Managing Your Ant Colony - AntsCanada Ant Tutorial #28 feat. Omni Nest Xtra Large
Summary
TLDRIn this informative video, Mikey Bustos, aka Aunts Canada, introduces a new extra-large Omni nest designed for large ant colonies, such as Camponotus ants. He demonstrates how to manage an ant colony by setting up the new nest, ensuring proper feeding, and maintaining the ants' living space. The video also covers strategies for preventing escapes, using Insecta Slip to contain ants, and the importance of monitoring and adapting the colony's environment for optimal growth and health.
Takeaways
- 🐜 Mikey Bustos introduces a new product: the extra-large Omni nest, designed for large ant colonies like Camponotus ants.
- 🔍 The extra-large Omni nest is significantly larger than the standard large Omni nest, offering more space for ants to live and expand their colony.
- 🏡 Ant keepers need to manage their ants' living space, ensuring proper feeding, nourishment, and control over escapes.
- 👋 Gloves are recommended when handling aggressive ant species to prevent stings and ensure safety during colony management.
- 🌳 Two paintbrushes can be useful for gently scooping up escaped ants and transferring them back to their colony.
- 🔧 Insecticide, specifically Insecta Slip, can be used to prevent ants from escaping by creating a barrier that is hard for them to cross.
- 🌡️ Ants prefer dark, enclosed, and moist areas for nesting. Providing a suitable nest space and managing the outer world (out world) is crucial for their well-being.
- 🍽️ Feed ants in their out world to discourage them from nesting there and to maintain a clear distinction between nest and foraging areas.
- 🌬️ Creating a slight breeze in the out world with an air pump can deter ants from nesting there, as they dislike wind.
- 🔥 Adding heat to the out world can also discourage ants from nesting there, as they prefer cooler areas for their nest.
- 🏆 Aunts Canada is hosting a contest with prizes including free Omni nests and ant keeping handbooks to celebrate reaching 5,000 subscribers.
Q & A
Who is the speaker in the video and what is their role?
-The speaker is Mikey Bustos, also known as Aunts Canada, who is presenting a tutorial on managing ant colonies and introducing a new product for ant keeping.
What is the main topic of the video?
-The main topic of the video is managing ant colonies, including how to plan and set up their living spaces, and the introduction of an extra-large ant nest product.
What is the new product being introduced in the video?
-The new product being introduced is an extra-large Omni nest, designed for large ant colonies such as Camponotus ants or harvester ants.
How does the size of the extra-large Omni nest compare to the large Omni nest?
-The extra-large Omni nest is significantly larger than the large Omni nest, holding about three times as much space and resembling the size of a laptop.
What is the purpose of the 'Outworld' in an ant colony setup?
-The 'Outworld' is a part of the ant colony setup where the ants forage, dispose of refuse, and where dead ants are placed. It is separate from the nest where the queen and young reside.
Why should the ants' Outworld be kept as bare and simple as possible?
-Keeping the Outworld bare and simple helps the ants to favor the formicarium for nesting, preventing them from choosing the Outworld as their nesting space due to the presence of soil, decorations, or other elements.
What is the recommended way to encourage ants to use the Outworld for foraging and not nesting?
-Feeding the ants through their Outworld and creating a slight breeze or heat in the area are recommended, as ants typically avoid nesting in places where they encounter prey or other animals, and dislike wind and heat.
What is the importance of monitoring the ants' living conditions?
-Monitoring the ants' living conditions is crucial for ensuring they are properly fed, nourished, and protected from outside threats such as predators, diseases, and fungal infections.
What is Insecta-Slip and how is it used in ant keeping?
-Insecta-Slip is a liquid fluon (PTFE) that hardens into an enamel-like substance, used to create a barrier that prevents ants from escaping their setup. It is applied to the edges of the ant enclosure to contain the ants effectively.
How often should the ants' Outworld and formicarium be changed in captivity?
-In captivity, the ants' Outworld and formicarium should be changed at least once every one or two years to maintain cleanliness and prevent the buildup of waste and bacteria.
What contest is being mentioned at the end of the video, and what are the prizes?
-A contest is being held to celebrate 5,000 subscribers on the Aunts Canada channel, with two free Omni nests and eight free ant-keeping handbooks as prizes.
Outlines
🐜 Introduction to Ant Management and New Product Launch
In this introductory paragraph, Mikey Bustos, also known as Aunts Canada, welcomes viewers to a special video focused on ant management. He discusses the importance of planning and managing the living space of ants, which is crucial for their well-being. The video features a new product, an extra-large Omni nest, designed to accommodate large ant colonies such as Camponotus or harvester ants. The product is presented as a response to viewer feedback, and its size and features are compared to the existing large Omni nest, highlighting its spacious tunnels and capacity to hold about three times more than the large version.
🛠️ Setting Up and Managing an Ant Colony
This paragraph delves into the practical aspects of setting up and managing an ant colony. Mikey explains the process of transferring ants to a new nest, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the queen's safety during the move. He also discusses the use of insecticide, specifically 'Insecta-Slip', to prevent ants from escaping. The video shows the setup of a new extra-large Omni nest and the use of tubes and chambers for a growing ant colony. Mikey also mentions the importance of feeding and watering ants properly, and the need for a trusted assistant when handling aggressive ant species.
🏡 Creating an Ideal Environment for Ant Colonies
The third paragraph provides insights into creating the right environment for ant colonies. It covers the necessity of providing two main living spaces: a nest for the queen and young, and an outer world for foraging and waste disposal. Mikey advises on how to encourage ants to choose the formicarium as their nest by manipulating factors like feeding location, wind, and heat. He also touches on the ants' natural behavior of setting up designated bathroom areas and the importance of maintaining cleanliness by replacing soiled outer worlds and formicariums periodically.
🎉 Contest Announcement and Closing Remarks
In the concluding paragraph, Mikey announces a contest to celebrate the channel's milestone of 5,000 subscribers. The contest involves giving away two free Omni nests and eight ant-keeping handbooks. He encourages viewers to participate by watching a specific video or clicking on the provided link in the video's info section. Mikey reminds viewers of the importance of proper ant management, including monitoring for escapes and maintaining a clean and suitable environment for the colony's growth.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Omni Nests
💡Camponotus
💡Ant Management
💡Outworld
💡Solenopsis Geminata
💡PTFE
💡Formicarium
💡Connecting Chambers
💡Insect-a-Slip
💡Ant Colony Growth
Highlights
Introduction of a special video on managing ant colonies by Mikey Bustos, also known as Aunts Canada.
Discussion on the importance of ant planning and managing their living spaces.
Introduction of a new product: an extra-large Omni nest designed for large ant colonies.
Explanation of how the new extra-large Omni nest can accommodate a Camponotus queen with ease.
Visual comparison between the extra-large Omni nest and the large Omni nest, highlighting the size difference.
Description of the extra-large Omni nest's capacity, which is three times that of the large nest.
Demonstration of the setup process for the new extra-large Omni nest.
Advice on managing ant escapes and the importance of monitoring their living space.
Recommendation of using insecticide Insecta Sleep to contain aggressive ant species.
Explanation of how to properly feed and water ants to encourage them to use the formicarium as their nest.
Tips on using air pumps and heat to prevent ants from nesting in the out world.
Discussion on the natural behavior of ants to use designated areas for waste disposal.
Guidance on how to clean and replace soiled out worlds and formicariums.
Advice on preventing ants from escaping by using silicone caulking and tape.
Emphasis on the importance of providing a warm environment for ants and avoiding air-conditioned rooms.
Announcement of a contest by Aunts Canada to celebrate 5,000 subscribers with giveaways.
Closing remarks by Mikey Bustos, summarizing the key points of ant colony management.
Transcripts
what's up guys Mikey Bustos here aka
aunts Canada welcome to the aunts Canada
and channel this is a special video on
managing your aunts
you know I haven't really done a
tutorial on how to do ant planning
because it's a very big part of and
keeping you know and when I'm say
managing your ends I mean you know
managing where the ants live managing
their setup how to control and even
though they kind of sometimes control
you you know you have to manage escapes
as an ant keeper you really have to
monitor their living space and featured
in this video is our brand new product a
lot of you guys wrote in saying you love
the Omni nests but you guys have large
camponotus ants for example or you know
ends that are quite large like harvester
ants well to be honest these large only
nests can definitely house a camponotus
colony the tunnels are quite spacious
you see there and they can accommodate a
camponotus queen with ease but for those
of you that weren't satisfied with this
size we heard your cry guys and so and
Canada is bringing you the extra-large
on the nest right here it's huge look at
that massive for those of you with large
extra large colonies extra large ants
here it is guys we obeyed your calls and
you know it we're really excited to
launch it and just for a size comparison
note never hold your only nest with one
hand especially like this they are
delicate and valuable items that your
ants will need to survive you'll see
this here is the extra-large only nest
it's the size of a laptop it's quite
heavy and then here is the large Omni
nest see that size comparison the extra
large on the nest holds about three
times as much as the large on the nest
just so you guys have an idea as to how
much space there is and the sea that the
tunnels are just awesome
it's basically a extra-large
version of our large only nest and it
really is large and here's the up world
that goes with it
look how big that is and you can either
have it set up so that it's set up on to
the only nest you see there or you can
have it separate me I like to have my
nested all and I won't separate but for
those of you who like to have your
colonies a portable the only nest allows
you to do that you just remove this
plate here and then you screw on that
Leon the Omni nests out world um but
yeah it's huge I love it if you watch my
other videos I removed this sponge here
and I'm using that as a as a chamber and
so I'm going to include this into my
growing solenopsis gem another colony so
if you've been following my videos you
see that this colony that I'm keeping is
just explosive in growth they grow so
fast and I think this will last them
quite a while you know I had to add a
second
only nest a small and now I'm going to
add this one right here the extra large
2 they're set up and that's what this
video is about and while I'll do that
I'll talk about managing your hands so
this is my current setup I've got a
small on the nest here a large omni nest
both attached to the out world for the
small Omni nest here with two holes that
I bore into the out world using a hot
knife and then this tube connects to the
out world I wanted to add the new Omni
nest product that we're making available
at the store um the extra-large Omni
nest and this should last them a while I
probably won't have to add another
attachment for well who knows because
this colony is going really really fast
and so the first thing you want to keep
in mind when I'm planning out the living
space of your ends is you want to make
sure the ants are properly fed
and properly nourished so that you know
they can deal with the I guess the tasks
involved with moving the young you know
they're going to spend a lot of energy
going into the I suppose defensive
response you if you're dealing with a
stinging species it helps that blows in
my previous videos you guys were like
why aren't you wearing gloves and I read
those comments and it was like yeah sure
what I wearing love so now I am and I
found it really helps because this
species is quite aggressive I originally
didn't want wear gloves because I felt
like I couldn't feel the ants and I just
wanted to have proper contact with the
equipment and tubing but does help a lot
also it really helps to have two
paintbrushes like this so you could just
kind of scoop up um the escapees with
paintbrushes like this you can just
scoop them up and then dump them into
your overall I plan on actually getting
rid of this small out world and
replacing it with this large on the nest
of world
so you see I've already bore the holes
I've already placed the tubing inside I
find it's easier to in-state tubing to
tubing as opposed to tubing to a hole so
I've got some tubes here that are
readily attachable to the tubes that I
plan on attaching
just to make it really quick and if you
look I've recently purchased a bottle of
insecticide
an awesome awesome thing I recommend it
for all and keepers especially those
with ends that are MacGyver ends as I
call them they can escape any setup well
if you have this Insecta slip they
really contain the ants when will see if
they can contain this solenopsis germ
another colony you can buy it from a
website called buy equip it's by equip
calm and it's called insect asleep you
see that here and what it is is it's a
liquid flew on
it's called another name for it is PTFE
it is kind of like a milky fluid
it's got no odor actually big glides on
clear but then it hardens into a enamel
dried toothpaste means candle wax you
can see it right here you can actually
touch it unlike a baby powder and
rubbing alcohol which I've used in the
past you know when you touch it it comes
off so here we go it really helps when
working with like you know a really
active aggressive species like this to
have a friend on hand a trusted
assistant to help you so to help me now
I have my friend RJ here who is going to
various there's his glove to help me
alright so what I'm going to do first is
I'm going to get rid of this connecting
chamber here and replacing it with this
gonna open the lid for the trivet elbow
mmm
so I can do that this first to the
extra-large on the most do that first I
wonder when they're going to move in
here I'm gonna firstly touch the main
nest with the Queen why am I going to do
this um I just want to make sure the
Queen doesn't escape into this chamber
as soon as there's an alarm response
because when there's an alarm response
in the nest they quickly go to protect
the Queen and bring her somewhere else
so I want to make sure that this large
only nest where the Queen is and she's
somewhere here is dealt with first and
moved into the new living space so let's
do that
into those two one two three go
you
all right guys I'm going to continue
cleaning up here and hope you guys enjoy
the rest of this video by managing an
ant colony is very much like managing a
city of people with many individuals and
a lot going on there are processes which
naturally happen needs that must be met
places that must be provided and systems
that must be allowed to be set in motion
you as the ant keeper are responsible to
plan your ant colony set up so that it
best provides the ants the spaces and
resources they need you as the ant
keeper must also assume the
responsibility of dealing with the
duties which are normally taken care of
by other elements in the wild and to
also provide protection for your ends
from outside predators enemies disease
and fungal threats other ants and so on
and so generally fully capable of taking
care of themselves but in captivity they
still depend on you to govern certain
aspects of their lives as you may
already know an ant colony requires two
main living spaces a nest space in which
the colony Queen and young will reside
and an outer world or out world where
the ants will forage and dispose of
refuse and the dead ants will naturally
choose the most suitable nesting space
they typically prefer dark enclosed and
moist areas to nest so make sure to
cover your former carrion when not
observing water your nest regularly and
ensure your nest isn't too spacious so
that they will choose the form aquarium
as their nest and not the out world if
your out world contains enough soil for
them to dig too many decorations and
plants or tons of ornate driftwood
pieces and rocks you risk the ants
moving into your out world so try to
keep your out world as bare as possible
and as simple as possible so they favor
your form aquarium for nesting it is
normal to have ants congregate in your
old world as they do this in the wild
setting up hangout stations near the
nest but if they move the young like
larva eggs and pupae into the old world
you know they've chosen your out world
as a nests
thing space meaning the forma karyam you
are providing them doesn't meet their
standards for nesting or they may have
already filled up their current form
aquarium and are requiring you to
provide them an additional nest space or
satellite nest one way to encourage the
ants to choose europe world as their out
world is to feed them through their out
world ants usually will not nest in a
place where they will constantly be met
with prey or other animals make sure to
feed your ends in their out world and
not in their for material also ants hate
nesting where there is wind so you could
buy a cheap air pump from your local pet
store and rig it so it creates a slight
breeze in your out world this is usually
enough to make ends move into your form
aquarium heat also does the same thing
if you add a heat pad or add a heat lamp
over your Outworld this usually causes
the ants to move into your form aquarium
and out of your out world don't be too
worried if your ants choose to nest in
your tubes this is quite normal if
they're residing in your tubes and not
in your form aquarium simply use tubes
with a larger diameter and cut the tube
short or use connecting chambers to join
the tubes
speaking of connecting chambers in this
setup tear I use a large Omni nest
Outworld as a connecting chamber I leave
it up to the ants to decide whether they
want to use it as an out world or a
large for material chamber but I will
not feed them nor water them in this
chamber they usually will use a chamber
like this as a place to dispose garbage
temporarily or to set up bathroom areas
as seen here as will go to the bathroom
in a designated area both inside the
nest and outside at poop is kind of like
a miniature version of bird poop it
usually consists of a white beige or
brown section with tiny solid parts in
it and dries up to look like flecks of
paint
eventually it means all out world and
form aquariums must be changed
eventually in the wild microbes and the
elements clean this up in captivity
however it's your job as the ant keeper
to make sure these bathroom areas are
dealt with at least once every year or
every
two years by replacing soiled outworlds
with newer worlds and soil for materials
with clean for materials as long as
you're continually adding nests to your
setup as the colony grows and new out
worlds as well you can make nest and up
world cycling easy to detach an old very
soil out world from your set up place it
furthest away in your network from any
for material that is to say set it up so
that it is at the end of your ant setup
only attached to a link of one or more
out worlds and far away from the closest
for material stop providing food and
water in this out world and once there
are minimal workers foraging there you
can detach the out world close the hole
and place some test tubes with water
inside for a few days to collect the
stragglers you can then proceed to wash
the out world well for introduction to
your colony later on it's important to
always monitor your answer up ads will
always be on the lookout for new areas
to explore and once one worker finds a
breach it will let the others know and
these recruits will help at breaking
free patch up any holes and/or
reinforced potential spaces of concern
with tape or silicone caulking using
silicone caulking or tape to bind tubes
and units together is highly recommended
use a good repellent for your Outworld
with special attention paid to the
corners insect asleep from bio clip comm
is amazing and if possible use a lid to
keep elements and possible pets as well
as curious kids and other animals
outside of your end setup always
remember to keep your ants warm and
don't do well in an air-conditioned room
be sure to always spot clean when you
can scoop up dead ants from their
graveyard in the outworlds and do your
best not to introduce decorations from
outside or wild caught insects as these
may bring dangerous disease fungi
viruses or pesticides to your ant colony
feed them well and provide them ample
fresh water in test tubes in their out
world with proper ant management a
perfectly tailored home
and an understanding of your ant
colonies requirements and preferences
your egg colony will grow with lots of
that love into your dream and miniature
or not so miniature and city this is
Anne's Canada signing out sup guys in
case you guys haven't heard yet we're
having this huge contest at ncaa.com
and we're giving away two free omni
nests as well as eight free and keeping
hand books so be sure to join this
contest it's to celebrate 5,000
subscribers here on the ant camera and
Channel and it's our way of thanking you
guys so to join the contest watch this
video here or be sure to click on the
link provided in the info section of
this video good luck to all and the
contest ends at the end of this month
take care bye
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