Need help with camponotus diet

Posts and questions relating to ant diet & nutrition. Let us know what you’re feeding your ants.

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davislbsb
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 7:47 am
Location: Brazilia, Brazil

Need help with camponotus diet

Post: # 15714Post davislbsb
Tue Jan 03, 2017 12:30 pm

I have a camponotus queen that has 4 workers, but i'm not being able to feed them because i don't know what to give them and i don't how to give them.
Could you help me?

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Nathant
Posts: 133
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2016 7:57 am
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Need help with camponotus diet

Post: # 15715Post Nathant
Tue Jan 03, 2017 1:14 pm

I'll list some food to try giving:

Sugar sources:

-Sugar water
-Honey (Camponotus however usually prefer sugar water more)
-Hummingbird nectar
-Fruit (apples are used a lot as fruit)

Protein sources:

-Mealworms
-Super worms
-Crickets
-Cockroaches

These are all common foods that usually work for ants. Your colony needs a diverse amount of both protein and sugar. Each colony however has their own personality, and may not like certain foods. For example, One Camponotus colony may completely reject eating Superworms while another may eat them primarily. Do some tests and see what they like and don't like, and make sure you feed as much as they will eat, don't go over or under. Take away uneaten food. Your colony is very small, so try placing food with a long tool like a skewer into their test tube (assuming that is their housing). Hope that helped!
Beginner ant keeper in New England!

Keeper of:

-1x Lasius claviger (1 queen)
-3x Lasius umbratus OR speculiventris (all of one queen)
-9x other unidentified Lasius (all of one queen)
-1x Camponotus pennsylvanicus (1 queen)

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Batspiderfish
Posts: 1494
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Maine

Re: Need help with camponotus diet

Post: # 15716Post Batspiderfish
Tue Jan 03, 2017 1:49 pm

I always recommend Drosophila flies as a protein source for young colonies, because it is easy for the ants to clean up whatever they don't eat and harder to over-feed them. I have never seen a colony that will turn down vinegar flies.
Links:
Rules & Requirements for Identification:
http://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=292

How to take pictures for identification:
http://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=2167

davislbsb
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 7:47 am
Location: Brazilia, Brazil

Re: Need help with camponotus diet

Post: # 15722Post davislbsb
Tue Jan 03, 2017 4:16 pm

Thaks a lot guys.

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Serafine
Posts: 238
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:23 am
Location: Germany

Re: Need help with camponotus diet

Post: # 15728Post Serafine
Wed Jan 04, 2017 5:55 pm

Marple sirup can also act as sugar source (but it's an expensive one, at least in Europe).
From what I've read and heard sugar water works better for most Camponotus than pure honey (mine have no issue with honey though).

I support fruit flies, they are great. My Camponotus stored all I gave them at the front of their tube (plus a few superworm bits). If you feed superworms remember to crush them, young colonies don't really have the strength to tier them apart on their own.
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