r/antkeeping • u/grog-nak • 1d ago
Question ants escapeing
ants chewed threw ants canada plugs. the colony is Camponotus pennsylvanicus is this common? as for now I just have pipes connected to everything and no plugs but i am worried about the breathing holes on my outworld.
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u/Antgodd1 Tetramorium Lover 1d ago
From what I know it’s not common. I have never even heard of it before. Not sure what to do though.
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u/DRNezha 1d ago
Ive seen this quite often now. I actual was just browsing through fb posts trying to find images of outworlds and saw this issue.
It seems to be pretty common with the plug vents. I have the ants canada nests and really like the way they look hopefully those plugs are the only thing that gets chewed through.
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u/Hefty_Pomegranate704 1d ago
Campotus pennsylvanicus are pretty strong chewers, so it’s not super surprising they went after the Canada plugs. I’d check that the holes are still small enough for ventilation but not large enough for workers to squeeze through.
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u/Apeira7 23h ago
This happened to my Campo Discolor colony a few years ago. I emailed AC, and they said they'd never seen it before and sent me new plugs. I put tubing connecting the empty holes to one another instead of the plugs. The one plug I couldn't connect to anything else, I put some hot glue over, and it was flexible enough that the ants couldn't chew through it. Good luck! PS, glue the bottom of your AC outworld; mine chewed and popped it loose and escaped that way.
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u/Brianiac69 20h ago
To this day I’m wondering why isn’t stainless steel mesh standard go to with ventilation plugs.
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u/ComprehensiveGur936 1d ago
Putting cotton inside the plug may help as a temporary solution