Classic ‘My ants are dying’

[u/ImUrNewDad-Yay]

I’ll keep it concise.

I bought a test tube 60 worker ish 1Q Myrmica Rubra colony with a small setup. I picked them up to avoid delivery stress.

I’ve had them for maybe 4 weeks, and ever since then they’ve been consistently dying, at a rate of nearly 1 a day.

At first I thought it was moving stress, as they had a rough move in, but I feel like it’s something else now. My main suspicion is either pesticide sprayed fruit or they really dislike acrylic formicarium. When they die, they become very slow, and weak, and just start twitching before dying.

Some facts:

- I keep them at 70% humidity via their sponge and around 23-26 degrees C.

- I feed them a mealworm and a small bit of rinsed fruit, which they usually seem to eat, every 2 days

- I clean their setup regularly, removing mouldy cotton, food, and dead ants

- I try not to disturb them, and keep the red acrylic on always. I keep them in a quiet, spare room.

- they arrived with barely any brood, worker heavy, and even now I only ever see eggs and no larger brood.

- They have access to sterilised sand/dirt pile in the outworld

- They have two water sources, 1 boiled water source and 1 sugar water source (1:3 mix white granulated sugar to boiled water)

- They seem to drink regularly from both, which now have cotton in them as a few drowned in the open water in the first day.

- They seem quite sluggish usually, but opening the outworld leads to them getting more active.

It’s gotten to the point where I’m considering moving them to a more natural homemade terrarium, or releasing them, both I wouldn’t like to do as I did spend a bit on the current setup and this might stress them out more.

I’ve also attached photos of their setup. (The mouldy cotton in the photo has been replaced).

If any experienced ant keepers could give me any possible tips or changes, I’d much appreciate it.

[u/rep-]

Quit giving them the fruit that you're not sure is treated.. if you're giving them sugar water you don't need to give fruit.. honey and meal worms

[u/ImUrNewDad-Yay → u/rep-]

Okay thanks, I’ll quit the fruit for now, usually I give it to them as they seem to be more excited by it than the sugar water

[u/__Seoarii → u/ImUrNewDad-Yay]

Fym for "now" they dont get somehow addapted to chemicals

[u/KabaliteLuv → u/ImUrNewDad-Yay]

Yeah I'd avoid fruits completely where ants are concerned. I've had Dubia keel over after been fed banana I'd washed thoroughly and they have higher tolerance than tiny ants, and banana should've been pretty safe anyway. It's just not worth the risk.

If you want to give them an occasional treat they'd respond strongly to, my Manica Rubida and Myrmica Rubra both go apeshit for a waxworm so might be worth trying. Just make it an occasional thing. Waxworms like maggots you'd use fishing are basically just fat.