Leaf Cutting Ant Forum

Ok i got them , my pc seems to be going really slow tonight so pls bare with me

Normally with this set up the lid is off or at least loose which will allow the humidity in the tank into the box but it looks like you have a vent on the side allowing airflow so thats fine. At least the queen wont take a swim. You could try covering the tank with a piece of glass to raise the humidity but keep an eye on condensation in the tube.

Try and use leaves with stalks. If you pick 4 or 5 leaves and rap the stems in some wet kitchen roll, the leaves will keep longer. I find that as soon as the laves begin to get limp the ants loose interest. Or stand them in a small pot of water. Block the opening with cotton wool to stop the ants drowning.

Here's how you can make the leaves stay fresher. Just rap some kitchen roll around the stem and secure with an elastic band and soak the towel in some water. Then just lay it down, it should last a day at least without curling up or going limp.

Glad you got them, yeah my lid ( white one) is not really plaved tight it is just sitting on top of the tub. The vent allows workers to go forage aswell with a tube reaching the floor of the tub, i could add something on top of it if its better. I shall do that that seems a great idea for the leaves staying fresh i eill do that today. Temperature and humidity seems pretty ok, temp dropping sometimes to 22c is that bad?

Do you wash the leaves to take any little bugs or so? And i got a privet plant from dobbies, contacted them by email and they assured me that precise plant wasn't sprayed with chemicals harmful for insects on theyr nursery so shoukd be fine to provide them to my ants fresh? Ligustrum ovalifolium common privet

I can't quite see how your measuring the stats in the fungus pot, but you will need a thermo/humidity meter with a probe but getting that inside the test tube is impractical. You need that tempreture up to 25c in the fungus pot. Also having a small set up like this is not so easy to keep everything stable but not impossibe

I don't wash the leaves. If your happy that your privet is free of any insecticides than that's your choice. Personally i would be getting it elsewhere for at least a year.

With privet, use a stalk with leaves on not individual eaves and treat them the same way as above in kitchen roll.

Its not on the pics but i have a thermometer and a hygrometer in the tub that do the measures, temp variates from 22 to 24c and the humidity is 85. Should i remove the fungus from the test tube and place it in the white tub? With clay balls?

I think the humidity in the test tube is probably a bit higher. Andrew needs to see your set up for advice before going any further.

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Would that be a problem? Being hight? As i found here that should be at least 80. Yeah need better guidance i can send you a video but thro email dunno if its going to be sent.

Should be at least 90%. At the moment its thriving so maybe best to leave it. I would be inclined to try and make the leaves more tempting as they look limp and dry. You could try the video or post it on your face book page and link it here. Im at work now do stuck until i get home to deal with that.

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