About protein sources

[SkeleAnt]

Hey all, this question came to mind this morning while I was eating breakfast and I figured I’d ask you guys about it.

Like most ant keepers I provide my ants protein through feeder insects, meal worms and super worms. But I wondered if other things that we know contain protein would be viable sources as well. Specifically I was thinking about yogurt. I have fed wild ants yogurt before just because I felt like it, to be perfectly honest. I wanted to see them all working together to collect the food, But I mostly did it because I knew the yogurt was sugary. I also know that there are different kinds of proteins in different things, so I wondered if the protein in yogurt would technically be a viable source of protein for ants.

I’m not one to fix something that isn’t broken, and I have no plans to replace my ants’ current diet with stuff from the grocery store dairy section, but I am curious either way. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

[NKantsalberta]

I have seen this debated among users in other forums and face book groups. It seems 50/50 positive to negative.

The largest debate is on whether or not ants can actually process/digest the specific proteins/sugars in dairy. I have no personal experience, and I most likely won't attempt it until I have a rather large colony.

In my mind, you don't know until you try. I definitely wouldn't fully replace their feeder insect diet.

[Formicarufa]

Feeder insects are one of the best protein sources, even for humans, as they are packed full of pure protein

Yogurt is fairly fat rich, so will provide ants with energy,

The ants will need high density protein to feed their larvae,

I don’t see any problems with feeding the ants yoghurt as it is energy rich, and contains protein

It could be a good idea if the ants are rejecting feeder insects.

[SkeleAnt]

So far I’ve been lucky in that none of my ants are rejecting the feeder insects, which is great. But I will keep this in mind if I end up with a picky colony from one of my other queens that’s currently founding. Thanks for the feedback though, I love hearing everybody else’s opinions on these kinds of things!

[mileslanham24]

I have made a terrarium for my ants and when I feed them meal worms they do not take it out of their nests to a designated waste site, what does this mean.

[SkeleAnt]

I have made a terrarium for my ants and when I feed them meal worms they do not take it out of their nests to a designated waste site, what does this mean.

It means they aren’t done with it yet. If they don’t want it in their nest anymore they will take it out, but until such a time they don’t consider it to be garbage, so they won’t take it to the designated garbage zone.

[mileslanham24]

How can you tell if you are over feeding your ants?

[QJH2023]

How can you tell if you are over feeding your ants?

storeing large amounts of food in the nest covering food items in dirt