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Escape Prevention

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SecretiveLoon	Escape Prevention		Lead	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 2 06/19/2008 6:37 AM	Hi. I was thinking about keeping a colony but I haven't been able to get much information on one particular part of keeping ants - escape prevention. Other than just keeping a lid over the tank, how do people stop the ants from getting out? Is it possible to just have an open top terrarium? I've read about some people using oils (?) to keep them in but I imagine this would have to be reapplied. Is there any method of escape prevention that it a one off purchase (or seldom purchase) that would allow the terrarium to be open top? Is having an open top a bad thing even if the ants can't escape (for humidity control etc.)? Thanks for any replies
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antdude		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 17018 06/19/2008 7:13 AM Borg Ant, Your Overlord	Hi SecretiveLoon. Some people use moat like a castle (water), but some species can walk on still water like Argentine ants. You can put some chemical coatings (forgot its name) on the edges to prevent ants from coming up, but you have to keep putting new layer since it dries up. Ants don't really need lots of oxygen so covering is fine. Moisture is important. Quote of the Week: "No, I'd prefer a cooler WITHOUT an ant-door, thank you..." --unknown. Ant/AntDude @ The Ant Farm (Personal Web Site), Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL), and The Ant Farm and Myrmecology Forum.
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khaleph		#2	[url]	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 14 06/19/2008 8:01 AM	The best way to be 100% sure that no ant escape is with a closed tank. It work fine and no one will complain. (My wife would not accept ant's inside the house without that protection...) Richard Labrecque aka Khaleph http://membre.oricom.ca/melkor/fourmis/ Note: My mother tongue is French, thank you for your comprehension.
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bobolak		#3	[url]	[-]
Minor Worker Ant Posts: 104 06/19/2008 8:07 AM	SecretiveLoon wrote: Is it possible to just have an open top terrarium? (...) Is having an open top a bad thing even if the ants can't escape (for humidity control etc.)? I have open top formicarium with NO barriers and I have no problems, although my Lasius niger colony is still small (ca. 400 workers). The formicarium is on a small table and very rarely a few scouts go down from this table. The surrounding territory was checked and nothing interesting was found, and they have enough all types of food available, so they don't need search for it too far. Generally I've got a feeling ants want to escape only if you forbid them this. Of course, if you have something interesting for ants near - like potted plants or food - or other ants - letting them free wouldn't be wise. Some people use PTFE (teflon) on walls, i haven't tried it yet but they say it usually works. No problem with humidity - the nest is moist, while the foraging area is dry, and that is natural for non-tropical species. The ants sealed all holes and tightened the exits so the nest loses very little water. I need to add water into nest only every few weeks.
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SecretiveLoon		#4	[url]	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 2 06/19/2008 3:03 PM	Thanks gusy. They were great replies. I know exactly what I need to know now
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nubioh		#5	[url]	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 13 07/01/2008 12:18 AM	Where may I buy PTFE? Does it work against the Escape of Argentine Ants? Keeping Argentine Ants from escaping is tough, I have my island colony in a makeshift pond and somehow over the weekend they moved their entire brood into my water filter. They are definitely pretty good swimmers. I've tried a 2nd farm with the product Antlantis, but it seems Argentine Ants can swim past the moat as well, though when I changed the water into Listerine they die almost immediately >_< Does anyone have an idea what I should build next? Last Edited By: nubioh 07/01/2008 1:44 AM. Edited 1 time.
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antdude		#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 17018 07/01/2008 8:00 AM Borg Ant, Your Overlord	nubioh wrote: Where may I buy PTFE? Does it work against the Escape of Argentine Ants? Keeping Argentine Ants from escaping is tough, I have my island colony in a makeshift pond and somehow over the weekend they moved their entire brood into my water filter. They are definitely pretty good swimmers. I've tried a 2nd farm with the product Antlantis, but it seems Argentine Ants can swim past the moat as well, though when I changed the water into Listerine they die almost immediately >_< Does anyone have an idea what I should build next? Yep, Argentine ants can walk on still water too. Ugh. Quote of the Week: "No, I'd prefer a cooler WITHOUT an ant-door, thank you..." --unknown. Ant/AntDude @ The Ant Farm (Personal Web Site), Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL), and The Ant Farm and Myrmecology Forum.
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nubioh		#7	[url]	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 13 07/01/2008 11:14 PM	Hahaha, I've noticed now that my Argentine workers can still escape through the tiny air holes >_< I don't think my Argentine Queen likes in it there either, but its so hard to get her out since she's in a corner where I cannot reach and I don't want to open the entire Farm because I have a Fire Ant Queen in there already nested >_<
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antdude		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 17018 07/02/2008 7:23 AM Borg Ant, Your Overlord	nubioh wrote: Hahaha, I've noticed now that my Argentine workers can still escape through the tiny air holes >_< I don't think my Argentine Queen likes in it there either, but its so hard to get her out since she's in a corner where I cannot reach and I don't want to open the entire Farm because I have a Fire Ant Queen in there already nested >_< Yep, they are annoying clever ants. Quote of the Week: "No, I'd prefer a cooler WITHOUT an ant-door, thank you..." --unknown. Ant/AntDude @ The Ant Farm (Personal Web Site), Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL), and The Ant Farm and Myrmecology Forum.
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Reacker		#9	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1379 07/02/2008 7:46 AM Henchant	PTFE is more commonly known as fluon. You can get it from BIOQUIP and a few other places. Usually under some generic name involving the word slippery and bug or insect or similar. At BIOQUIP its under Insect A Slip, just google and then download their catalog. And anything else that you buy from them make sure to shop around first, their stuff is very spendy. I've never messed around with moats just because of the insecurity about whether or not they'll escape. I've heard the best way to secure a moat is to add a few drops of dish soap liquid in the moat as that breaks the water surface tension.
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nubioh		#10	[url]	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 13 07/02/2008 2:00 PM	Thanks I'll try dish soap. I've tried listerine before, but it seems the ants just die almost immediately >_< Well one scout at least, then I removed the moat. I'll try the soap then. Also I ordered the PTFE at http://www.reptayls.com/supplies.html seems to be the cheapest of all other places.
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Reacker		#11	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1379 07/02/2008 2:25 PM Henchant	I think with any ants the point of a moat is that they learn to avoid it. How well that works I couldn't tell you as my Pheidole still haven't learned that traveling up the sides of their aquarium is the key to a oily death.
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WyldFyr		#12	[url]	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 22 07/02/2008 3:26 PM	Reacker wrote: I think with any ants the point of a moat is that they learn to avoid it. How well that works I couldn't tell you as my Pheidole still haven't learned that traveling up the sides of their aquarium is the key to a oily death. I have actually witnessed, while handling captured wild ants, them figure out that they can swim across. It was too funny, I would take the ones that luckily made it to the other side first and put them back with the rest. Each time I did this, the time till the next one(s) got out seemed to get shorter. It eventually occured to me that it may be the same ones getting across. I'm mot sure what the species was, but I believe it was a Lasius of somekind.
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nubioh		#13	[url]	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 13 07/02/2008 5:21 PM	Looks like my Argentine workers all escaped, though they left their queen behind, I'm trying to get her out but I do not want to disturb the farm too much cause of my I guess possibly Fire Ant queen nesting down inside one of the tunnels. Seems like Argentines are small enough to fit through the tiny air holes for the ant farms sadly >_
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