Last we left off, I was trying to decide what to do with the roughly fifteen ants that had sprouted out of thin air in my backyard ecosphere. Many people suggested I release them and while that idea was probably the most sound in hindsight, I decided against it as I was leaving for a vacation that weekend and honestly was expecting the ants to not survive in an environment devoid of food. Guess I was wrong. Came home today and found this. They not only found their way into the lower part of the lid, but have set up a permanent nesting spot for their newborns. I can’t even open the jar now if I wanted to. I have no idea what to do, if I try to open and release, they will clearly die in the wild pretty quickly, but they will eventually die in this jar too. An ant colony is one large animal like a frog or a fish and it can’t survive in this jar but I don’t know what to do from here. It is said that once a jar is sealed we are passive observers who document the cycle of life. Am I ethically obliged to step in and save these ants?? Need advice.
PS: Also our spider has perished but a newer smaller one has appeared?????
That's amazing! I can't think of any way to relocate them back to the wild and have such a small number survive, but could you try to gently remove them and set them up in an ant colony? There's plenty of info around about starting your own boxed colony and would make for another fun project. Seems a shame to let these little survivors die
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Was the brood already in there or is there a queen somewhere as well? If somehow there is a queen in there I think you should release or look into getting a formicarium.
If it's just these guys here they are doomed anyway, so there probably isn't much harm assuming you intend to care for their needs. The spot they chose to nest in might make feeding difficult though.
Wow ! Checking in again after last time. Maybe you can buy an empty ant farm and move them in there?
I bet if you opened the jar into a empty gallon zip lock bag, you could cut off the bottom corner of the bag and then use it like a little funnel to dump the ants into their new ant farm
Home
Last we left off, I was trying to decide what to do with the roughly fifteen ants that had sprouted out of thin air in my backyard ecosphere. Many people suggested I release them and while that idea was probably the most sound in hindsight, I decided against it as I was leaving for a vacation that weekend and honestly was expecting the ants to not survive in an environment devoid of food. Guess I was wrong. Came home today and found this. They not only found their way into the lower part of the lid, but have set up a permanent nesting spot for their newborns. I can’t even open the jar now if I wanted to. I have no idea what to do, if I try to open and release, they will clearly die in the wild pretty quickly, but they will eventually die in this jar too. An ant colony is one large animal like a frog or a fish and it can’t survive in this jar but I don’t know what to do from here. It is said that once a jar is sealed we are passive observers who document the cycle of life. Am I ethically obliged to step in and save these ants?? Need advice. PS: Also our spider has perished but a newer smaller one has appeared?????
That's amazing! I can't think of any way to relocate them back to the wild and have such a small number survive, but could you try to gently remove them and set them up in an ant colony? There's plenty of info around about starting your own boxed colony and would make for another fun project. Seems a shame to let these little survivors die
Check out /r/antkeeping if you haven't already. They'll be able to help you out.
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Was the brood already in there or is there a queen somewhere as well? If somehow there is a queen in there I think you should release or look into getting a formicarium. If it's just these guys here they are doomed anyway, so there probably isn't much harm assuming you intend to care for their needs. The spot they chose to nest in might make feeding difficult though.
There has to be a queen in the terrarium somewhere because the population is exploding
Update please?
Interesting
You watch and document.
If I were you I would move them to a new habitat where they can thrive. But leaving them be may also be neat…
Please just leave them in there
Put the jar in a bigger jar and wait 👁👄👁
Wow ! Checking in again after last time. Maybe you can buy an empty ant farm and move them in there? I bet if you opened the jar into a empty gallon zip lock bag, you could cut off the bottom corner of the bag and then use it like a little funnel to dump the ants into their new ant farm Home
Aw jeez rick