Beginner Ant Keeping Tips for Lasius Niger

Discussions about the care and keeping of ants

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FlameofOsiris

Re: Beginner Ant Keeping Tips for Lasius Niger

Post: # 11899Post FlameofOsiris
Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:51 pm

idahoantgirl wrote:
FlameofOsiris wrote:ello anyone?
actually, people have house mature colonies completely in test tubes. what they do is have a lot of test tubes in an outworld. each test tube acts like a chamber. here is an AntsCanada video about making your own formicarium. at 16:55 you can see this style set up. many colonies can be kept in a single test tube even when they have 100 plus workers! If you put a bunch of test tubes in an outworld, you could potentially have a thousand or more workers in your colony and still house them this way!
So you're saying that I could just stick the ants in the test tubes, place them in a "babypowdered" tupperware container, regularly feed and water them and they can be fine?

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Batspiderfish
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Location: Maine

Re: Beginner Ant Keeping Tips for Lasius Niger

Post: # 11903Post Batspiderfish
Fri Sep 23, 2016 8:24 pm

FlameofOsiris wrote:So you're saying that I could just stick the ants in the test tubes, place them in a "babypowdered" tupperware container, regularly feed and water them and they can be fine?
Right -- If you have one of those "kritter keepers", those make pretty suitable foraging arenas.
If you enjoy my expertise and identifications, please do not put wild populations at risk of disease by releasing pet colonies. We are responsible to give our pets the best care we can manage for the rest of their lives.

FlameofOsiris

Re: Beginner Ant Keeping Tips for Lasius Niger

Post: # 11937Post FlameofOsiris
Sat Sep 24, 2016 9:52 am

Batspiderfish wrote:
FlameofOsiris wrote:So you're saying that I could just stick the ants in the test tubes, place them in a "babypowdered" tupperware container, regularly feed and water them and they can be fine?
Right -- If you have one of those "kritter keepers", those make pretty suitable foraging arenas.
I'm not sure about that though, the main reason I'd like to keep ants is to be able to maintain them and to be able to watch them move about the place. Catching a queen ant is apparently easier then it sounds, so that's a pretty attractive option at the moment.

FlameofOsiris

Re: Beginner Ant Keeping Tips for Lasius Niger

Post: # 11972Post FlameofOsiris
Sat Sep 24, 2016 1:39 pm

Is this how bumping works?

Martialis
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Location: Indiana

Re: Beginner Ant Keeping Tips for Lasius Niger

Post: # 12935Post Martialis
Sun Oct 02, 2016 1:05 pm

idahoantgirl wrote:
FlameofOsiris wrote:ello anyone?
actually, people have house mature colonies completely in test tubes. what they do is have a lot of test tubes in an outworld. each test tube acts like a chamber. here is an AntsCanada video about making your own formicarium. at 16:55 you can see this style set up. many colonies can be kept in a single test tube even when they have 100 plus workers! If you put a bunch of test tubes in an outworld, you could potentially have a thousand or more workers in your colony and still house them this way!
I'm attempting this with my Ponera queen.
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MonsterBro1
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2018 3:31 am

Re: Beginner Ant Keeping Tips for Lasius Niger

Post: # 51231Post MonsterBro1
Sat Sep 22, 2018 12:19 pm

Yes, i'd definitely say that Lasius Niger is a good species for beginners. They grow fast-ish and aren't that high maintenance. They are also very durable, which is part of the reason why they are found universally.
Also, i'd say just catch one yourself, i just stepped out of my house for half an hour and caught three of them during June.

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