. Good luck and Ant love forever!

[SeanSz]

Thanks a lot! I’m definitely going to try and order some AC supplies and try to get it expedited here in time! Thanks again! Ant love forever!

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Wow that is one heck of a spot you are in, if I could be of any assistance I will try my best. A critter keeper enclosure is not ideal for your queen starting out, I don't know how long it would take for you to get a test tube shipped to where you live but it is not to late. I would put her in the critter keeper for now with some way of providing water until the test tubes arrive. I suggest ordering AntsCanada Test Tubes and Test Tube Rack. Also I personally purchased a fifty pack of test tubes on amazon (only 8 bucks) to capture and raise my queens in until I can determine if they are fertile and then let them transfer themselves (by way of AntsCanada test tube portal) one by one into AntsCanada test tubes so that I can easily attach them to the Test Tube Portal and other items later. Good luck and Ant love forever!

As for the AC test tubes, I wouldn’t recommend for visibility. They scratch easily, and I only recommend buying them to connect to A.C. test tube portals. You can actually use the critter keeper, if you are strategical. For example, you could push up a small bit of soil in a corner, wet to the soil(only soil in corner) and honestly yep test tubes would be better, but there is alternatives, such as getting a small container and covering the bottom in Cotten, and setting it every 3-5 days. This isn’t great, but will work until the queen gets workers. I recommend glass tubes, as they are quite nice for visibility, but you Cannot drop them….