The IDEAL Forum

Came here for the awwwwws since I've got a stressful day - now I feel better. This thread never disappoints in providing good feelings

McMokka wrote:nevermind, deleted post, take another mila-pic instead



the day I deepclean the bathroom she decides to make a complete mess

how long do you have to walk to reach places like this? or was the dog using a car to get you there?

Brati007 wrote:

McMokka wrote:nevermind, deleted post, take another mila-pic instead



the day I deepclean the bathroom she decides to make a complete mess

how long do you have to walk to reach places like this? or was the dog using a car to get you there?

You can reach those places by foot, if you invest like 20 minutes. We have several small lakes in good radius, but it would be a waste to walk there with the dog. Until she is fully grown, we limit the time of the walks to around 40-50 minutes. So we usually go to those places by car, which takes only a few minutes.

We are actually looking for a new flat that combines having the trainstation in 10 minutes walking distance while also being as close as possible to forrest/field. It is not easy here, since flats in the right size are wanted here, a lot of people are looking for similar stuff. Our current landlord told us, that he had over 50 applications for our flat

This is my queen ant named Lacey. She is a Componotus cruentatus which is a sub species of the Carpenter Ants family. She can outlive a cat or dog, because she can get 18 years old!

Currently my ant colony has grown to about 50 workers since I bought my queen in October 2018. This is a larger ant species (6 to 12 mm), so the process from egg to adult ant takes much longer compared to smaller species. This means the colony has a slow start, but in a few years it can grow to a population of >10K depending on the temperatures and amount of food I give them. The species naturally lives in warm climates in the south of Europe and in North Africa. They are quite aggressive and can spray acid when feel threatened.

I love watching them walk around in search of food or carrying around trash. Also after their hibernation period I think I even spotted a major in my terrarium underground! (when a colony is successful the queen will start spawning large soldier ants to protect the nest and those are called majors).

This is what a major looks like:



There is even a possibility of super majors which are even larger.

Hope you found this an interesting read.

Cheezix wrote:Hope you found this an interesting read.

Please describe a bit more what an ant colony looks like, how you start them, what you have to do with them, etc.

Never knew you could have "pet" ants and now I'm super curious.

Mettkrieger wrote:

Cheezix wrote:Hope you found this an interesting read.

Please describe a bit more what an ant colony looks like, how you start them, what you have to do with them, etc.

Never knew you could have "pet" ants and now I'm super curious.

They are amazing creatures to have as pets and quite easy to keep! Going on holiday for 3 weeks? No problem, just give them some extra food and you're done!

Here is your answer in a video by the number one YT channel on ant keeping:



(not that I'm too lazy to write, but there is no chance I will explain it better than him)

Interesting video.

But from what I saw the "burrow" or whatever you call the ant home is next to the terrarium?
Could you take some pictures from your setup?

Mettkrieger wrote:Interesting video.

But from what I saw the "burrow" or whatever you call the ant home is next to the terrarium?
Could you take some pictures from your setup?

I have a dutch blog which has quite some pictures and one video: https://www.antforum.nl/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=12222&sid=2cf3d47a854233ffa1eac062d1f1dbf0

(I need to update it and add some recent pictures I took after hibernation beginning this month)

Also their home is called terrarium if its filled with earth (terra) or otherwise called formicarium if its made from plastic or a cast shape. You can link as many formicariums together if you want using transparent flexible pvc tubes, so there is always room for more ants.

Did you basically "force" them to build their home next to the glass panel?

Mettkrieger wrote:Did you basically "force" them to build their home next to the glass panel?

Yes and no. They naturally are attracted to heat so I placed my heating lamp on the left side. This way they can choose how far or how close they want to build their nest from the heat source. Also they don't like light inside their nest so I darken the left side of my terrarium and only peek once in a while to take a look or take a picture. This way I can observe what's going on inside the breeding chamber without scaring them away from the glass.

i made an insta account for my fish, leave an abo and enjoy the beauty of lazy fish
https://www.instagram.com/loricariinae/

Otto_von_HEATmarck wrote:i made an insta account for my fish, leave an abo and enjoy the beauty of lazy fish
https://www.instagram.com/loricariinae/

lol otto

Otto_von_HEATmarck wrote:i made an insta account for my fish, leave an abo and enjoy the beauty of lazy fish
https://www.instagram.com/loricariinae/

Can you get a marlin?

Marliini wrote:Can you get a marlin?

sea fish is to much trouble for such a small tank but i habe fresh water shrimps
Reminds me when i asked my gf which fish she would like to have and she responded: a starfish and a small octupus

As of last week, Mila is 1 year old. So I thought you guys might like some pics from the last couple of weeks



This year flew by so fast

Heres Ladygrey (Named after the tea she loves playing with)


And here is Leopold (Named after an old soviet cartoon cat)


They make the perfect gaming setup

Nice box of tissues you have there

Since we are doing necromancy in here...

Ladygrey looks disapprovingly