Carpenter Ant colony urgent!

[SandDeku]

Hey guys! long time no see I guess. umm well you guys remember how I found a queen ant at the start of the summer? It had already laid eggs within the second week. They hatched and turned into larvae. Now currently are still in that test tube. The first worker already came out. It's a minor worker. What I call the "grunt" aka "forager". The queen has not ate anything since the start of summer till well. When I saw the first worker come out. TODAY as in RIGHT now as we speak the other worker is comming outof this egg shell thingy and only a little bit is left. So now I should have about two workers, and 5 pupae. As for eggs/larvae I'm not sure. There were alot of eggs before like 10 or so but I did a test tube change since the thingy was covered with mould(black) and it was like that for a long time I decided to change. I put the starting colony into a newly sterelyzed tube. It was being boiled for 20mins.

Anywho. I'm not sure how long itll take for more eggs/workers to come on. I was thinking of starting to construct the formicarium.

Here's the tricky part:

I want to make a custom built tank to have these qualities:

1)Extremely strong glass or plexiglass(no scratches so I think ill go with glass that is atleast 1-2inch deep-- i'm paranoid)

2)I want to put in the plaster mold idea like this in the tank:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u-n0vGwkFo


3)I want to incorporate on the lip and top of the vivarium a type of surface that they will not be able to climb upon without needing to use fluon. Which I can't seem to find anything like that.

4)I want an extremely tight fitting lid and completely a 100% escape proof no matter what! But provides adequate ventilation(I was thinking of putting 4 large areas that will have a hole that's big and I would be able to put in the some cotton or something like that--- think of the test tube idea)

5)Easily portable and instead of being to the top with sand or dirt. I want to make a glass thingy so that the pladter mold goes directly into the tank and can't move and no matter what they won't be able to use a certain area of the tank and it'll have a foraging area with a small layer of LIGHT colored substrate

kinda like this:


Sideview:

________
l l
l l <-----Foraging area and that little slot in the edge would be where the plaster
l______ l mold goes onto. You know? And have a space where it's empty
l000000l l Where the zeros are. That's empty space.
l______l_l

Top view:


_______
l l l
l l l <--- that little is where the formicarium plaster would fit in snugly.
l l l
l____ l_l



I want to make the plaster mold proof. I figured I'd put in some ventilation tunnels that reach the bottom chambers of the plaster. You know? and I could use a type of stone that's good against mold? or maybe put a coat of paint t hat has mold killers? idk.


I'm not sure how m any ants this colony will produce. But I'm hoping I could keep the colony throughout its life in a tank that's like 1.5ft long x 1.5ftwide x 1.5ft tall.

Or a 1 foot long x 1.5wide x 2.5ft tall


if needed be. I rather use height and width over length though. But I don't want it to be too short. Get it? It needs to fit on my desk and not be overly heavy cause if I ever move out I want to be able to bring it with me without any damage to the colony or the tank or whatever. I want it to be held in place(the plaster) without any shaking even if I move the tank. Which I probably wont for like 2years maybe. But yeah. Help please.


BTW my parents are paranoid about them escaping that's why I'm trying to make sure it's fool proof.

 

[Kruggar]

It seems to me that you have a fairly solid plan, I'd suggest making a lid that has a fine nylon mesh (as in pantyhose) for screening if you want that high ventilation. Love the typed diagrams btw. Good luck.

 

[SandDeku]

The typed diagrams kinda messed up cause they're not supposed to be like that. the l l were supposed to be pushed. and they didnt show well. I just cant use paint. Cause paint sucks on me. :c But. Anywho..... I just need to find a surface carpenter ants CANNOT climb on. As for fine nylon.... I can do that but is there something I can use i nstead of that that will be sturdy? Nylon breaks easily I think... I'm fairly paranoid about it. They're carpenter ants that's why. Should even one escape. My hobby is over cause well.My parents will freak. They don't even think they're carpenters. xD My room is made of cement that's why I don't care that their carpenters. But the rest of the house isnt... So yeah. How much space do they need for their whole life?

Can carpenters even climb glass? I see the queen trying to walk up t he tube when I put it upright. She just falls on her butt. The smaller ants can though. Maybe its cause theres stuff on the glass to provide walking? But I'm wondering what ants cannot climb on? Like a surface? so I don't need to use any kind of chemicals or whatever. its just that I want to put that barrier near the lid. So when I open it they don't come swarming out. I do need to have access in the tank for daily feedings and spot cleans(waste, uneaten foods). I also want to incorporate 2 locks on the tank to prevent any of unwanted trespasser to come and mess with them. I have a younger brother and he ussually n ever goes to my room. But I want to prevent any possible accidents if possible. I was thinking of building a mote on the outside of the tank too. Like made out of plexiglass so I could pour water on that as an additional prevention. (I'm extremely carefull about stuff like this because if they actually got out they could pose a real hazard to the structure of the house if not caught on in time-- I rather not risk that but I do like them so I'm covering all the basis) It also needs to provide a good way to keep any of the newly formed prince and princess ants from escaping. That's why nylon has to be strong. Ontop of the mesh I wanted to put plexiglass lid(like the mesh would be attached under the plexiglass) and drill countless of small holes in the lid to provide that ventilation but to prevent any unwanted hands from "bugging" the ants.


I'll see what I can do about a paint drawing. But I'm fairly sure itll lag on me and not work. so ill do it later when I'm done with my computer. So I don't get an extra window that will interfere with what I'm doing.

I just want to make sure the temps. are constant in the formicarium and that no sudden drops or sudden increase will happen and kill the ants. I also want to make plans for small satelite nests inside the terrarium. Though if the ant number gets over a certain number I will start plucking a few of them and well. Killing those extra ones . Like a thousand would be an over kill for a tank like that. That's why. I know these ant are slow growing so their colony will start with 50-200workers first year and double the next. And in the third it maybe like 300 or even 500 workers depending on the ammount of food given. So I'm feeding sparingly and only slightly feeding extra when I get 50-100workers so that I can get to a 200 worker count. After that I will slightly decrease to keep a constant number or atleast try. Because I'm not sure how much a 20-30g terrarium can house. I want to be able to have a normal formicarium but I don't want to be overwhelmed by the numbers too fast.


Sorry for the long talk. Anywho here's what I been giving it:


Natural honey on a piece of paper, and dried crickets(I only give a bit of it), and occassionally turtle stick.

When the colony grows I will start feeding another type of sugar as well with the honey to keep a balance between the two(I like overkill in feeding. ) Like a switch from honey, to jam both will be fed alternatively. As well I will feed 1-2 live crickets every 3days. every other day I could feed a small waxworm. And every week I could feed a mystery food item(a small small piece of fish, or piece of chicken, turkey, insect, anything protein-based)

Is this a good idea? I also want to keep a light ontop of the tank but not one that puts too much heat or little heat. Just like moderate heat. Right now my room is cold. It can get up to 60degrees. That's why. And plus I want to be able to see them. The light will be shining over the foraging area though and the inside of the nest will be exposed to a small quantity of light except the queens quarters. When she decides on the spot she wants to use I will cover that area with black tape. It may not filter out ALL light but will filter out most and provide atleast some privacy and since not all light will be filtered she wont get into a light shock should I ever have to move them.

Any ideas?

 

[Malhavoc's]

Vasoline, my carpenters do well in small critter keepers for the first year or two, with the lid holes taped, then smeered with vasoline so the surface is forcing them to climb on vasoline upside down for an inch to get to the open lid ( which I leave open for ventilation) yet to have an escapee. talcom powder I am told works fairly well too.

also your numbers are a bit inflated.
first year for carpenter is 10-20
second year is 30-70 ish
after that it starts to boom a mature carpenter coloney can have a few thousand. but I tend not to count past 50... chuckles.

temprature fluctation isnt too bad for carpenters, and they dont seem to mind dryer nests either which is a perk.


Food is often easy enough, water downed honey, or sugar works well, I offer it in a bottle cap. then I throw in a spider ,or cricket once in awhile, I dont use dried food but frozen since its mostly the larvae that will be eating it but the workers do enjoy the liquid protien sometimes. I've also heard protien shake works well.

 

[SandDeku]

Vasoline, my carpenters do well in small critter keepers for the first year or two, with the lid holes taped, then smeered with vasoline so the surface is forcing them to climb on vasoline upside down for an inch to get to the open lid ( which I leave open for ventilation) yet to have an escapee. talcom powder I am told works fairly well too.

also your numbers are a bit inflated.
first year for carpenter is 10-20
second year is 30-70 ish
after that it starts to boom a mature carpenter coloney can have a few thousand. but I tend not to count past 50... chuckles.

temprature fluctation isnt too bad for carpenters, and they dont seem to mind dryer nests either which is a perk.


Food is often easy enough, water downed honey, or sugar works well, I offer it in a bottle cap. then I throw in a spider ,or cricket once in awhile, I dont use dried food but frozen since its mostly the larvae that will be eating it but the workers do enjoy the liquid protien sometimes. I've also heard protien shake works well.

I' have 10 eggs currently. I'm thinking I may get more in? If not ill find a nearby nest and just grab some eggs and put em in. Maybe itll make em slaves?

 

[Malhavoc's]

ten eggs sounds about right, currently my coloney from this spring has about 15 workers, one major, and a dozen or so various stage offspring, remember it takes 50-60 days for them to mature. thats two months, and already my coloney is showing signs of entering hibernation ( closing off their nest not accepting food, doing little else then clustering) brood boosting is always an option but at this time of year you run the risk of poaching alataes instead of workers.

 

[SandDeku]

ten eggs sounds about right, currently my coloney from this spring has about 15 workers, one major, and a dozen or so various stage offspring, remember it takes 50-60 days for them to mature. thats two months, and already my coloney is showing signs of entering hibernation ( closing off their nest not accepting food, doing little else then clustering) brood boosting is always an option but at this time of year you run the risk of poaching alataes instead of workers.

Whats an alataes?

 

[Malhavoc's]

sorry, I believe I added an extra a in that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alate

 

[SandDeku]

sorry, I believe I added an extra a in that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alate

Thank you. i'ved been thinking of other new ideas for the terrarium/antfarm.