Ant keeping issues

[ryan152chikorita]

My ants (carpenter ants) have recently gotten this habit of trying to climb up the walls of my outworld that is attached to their claustral chamber. I placed a barrier so of course they naturally fall of the wall at a certain height. (it's a really small box really not even a 10 cm height). That said, I have been finding my ants dead outside for a few weeks now, its worrying especially since I don't know why there are actually dying. At first I thought they may have cannibalise each other, but it didn't seem so since the colony was well fed (as indicated by their expanded gasters and the fact that I fed them 3 days in a row). I thought maybe there was not enough space which would kind of make sense to me? But I am not sure so I hope someone can explain my predicament, How to stop them from dying? Also the test tube I have is so dirty inside there's mould in the water and cotton and everything is mouldy inside, I don't know why my ants are keeping their trash near the cotton wool either...

 

[Flish]

Sounds like they need a new nest. Mold is a bad sign for ants and can definitely cause worker loss! If they are putting their waste near the cotton they may just have too much space in their nest and feel no need removing the waste, which can cause mold. I'd definitely recommend hooking up another nest, preferably a smaller one if possible, to their outworld and trying to get them to move.

 

[ant ramblings]

Attach a new test tube to see if they want it .
Deaths can be lots of things .
Old age .
Chemicals in the room .
Chemicals on your hands when you fed them ie dog or cat flea treatments .
Temperature fluctuation.
Bad suger water ,if you make your own never leave in for more than 24 hours .

 

[ant ramblings]

I would put dirty cotton below all those .
But mites are not good check very closely for those .
Yellow mould in the tube means an imediate forced tube change .