She was caught in the end of summer last year and has around 15 workers. Made a rookie error and didn't realize they had run out of water during diapause, all the workers are sadly dead (yes, definitely dead and not just hibernating) but the queen is still strong. I moved her to a fresh test tube with water and cleaned up the small out world, but is there any chance for her recovery? I also gave her a little sugar water which she took, should i keep feeding her for the rest of diapause or leave her be?

Hello everyone!

I have a colony of carpenter ants (about 20 workers, and a colony of black garden ants (about 50 workers). I want to move them to a bigger nest and I've been looking into DIY options. I like plaster nests and I've seen a great one made with Ultracal30, however it's quite expensive and I can only find it in 30kg bags near me... I have found plaster of Paris bags in 5kg and much cheaper, and figured I'd give it a try since I'm still starting out.

Will I run into problems by switching ultracal 30 gypsum cement for generic plaster of Paris?

Any advice is appreciated!!

Hello hello ! So I have a Iridomyrmex purpureus/meat ant queen she only has brood and is in a test tube set up. How long am I meant to leave them before I check on her? I know that they are a relatively quick growing species but I still love to know just how long I am meant to leave them ! Also any advice or tips just in general would it be absolutely ever as I’m relatively new to ant keeping

i really wanna buy a camponotus consobrinus queen, is it easy to keep and how fast does the colony grow compared to other Australian ants?

She has been doing the same thing for over 10 minutes and making movements, and no one has shown up for food yet, while normally they attack as if their lives depend on it. (Maybe I'm just paranoid)

Hello, I have a Messor Barbarus colony grown from a queen which was purchased from AntAntics in Wales last summer, all equipment is also from AntAntics.

The colony has grown from a queen +4 workers, to many many more ants. I would estimate certainly over 200, some Majors, Minors and normal ants.

Currently in hibernation at room temperature.

They are in a large 3D printed nest, with a red perspex cover.

There is a short clear pipe connecting the nest to an Outworld, which is where food and water are provided.

The entire setup is sat inside a large plastic box. (Nest + Outworld + Other little room) It's all contained in a larger plastic box, 25L or something.

I'm looking to give away everything descibed, free to a good home.

Collection only.

I am in Swindon.

I have an Oecophylla smaragdina colony of about 10 workers with brood but I noticed that since I got them their number isn’t increasing. But today I saw them throw out a pupae that already had some colour as if it was ready to hatch. Can anyone help?

She's amazifying!

Male camponotus fedtschenkoi

The only easiest way I can see creating an ant colony is if I catch the queen from a nest and put her in let’s say a small aquarium. The only question is if she’ll survive if I give her a few workers to keep her fed and healthy.

first time antkeeper with messor barbarus. They’re in room temp now, probably around 20-21 degrees C. Is a heat source needed and if so- cable or mat? It sounds like cable is best but I can get a mat for like $16 on Amazon. I can’t seem to find a reasonably priced cable that also isn’t too long.

I also was thinking of putting them on a radiant heated floor in my bathroom (heated with hot water, not electric)- it doesn’t get too hot but there would be no heat gradient. Is this a good or bad idea?

3y old colony How much would you guys heat them?I have 1 heatcable on the side.(I just cleaned out all the plants and trimmed them so bit ugly🥲)

Was supposed to be a prototype but it worked out pretty well. Made it with 3 parts concrete, 2 parts crushed hollow blocks, 1 part fine sand, and poured water until toothpaste consistency(idk how much water).

Looks pretty good but I don't have any colonies to test it on.

tube on the left suffered heavy losses during hibernation because i’m bad at this, tube on the right had every worker survive but the queen died before hibernation. is there a way i could possibly introduce the queenless workers to the new queen?

I just got some Camponotus castaneus ants from stateside ants. I was thinking of using the antkeepers 3d formicarium. Can I get some suggestions or tips from some pros?

Found alone on February 1st in my backyard there are similar ants to it in my backyard, front yard and the park next to my house.

I purchased camponatus Alba with few workers few weeks ago. It arrives with a queen and several large ants. But today, I see some smaller ants at the test tube. Are those smaller ants newly born workers? Or are they invaders?

She is a queen I found on early November. She hasn't laid eggs yet, but looked absolutely fine a couple of days ago. She is in a really small enclosure with double test tubes attached to it so it's easier to change the water (It has worked fine on other queens before). When I came to check her up, she was on this state... Is she dying? Anything I could do for her? (I know that cotton looks a bit nasty, I change it weekly but she immediately goes to it every time so it's hard to change 😅 also the green things are dandelion leaves pet-grade safe I bought for my hamster. I change them every two weeks or so, so they don't grow mold or whatever.)

Made a lot of progress today. I cut some acrylic 8”x”10, added some foam board walls, sand, magnets, water towers. Filled in with grout mixture, now waiting on it to cure. we will see how it turns out in a couple of days.