Shriveledradish

bug blog full of silly critters

[shriveledradish]

Disappeared off the face of the earth for a little bit. Not back for good yet but I wanted to introduce my new queen ant.

I found her today in a wood pile while looking for black widows.

I have a bigger test tubs coming in tomorrow btw

I am unsure of the species, I am thinking Camponotus pennsylvanicus or Formica subsericea.

I'm leaning more towards C. pennsylvanicus because those are carpenter ants and I found her in a wood pile but I'm not sure honestly.

She has reddish legs and yellow hairs on her abdomen.

[shriveledradish]

Got her some new things and she decided to explore

Also does anybody know any good uvb lights I can use for my frog? Preferably one that isn't super expensive but I want to make her enclosure as good as possible.

I am going to make her enclosure bioactive and full of live plants so I am also looking for grow lights if anyone has any suggestions

[shriveledradish]

She decided to become arboreal

[shriveledradish]

Update on Zoruas babies (the most exciting update!!!)

They are growing:)

The babies started leaving their mom and it is very exciting.

Not all of them have left their mom but a large amount have (about 76!)

So far I have separated them into small condiment containers with 4 spiders each

Once they start molting I am going to separate them into individual containers.

The spiders that I removed yesterday have already received their first meal and the spiders that were born today will have their first meal tomorrow. (And the ones that hatched yesterday will get their second meal.) I am waiting until tomorrow so that they are all on the same feeding schedule.

For their food I am feeding them pieces of pre-killed mealworms. When spiders are older it is better to feed them live food but while they are little it is fine to feed them pre-killer prey (and in some cases can be safer because the prey can't kill the spider)

[shriveledradish]

Grilled Cheese time

I moved her from her bin cage into a proper tank

My next plan is to make it bioactive and get a proper lid for it lol

I've seen mixed opinions on if tomato frogs need uvb but I am going to get it for her soon. Better safe than sorry.

She dug herself a hole and sat in it and has barely moved since then except to eat some mealworms.

(Real life video of GrilledCheese doing nothing)

[shriveledradish]

I thought Petricors eggsack wasn't fertilized but I was wrong

I'll probably release most of the babies once they leave mom's back since they are native here

[shriveledradish]

Guess who was born today:D

They were born while I was traveling home so a few babies fell off of her and I just sat them beside her

Wish them all a happy birthday:D

[shriveledradish]

Even more have been born!:D

[shriveledradish]

Guess who was born today:D

They were born while I was traveling home so a few babies fell off of her and I just sat them beside her

Wish them all a happy birthday:D

[3liza]

i think when people who are phobic about bugs follow bug blogs on purpose to desensitize themselves that is one of the coolest and bravest things a person can do and they deserve recognition and praise

[shriveledradish]

New queen already laid an egg

Gonna ignore my ants for a while now

[shriveledradish]

Queen ant updates:

The one with wings did end up dying but the other two are doing well and laying eggs

I caught another queen to go in my empty test tube

Here are the ladies with eggs

I keep my ants in a box where it is dark

[shriveledradish]

I have 3 queen ants that I found. I just put them in their test tubes to start the colony, the photos of them in containers are from yesterday when I caught them but did not have tubes on me

This is the first one

I think she is a Camponotus castaneus. I am not super knowledgeable on ant species in the area.

This is the second queen. I believe she is Formica subsericea.

This ant I am not certain is a queen. I don't know if it is a male ant or a queen who still has wings, there is also not a certain chance she has mated yet. It is a waiting game to see if she goes onto lead a colony. Also have no clue of the species

With the first two ants it may be hard to see on camera but if I saw correctly you can see the scars from where they tore their wings off.

Currently I am keeping them in rain tubes from tractor supply because they are basically test tubes where you can see how big the ants are and they come with something that holds them in place and will prevent them from rolling around. I have about a third of the tube filled with water and then put a cotton ball so that they stay hydrated but can't drown. I also have the entrance blocked with a cotton ball. This is what I saw to do on the few videos and articles.

I probably won't update on them super often for now because you are supposed to leave them alone for a few weeks after you find them and set them up in the tube.

I am open to any advice as well. I want to increase my chances of starting a colony.

[shriveledradish]

I caught 3 queen ants I'm excited to share tomorrow:)

[shriveledradish]

Raisin molted

Hard to tell in these low quality images but the black blob is Raisin and the other blob is their molt.

[shriveledradish]

I opened the container to make sure Zorua was still chilling and all her dirt was on one side of the container

I had to move the dirt down because it's a hazard that she could bolt out or her babies can when they are born and she peeped her little head out from under the leaf and I thought she would be annoyed but she just didn't care that much

I wonder when the babies will hatch and be on her back

[shriveledradish]

All the bugs arrived safely and are in their temporary containers

A lot smaller than I would like but I might swing by the dollar store and grab slightly bigger ones.

I will try to type out some posts when I have free time but I will be busy over the next few weeks

[shriveledradish]

Unfortunately the grasshopper I found wedged in a car died last night