In this Ant Room, which we call the Antiverse,
we've watched the evolution and growth of many ant colonies whom we've come to love. We've seen new ant colonies be born, even
ant colonies showing up uninvited, and have said good bye to ant colonies whose journeys
sadly came to an end. But with these epic and ever changing ant
life stories, we've also come to befriend the many creatures, great and small, who have
become part of the lives of our ants. Many of such beasts are actual residents of
the ant kingdoms. So today's story takes us to a special place
in our Antiverse, a great kingdom known as the Hacienda Del Dorado, belonging to our
yellow crazy ants called the Golden Empire, where a majestic aquatic Empress lays silently
below the waters of the ants' spring pool. For all the time we've known her, she's lived
here in solitude, feasting on dead ants and garbage dumped into these waters, running
this entire aquatic palace by herself. But today, AC Family, she will be forced to
meet an unexpected guest who will surely cause a stir! And so begins today's story! Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the
bell icon. Welcome to the AC Family! Enjoy! AC Family, a great introduction is brewing
in this episode that is sure to shock you. Today we're going to setup an incredible meeting
of beasts, but man, I totally did not expect what ended up happening and it will surely
also shock you! But before we get to this grand event encounter,
let's catch up on how the residents of the Hacienda Del Dorado have been doing. This week, a surprising batch of mushrooms
have begun to spring up in the territories, like soft, pillowey umbrellas next to the
Golden Empire's feeding dish. And oh, as you can see, the Springtails whom
you guys have called "The Springcleaners" are still very active at picking up the scraps
of the Golden Empire's feeding areas. As for the Golden Empire, as usual, they're
ever healthy and strong, but funny enough, it seems the colony has reached a sort of
population equilibrium. Their numbers don't seem uncontrollably explosive,
like before. Perhaps our Spring Pool installation has been
effective! If you're new here, we installed this beautiful
spring pool into the Hacienda Del Dorado for the purpose of providing a source of water
to the colony, and more importantly, to act as a natural agent of population control,
i.e. we needed the waters to naturally cull the population down via ant drowning, but
to deal with all the ant bodies lethally swept up by the cascading waterfall or trapped in
the pool, we also needed to recruit a water beast, to take care of all these dead ants,
because without some kind of creature to feed on the ant carcasses, the water would have
fouled up very fast, and foul water, means a poisoned water supply for the ant colony. So we moved in a gorgeous, blue crayfish,
which by the way, as you might have seen in our previous video, I was told was an Electric
Blue Crayfish species, called Procambarus alleni from Florida, but I was surprised to
find out, thanks to one of you guys, that she is actually a tropical blue crayfish from
Australia known as Cherax quadricarinatus. Minor ID change, and thank you for the proper
identification. Whatever the case, AC Family, I am pleased
to share that this graceful Blue Empress has been a total delight to keep over the past
couple of months, completely peaceful, picking off any and all ant carcasses within the waters,
cleaning up debris and ant garbage, and doing her job at keeping the waters clean. In fact, she's been doing an unbelievable
job at keeping these waters clean! Check it out! Those waters have never been more crystal
clear, no debris floating on the surface, no ants trapped in the filter mesh, no rotting
material in sight. And now, AC Family, another thing you may
be surprised to know is that our young Blue Empress has changed. Yes, she's grown bigger now, and also, wears
new armour of a different colour! She's probably having a snooze in her shadowy
cave, so we can't see her right now. But let's add a few fish pellets to the pool,
to coax her out into the light. With her OC levels in cleanliness, she's sure
to come out to say hello. And voila! Behold our Blue Empress. Check her out! Isn't she beautiful? She's no longer just blue now, but has now
taken on a gorgeous mix of blue and peach. I'm not sure if this colour change is a result
of eating so many of our golden orange yellow crazy ants, or if this is just a result of
her maturity process, but I love how she looks now. So, AC Family, now that we're here, let's
finally give her an official name. Please take a moment to vote here, on your
favourite of these name suggestions from you the AC Family. Thank you, AC Council for your input. I have come to discover over time, that our
blue peach Kraken here, doesn't just eat ants! She is actually a big fan of veggies and plant
trimmings. I love giving it to her myself. Watch as I offer her this leaf. As soon as she accepts my gift, I respect
her desire for space and I'm quickly out of there to allow her to eat in peace. At this point her and I have a mutual understanding
of respect and she now waits for me every time she senses me close by. She's my girl! So in the last video featuring this crayfish,
many of you felt concerned that perhaps she was alone and that she should at least have
a partner to live with in these waters. Now, up until then, it never occurred to me
that she might feel lonely. These crayfish, in the wild, are solitary
and greatly territorial. They do not live in colonies like our ants
do, nor in collective schools like our fish. It is said that they establish a territory
and defend their space at all costs. But then I figured, these alleged loners must
come together to mate at some point right? There must be a point when the drive to breed
takes over and male and female crayfish come together to allow for the passing on of genes
and continuation of their species. So, AC Family, I felt today was the day, I
would try my luck, and find a suitor for our beautiful Empress. Can you imagine if she ended up finding a
mate and breeding? I don't even know how crustaceans mate. I felt it was the perfect opportunity to witness
some critical biology so I was set to make this grand introduction happen. I waited for the perfect night. Last night, as I watched the Hacienda Del
Dorado, I marveled at the most beautiful sunset which framed the kingdom as if it were a painting. I felt this was Mother Nature's way of signifying
that tonight was the night! AC Family, this was it! When darkness befell the Antiverse, and the
black of night cloaked all ant kingdoms, I setup some moon lighting to hopefully get
our Empress in the mood for some loving. The trickling sounds of the waterfall and
the nocturnal ambiance of insects provided a romantic chorus setting up the stage for
this grand meeting of royals. And speaking of which, let's meet our dashing
suitor now. Behold! Here sits our glistening male prince, in shining
platinum armour. With an exoskeleton white like ivory, and
long thin claws, this crayfish will hopefully have the chops to impress our blue Empress. His black beady eyes and long fuzzy antennae
would be sharp at sensing and locating where our empress may be hiding within the recesses
of her cave. This male crayfish has been residing in his
own tank for the past few weeks, but I was hoping he was in the mood to mate. Based on my research, these crayfish have
a breeding season, which begins as soon as the waters start to warm up. Here in Manila, where I currently live, it
is officially our summer time, which means all territories in the Ant Room and resident
waters within are naturally heating up. So my hopes is that both this male and our
female crayfish are in mating season mode. This male, by the way, came to me with both
claws somehow broken off! The poor guy, but thankfully, after two sheds,
his claws were fully replaced. Regeneration in these crayfish is truly amazing! But, I was hoping there would be no such injury
resulting from tonight's introduction. I was so nervous, and was prepared to have
to separate them at any time, if things didn't go as planned. Again, I had no idea how crustacean breeding
worked so I was going to really have to improvise all this a long the way. Please God, let there be no pinching off of
limbs. So AC Family, all was set, here goes nothing! It's time to release our platinum prince into
the aquatic palace of our beloved empress. I took the male, and gently dropped him in. He instantly backs up into our Empress's cave. No! Don't do that! I held my breath! Bang! He shot out of there like a bullet! She must have given him quite the shock welcome. Clearly startled he regathers his composure
and sort of sits there in a daze. I felt as though at this point he was realizing
that he had come in contact with someone beautiful inside that cave. If crayfish release pheromones into the water,
I was positive our Prince here was reacting to our Empress' love potion. In a trance, he once again but this time more
cautiously, approaches the back cave, but suddenly out of the shadows rears the powerful
claws of our Empress. They lock and begin to spar! In a sudden cloud explosion, our Platinum
Prince retreats. This was not a friendly greeting from our
Empress. The rough play had now stirred up a blinding
cloud of debris. My heart was racing! But I didn't want to assume just yet that
this was a claw snap away from a bloody meeting. Could this be part of the crayfish courtship
ritual? I wasn't sure but my heart beat loudly in
my chest as I filmed the rest of this great meeting of royals. All I could see of our Empress was her antennae
waving from within the darkness of the pool. Our platinum prince decided to retreat to
a quiet corner of the pool in order to recollect, but bang! Out of nowhere, the Empress came shooting
out from a hidden opening from her cave! Our empress knew every inch of these waters
inside and out! If our Platinum Prince was going to successfully
find a moment to win her heart, he would need to do it tactfully. I looked back at where the Empress had surprised
ambushed the male and she had disappeared. I caught her patrolling around in the shadows,
seemingly looking for her unscheduled guest. It was crazy to see her like this! Could this be her weird crayfish way of showing
she's interested? The prince sat there not moving. The ants could definitely feel from the surface
disturbance that something intense was happening below the water! It was an underwater battle of beasts! For awhile, I watched as the Platinum Prince
remained in stealth mode, away from our Empress who was clearly looking for him. This to me seemed like a good tactic. If this male was going to survive the wrath
and power of our Empress, the best thing for him to do was to wait until she calms... Woah! Out of nowhere, the Empress came lunging out
of the shadows, but strangely instead of turning to him, she took a turn in the opposite direction,
only to disappear into her cave again! OK was this her way of displaying interest
now? If so, I'm decided that crustacean love games
are indeed quite confusing. It now looked like the Platinum Prince, a
bit more composed, was ready once again to make his advance and approach our Empress. He seemed to be looking for where she disappeared
to. But I watched as she stared at him like a
growling she-wolf from her den. She suddenly shifted into the shadows to meet
him. The Platinum Prince now confused as to her
whereabouts shifted around a bit. Where did she go now? Woah! Out of the shadows, she shot out at him claws
first, and in a total panic, the Prince was determined to call it quits! He climbed the glass wall. Completely shocked I watched as he crawled
out of the waters and plunged deep down into the pits of the Golden Empire! No! My heart dropped! The Golden Empire would surely kill him. He was going to die! I shot up and grabbed my giant tweezers in
a scramble to save him. My heart was in my throat as I clamored about
in desperation to fish him out from the dark caverns of the Golden Empire. The angle was so tight! It was hard to see him or even reach him. The ants now fully aware of this giant in
their nest had sounded the alarm and were all over him! The situation had gone from bad to dire in
a split second... and then... He was saved. By a miracle, I managed to grab the Platinum
Prince by his claw and drop him into aquatic safety. Oh man! Thank God! He was a little dirty now, but no worries! At least he was alive. Had he been left there for a few minutes longer
he would have been completely devoured the ants. Utterly numb from panic, I could not believe
what we had just witnessed. I resolved to place our Platinum Prince back
into his own aquarium. It was sad, but it seems the Empress of the
Hacienda Del Dorado's Spring Pool was not interested in sharing her home nor her heart. Lights off. By morning, I gave the Empress a leaf to apologize
for the traumatic evening we had subjected her to the night before. As for the male, it seems, he'll just have
to remain a recluse for now in his own kingdom. I realized that loneliness, is perhaps a very
human emotion, or least an experience felt by animals that are naturally social, who
by nature are drawn to their own kind and live in groups. There's no doubt in my mind that if I were
to separate one of the ants of the Golden Empire into its own container, it would be
the loneliest ant ever, because biologically it is so wired to live with its own kind. But as for our sharp-clawed Empress here,
I felt, she was perfectly happy being alone, being the sole ruler of her aquatic palace. She had all she needed to be fulfilled and
perform her service within these waters. If any of you out there are experts or experienced
at crayfish breeding, do feel free to leave your thoughts. Well, I learned today, that sometimes it takes
a lot more than a romantic ambiance and an attractive appearance to win the heart of
an Empress. Perhaps, another day. For now our Empress was to remain a happy
recluse. Now AC Family, speaking of being reclusive
and going away, I am sad to announce that I will not be here to narrate next week's
episode, as I will be partaking in a big event called Youtube FanFest. But wait, have no fear, AC Family, because
for our Mother's Day special of the AntsCanada ant channel, I have arranged for a very special
guest to come in and for the first time ever be your storyteller of next week's epic ant
story. I'm certain you will love whom I've arranged
to come in. Alright AC Family! Can you guess which very famous individual
I'm having to guest narrate next week's ant video? Well, you won't want to miss this first time
event, so be sure to hit that SUBSCRIBE button and bell icon so you don't miss out on our
grand Mother's Day Ant episode, and hit the LIKE button every single time, including now! And about this Youtube FanFest event, do feel
free to tune in to the live stream whose link I will place here to catch yours truly performing
on stage. It would be awesome to see you AC Family representing
in the comments! AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie
for you here, if you would like some clues as to whom this mystery guest is narrating
next week's ant video. Let's see who can figure it out! Before we continue to AC Question of the week,
I wanted to plug my daily vlogging channel! That's daily vlogs of my travels around the
world, which often includes lots of nature stuff! Alright and now it's time for the AC Question
of the Week! Last week, we asked: What is the term used to describe
a preference for dark or night? Congratulations to Megasaurus who correctly
answered: Nyctophilia Congratulations, Megasaurus, you just won
a free e-book handbook from our shop! In this week's AC Question of the Week, we
ask: What is our crayfish's duty
in the Spring Pool of our Golden Empire? Leave your answer in the comments section
and you could also win a free e-book handbook from our shop! Hope you can subscribe to the channel as we
upload every Saturday at 8AM EST. Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, & SUBSCRIBE
if you enjoyed this video to help us keep making more. It's ant love forever!
I really have a bone to pick with AntsCanada over this one.
When he first got a crayfish and made a video about it, he misidentified it as a Florida native crayfish when it was actually Cherax quadricarinatus, the Australian red claw (also featured in this video). Despite being warned by myself in the comments for his video, he deleted my comment without a response.
Now comes this video, where he's now attempted to mix a Procambarus clarkii with his Cherax quadricarinatus and expects them to breed. He better hope that P. clarkii wasn't carrying crayfish plague, or he's likely already exposed the red claw to it and given it a death sentence.
I posted a comment on this video this morning, explaining again how he's misidentified the crayfish in question, which received almost 300 votes up from other youtube users, but was ultimately ignored and then deleted, along with other comments from crayfish owners who also correctly identified the species and called out the poor choice of tank mates.
I'm not completely sure what AntsCanada hopes to accomplish by ignoring these comments, but at this rate it won't be long before the next video where he announces one or both of these crayfish have died, I'm sure. I find it shocking that someone who creates content about antkeeping and the dangers of invasive ant populations, can fail so spectacularly in this regard that he can't do some basic research to ensure he's not keeping incompatible animals together.
Edit: After giving it some thought, I've flagged this video for animal abuse. I doubt youtube staff will bother doing anything with it, but I can't sit idly by while a channel with 1.6 million subscribers creates content like this that people may seek to emulate.
For how careful he is with his ants I was hoping he would be smarter with his aquatic pets. This was just outright stupid. Hope he learns from this.
My family loves his videos but when I saw this one I was yelling at the screen!
Tiny tank, two different species... oh my.