First outworld

The accessories from ant world have arrived!!! I'll take you through them in another post because I'm only going to use a couple of bits from it for now.

So I've used an old plastic lunch box for the first outworld (almost used the new one but I want to customise it properly first and that'll be impossible if I start to use it now).

Started off with painting lots of PTFE around the top of the box. It's something that most species of ant find impossible to walk on without slipping so it stops them escaping. It's very important to let it dry fully before allowing any ants to come close as the wet fumes aren't good for them. I also added a couple of rocks, and some fake plants for a bit of scenery. I almost added a bit of sand to the floor to help it look a bit prettier but I'm worried that the workers will start to pile it up and end up nesting under one of the rocks where I won't be able to see them so decided against that.

There were 2 liquid water dispenser things that came with the kit along with a small feeding bowl too so I've set up a honey water feeder, plain water feeder, and I'm adding protein sources to the feeding bowl. So far I've added cooked chicken, protein jelly and a dead wasp to the bowl so far. The wasp is the only thing I've seen them interested in so far.

I've put the whole test tube into the box so as to not disturb the nest. It kept rolling around so I've put a bit of blutack on each side to hold it steady. I was a bit worried that the ants may get themselves stuck in it but it actually works really well as a ramp to the top of the test tube.

Quick picture for you...

I was really worried that the PTFE wouldn't work well. The lunchbox isn't tall enough for me to put the lid on because of the water feeders so it's just open. Was up about 6 times the first night to count the ants to make sure nobody was going anywhere they shouldn't! It's been set up this way for a couple of days now and I've not seen any workers get even close to the top so I'm confident that they're staying put. Although I do keep thinking about putting the lunch box in something larger filled with water to make it like an island so that escapees can't actually escape. But I think they're good.

As for the ants, things are still the same. 8 workers, growing larvae and some eggs. The protein from the wasp and whatever else I can find will be great for helping the larvae grow. Also hoping the Queen will lay some new eggs soon. I don't think there have been any new ones since she arrived.

The first feed

I said i was going to leave Queen Betty (yes...I'm a little bit odd) in her tube without bothering her for a while. But I'm impatient lol! Everyone seemed a little slow and sluggish all the time so I figured I'd give them a bit of a sugar rush for their first feeding.

In order for the colony to thrive the ants need a water source, sugar source and a protein source. I'll deal with the protein in a couple of days (I have some protein jelly as a back up, but I'm hoping to find some insects in the garden).

For the sugar source I mixed up some honey water (half and half honey and water). They're still in their sealed test tube so I made sure there was nothing trying to make a break for it, took the cotton ball plug out, and used the end of a straw to put a drop in. Then I re-sealed the test tube to stop any strays. 

THEY LOVED IT!!! 

I saw all the ants feeding from the drop at different times except for Betty,  but the workers should be tending to her so I hope they have fed her. They were zooming around the test tube like their arses were on fire!!

Another video showing that they became really active cleaning each other and tending the Queen and just generally being very ant like.

It also looks like the brood is doing well. Can see larvae and eggs in this picture :-). The larvae are definitely getting bigger.

Hopefully they will pupate fairly soon so that we can get excited for the arrival of some new workers :-)

So, I think that because their first feed has gone so well my next update will be about their first outworld. That'll make it much easier to feed them and make things a bit more interesting for them. Exciting!