Glad to hear she's doing okay and you moved her to a clean tube. If I were you, I would offer her some fruit flies. They are small enough for her to easilly manage and are full of protein. You can actually keep the fruit flies alive and fresh in the old tube, if you provide them with a piece of fruit like banana for instance. (I would prekill the fruitflies before offering them, so they don't crawl around in her testtube, which might elevate her stress levels)SaturnsLastRing wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 1:01 pmI live in Seattle. I moved her to a new tube with fresh water. And offered her some honey which she accepted. I guess now I'll offer her a piece of a cricket or something so she can get some protein.Hawkeye wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 12:41 pmShe must be starving. She'll need access to freshSaturnsLastRing wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:17 amHi, I caught a Camponotus queen las summer on a hike and I put her in a test tube set up. She was lost during a move and I found her test tube a week ago in my closet. She seems to have produced nanitics, but they died (presumably from lack of food. She is still alive, so I was wondering if she will produce new nanitics, and also if she will be fine waiting until fall to enter diapause or if I should induce it now. Basically what should I do to restart the colony? I offered her some honey which she ate.
Thanks.
Water, protein (for egg production) and sugars (like the honey). You might want to consider moving her to a clean tube too
Since you queen has completely drained her resources, she now will need to be fed regularly. I am not sure how big her appetite will be, but I'd start off with 2 flies a week and keep an eye on how quickly she eats them. If she leaves them be she's had her fill, if she devours them she will likely need more. Keep in mind that she'll need to feed the larvae and the nanitics as well by offering up predigested food to them.