Leaf Cutting Ant Forum

PsyAnt wrote:Yeah unfortunately for someone that has some experience and whants to get into these magnificent ants gets a bit hard, but i guess i should really done or asked before hand, another case of the sellers saying that will be fine just take it.. i will try to add something to that tub and close it with a hole in the lid to see. I will place the leaves today in the tub going now fech some from the park. And Jackie yeah the fungus was a bit more than that when i got it but in the space of 3 days shrinked to that. Since i added them to this setup i dont see orange fungus and it actually look ok in a positive view, so i guess ill try to make it as stable as possible to these temps and humidity. Altho i have more fungus comming tomorow so not sure if was a good idea or whats the best way to add it or creat a better setup for them. ( where the fungus would be placed. And thank you all for the help might actually save this colony that would be a really nice thing, the temps where always 22 so i made sure the heater is set to 25 wich made temps go to 25.9 maybe slightly better now with a vented cover on top of the main setup. I do say sorry tho as this setup was invented in like 10 minutes just to try to remedy the situation

Hopefully nick, you've saved the day. It will be interesting to see what happens when you ad the new fungus but i don't think adding the ants will end well..

Is there any confirmation on these ants acros accepting or not feelow comrades? From other colonies? And hopefully your right

Nick, hi, sorry guys, been working in Paris.
Epic post, nice to see a busy exchange! Not exactly in the right place but beggars cant be choosers!
Nick, to me it seems your colony is showing all of the signs of being a very small colony and coping reasonably well. You have got 'new keeper' panic attacks! I wouldn't go chucking lots of new fungus at them. If you want to give them a small amount, certainly no more than whats there already. I wouldleave some of the smallest ants with the new fungus, they will likely be accepted. In any event dont put more new ants into the existing colony than, at most, half the number present in the receiving colony. You want the receiving colony to be able to overpower any aggression shown from the new arrivals. Andy and Jackie have got it spot on. (Definite brownie points for Andy, Jackie you are out of favour now!) Just keep updating us for next couple of weeks. If things go wrong at that size they happen quickly. But as I said, no need to panic just now. And you have the right attitude, an attention to detail and you care about them. All of the necessary ingredients to work it out. For future reference I would only go for such small colonies if I had experience of pulling them through. Leaf Cutters are a challenge for anyone at the best of times. An undersized colony is a real test.
Andrew

Nicks ants are cutting some new leaves, this is encouraging..

Hello there, and no worries we all have jobs so any response is great at any time. Thank you for your advice i aure panicked as i hate knowing things aren't right for them, but I monitor them closely and so far seems ok, altho its hard i still have hope that they make it. The person who got me the gungus picked ou the majors and only is sending the small ones as they say they attempted this methor previously and worked but i guess there is always a chance so providing a small amout would be better. What setup would you recommend something this type? In your opinion? Both guys gave me tips and helped me a lot so i could be calm and not panic a lot but i get what you mean and thanks for noticing those things, seems all stable now but how i dont really know how to judge ill wait and see how things go. Would it be best leaving the fungus on this test tube ? Thansk for your reply

As long as the humidity in the test tube is high then yes, leave. The ants will move out of the test tube when they are ready. Because all of these colonies come from the same wild location there is generally no problem introducing new fungus and ants to a colony. The population in Trinidad is a genetic bottleneck so the fungus and the ants are all distantly related. Rejection is unusual when you add new fungus. Cant really see anything to worry about just now with your setup. As Andy says, they are cutting leaves and they seem to be adding to fungus. Progress is always mind numbingly slow at this stage but they are doing okay.

Im keeping a really close eye to humidity and temperature so that should be covered, but thank you for pointing me in the right direction, its good to hear some positive comments aswell really is helpfull. Thats great news ill follow your steps by the way adding it so it work out ok hopefully. Yeah they are cutting and tending to it so just have to leave them do theyr job and provide them with the right conditions and fresh leaves regularly, i do manage to see many leaves choped so its good sign, once again thank you for all your help and time spent helping me i really apreciate that and can see that in this forum we all work as ants to help each other

PsyAnt wrote:Im keeping a really close eye to humidity and temperature so that should be covered, but thank you for pointing me in the right direction, its good to hear some positive comments aswell really is helpfull. Thats great news ill follow your steps by the way adding it so it work out ok hopefully. Yeah they are cutting and tending to it so just have to leave them do theyr job and provide them with the right conditions and fresh leaves regularly, i do manage to see many leaves choped so its good sign, once again thank you for all your help and time spent helping me i really apreciate that and can see that in this forum we all work as ants to help each other

Keep us posted Nick, good luck!

I will once i get the new fungus i will post the reactions.

I received a bit of fungus today and loads of minima and workers i will be opening the tub and hopefully they will get along there is some brood aswell so i guess its good any suggestions before i add them? Or where to place them?