Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

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Reneloco
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Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 78486Post Reneloco
Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:35 am

Hi dear Forum
I've bought a tetramorium caespitum queen in early January which she came with 4 eggs and 2 workers.
i'm keeping her in a test tube setup in a dark place with about 75 degrees fahrenheit where she is undisturbed and check on her once a week. I also give the colony a drop of honey from time to time.
It seems like she is doing well and when i checked on her last week i saw a total of 4 workers 3 larvae and 2 eggs.
But i'm a little bit concerned because i read online that tetramorium ants are very fast in development and that they usualy take a month from egg to worker but the eggs she laid all took about 6-8 weeks. I also read online that a tetramorium queen lays eggs constantly but it seems like my queen lays their eggs in batches of about 2-3 eggs then waits untill they are developed and then continues.
I'm currently running my mind whether to attach the test tube to the ac tetramorium hybrid nest as soon as the 3 larvae are hatched or wait until my queen lays more eggs.
what would you guys say? does anyone of you know why she is laying in such a slow rate and should i move her ?

AntsLuxembourg
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Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 78501Post AntsLuxembourg
Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:01 am

What you can try is, give them some protein. The queen needs protein too to produce eggs and to grow the larvae. You can either buy mealworms that you store in the fridge or you soft boil an egg for about 5-6 minutes and then you offer them a little bit of that. Honey is good to sustain a colony but it doesn't help them with their growth. Except if it was a species that only relies of sugary liquids.
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

Reneloco
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Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 78601Post Reneloco
Thu Jun 17, 2021 5:39 am

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:01 am
What you can try is, give them some protein. The queen needs protein too to produce eggs and to grow the larvae. You can either buy mealworms that you store in the fridge or you soft boil an egg for about 5-6 minutes and then you offer them a little bit of that. Honey is good to sustain a colony but it doesn't help them with their growth. Except if it was a species that only relies of sugary liquids.
Thank you i will try that but would you move them to their formicarium or wait until the colony grows bigger ?

TalANTFlame
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Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 78624Post TalANTFlame
Thu Jun 17, 2021 11:19 pm

Wait. If you move them to the formicarium, the smells produced by ants (forgot what they're called) will travel really slow. If you have a portal, I'd wait till you have a few more ants then attach that instead.
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AntsLuxembourg
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Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 78628Post AntsLuxembourg
Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:08 am

I would keep them in the testtube until they are bigger. Just give them some time. ;)
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

Reneloco
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Location: Germany

Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 78837Post Reneloco
Thu Jun 24, 2021 8:02 am

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:08 am
I would keep them in the testtube until they are bigger. Just give them some time. ;)
do you have any idea why they take so long to develope from egg to ant ?

Reneloco
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Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 78838Post Reneloco
Thu Jun 24, 2021 8:17 am

Update: Today i attached the test tube to a test tube portal because i think its better for feeding them without opening the test tube and disturbing them every time. I also attached a fresh test tube if they might want to move there. There are still 4 workers 2 pupae 1 larvae and 1 egg and it seems like the queen hasn't laid any new eggs for about 2 months now. I also ordered a heating cable but im not sure if i should connect it or not because right now the weather is changing from day to day and i think that's one problem why the queen is not laying eggs properly. Any advice ?

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Antloverhuman
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Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 78840Post Antloverhuman
Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:07 am

reasons that your queen might not be laying more eggs could be- not giving them enough food, checking on her too much, keeping her in a cold place, placing the setup where there is too much disturbance like vibration and shakes
Ants I have-
camponotus compressus colony- the shadow warriors.
Pls just let me have a tetramorium colony

Reneloco
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Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 79707Post Reneloco
Wed Jul 14, 2021 10:19 am

Update:
When i checked on the colony today i saw 2 dead ants in the test tube portal and 4 ants with the queen inside the test tube. It seems that for every ant that is born one ant dies the colony is not growing and the queen has almost no brood
Any advice?

AntsLuxembourg
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Re: Is my tetramorium colony doing well?

Post: # 79801Post AntsLuxembourg
Fri Jul 16, 2021 2:14 am

give them some honey and more protein. That might help.
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

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