Carpenter ants reproducing now what?

[Talkenlate04]

So I caught a few queens a few months back, they all have been laying eggs and now they are hatching, what do I feed them now? I have them in a vial, so I know I have to move them, but when I do what setup should I use? And what do I offer as food. They look hungry. For now I just put some sugar in a spoon with water and let it dry then broke it into small clumps. I offered one and they ate it all but I dont know what else to give them.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Lets see they like honey, the adults can also be fed crickets, waxworms meal worms and other insects.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Honey really. Cool that's good to know. And I am assuming cut up the worms and such?
I read somewhere that they are seasonal eaters, that in spring they eat insects and such and as winter nears they switch to sugars.

I have to move them soon there are 4 workers in there and I don't want to be chasing 20+ workers around when I move them. I want to do the plaster paris thing but I have no clue how to make those cool burrow areas in the mold would that be clay that I use to do that?

 

[Tim St.]

Ants will eat anything really,id stick to Honey & jam or your sugar water untill you get a coloney, then id feed them Other bugs like Catipilars, spiders, your mother inlaw, iam sure it will be sweet to watch them take down large prey in mass numbers, post some pics when you get a nest going id love to see it, maybe Make a large Ant farm out of plexie glass like 3' long 2' hight and 1" thick and post it on your wall , fill it and pack it tight with wood shavings and watch em turn it into a huge Tunnel system, now that be sweet.

 

[lucanidae]

We use a thin slice of apple with a drop of honey on it plus a shake or two of fruit flies once a week, works great.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I want to make something like that, but I read somewhere and I cant find the site anymore, but I read you should have feeding tubes leading to food, and a tube leading to an area where they carry their dead and such. She has a good 40 more eggs that are going to hatch out soon so I am going to have to get moving I think they will start looking for food soon.

 

[Dark]

Since this species of ants are known for destroying houses, Why not put in a few bricks of Balsa Wood. They can make a few tunnels into it easily.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Here they are, there are 5 workers now and as you can see many more on the way. I am assuming these workers won't last that long because they are the first batch?

 

[Steven Gielis]

I use a nest with test tubes for small colonies:
http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nest37vz.jpg
They will use the test tubes as their nest. There is a small amount of water covered with cottonwool in every tube to keep the humidity up.

You can feed them a mixture of honey and water. Concentration 1/10
If the ants have brood you have to feed also a protein source. Crickets or mealworms cut into peaces are fine.

 

[syndicate]

http://www.notesfromunderground.org/archive/vol101/methods/pogonomyrmex.html
this might help to

 

[Talkenlate04]

Well I decided to play around a bit and see if this setup works.

 

[galeogirl]

That's cool! My daughter is obsessed with ants and wants me to build an ant farm for her; hopefully we can catch a queen or two of one of the smaller species next year.

 

[Talkenlate04]

The little black sugar ants are still swarming in our area, Ill keep you in mind if I catch any.

 

[8Pat]

Here they are, there are 5 workers now and as you can see many more on the way. I am assuming these workers won't last that long because they are the first batch?

Hi!

Surprisingly, these first workers might live up to 2 years or more. I kept some colonies couple years ago and they're quite long lived. Do you know this trick?: since they're disturbed by light, if you want to observe their behavior without disturbing them too much you can put a piece of red acetate (you know like the transparencies we put on projector in classrooms, or on projectors on stage!) over their container. That way you can see them and they feel like they're underground.

Ciao!
8Pat

 

[nepenthes]

Looks like a good set up, try and make it so they have a way to get out into a foraging chamber, just line it with 3-1 oil that way your set up doesn't mold over. Looks like Camponotus pennsylvanicus, I personally like to use Plaster set ups, they look the best and you can take pictures a whole lot easier.

What I do for test tube set ups is allot simpler than what you saw.

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/alaskaheadbanger/Ants/?action=view&current=PICT1029.jpg
That white tray, is just a silverware tray, that is separable, I buy them from walmart, I line the sides of it with 3-1 oil, and i put a test tube in the set up http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/alaskaheadbanger/Ants/?action=view&current=abe6bc1e.jpg

Works great, using some clay will make sure the test tube doesn't move around.

When colonies are young, with their first workers feed them mainly sugar water or honey, honey works best for me cause I can put small drops in a test tube with a tooth pick with minimal disturbance. As they start to forage, give them a meal worm, or a couple flightless fruit flys. I suggest bashing the meal worms head saves them the trouble of injuring a couple workers.

But once their get to be 20-30 workers, just make sure they get a little honey or sugar water, and some food 2-3 times a week. You will figure it out once you have had them for a while.

good luck!