Plaster of Paris mining

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Acromyrmexbob
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Plaster of Paris mining

Post by Acromyrmexbob » Tue Oct 17, 2017 9:55 pm

Started to use Plaster of Paris in the base of some larger nests. Two issues.
1. The little f*ckers dig into it and carry the white bits outside where they pile them up or toss them into the water. Very annoying because the boxes are normally sold with the colony and they look horrible. Sometimes the ants will entirely remove all of the plaster. If others have used this, is there a way to harden it or stop them from doing this.
2. The plaster gets really disgusting. Most of the colonies I have have got a layer of brown scum on top of the plaster. Every few months I have to rehome the ants into new tubs to make them suitable for sale.
First time I have used this material, anyone got any suggestions?

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