920 replies to this topic

[ANTdrew]

I guess, but then you won’t see the ants in the nest.

[eea]

After I seal all the gaps, would this works as a lid and an out world?

 

The container could get scratched up or stained over time from sand in the nest or food stains, overall this is good looking design.

[Voidley]

Here is a wooden nest that I made from a sawed-in-half piece of wood, into which I then dremeled out chambers. It is currently housing a small colony of Camponotus chromaiodes. Although the nest is a bit large for them, they already seem much happier in a wooden nest compared to a test tube, and hopefully they will grow into it. Attached I have a DIY outworld connected via some vinyl tubing. It's super cool seeing how there is one worker that almost always guards the entrance connected by tubing. The outworld itself I made out of stepped display box. I flipped the lid upside-down and added a hole covered with wire mesh. The main rock formation inside is inspired by some THA outworlds. I created it by breaking up a failed plaster nest into chunks, hot gluing them into a desired shape, and then covering all the seams with thick Perfect Cast applied with my finger. I'm not sure if I'll use this method in the future since it took quite a bit of time, but I'm pretty happy with how this one came out.

 

 

 

[Artimusclydeperez]

This is my pseudomyrmex Apache set up they really like it balsa wood is incredibly easy to work with and they continue to expand their tunnels them selves you can see the growth from one picture to the next

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[Artimusclydeperez]

Here is a wooden nest that I made from a sawed-in-half piece of wood, into which I then dremeled out chambers. It is currently housing a small colony of Camponotus chromaiodes. Although the nest is a bit large for them, they already seem much happier in a wooden nest compared to a test tube, and hopefully they will grow into it. Attached I have a DIY outworld connected via some vinyl tubing. It's super cool seeing how there is one worker that almost always guards the entrance connected by tubing. The outworld itself I made out of stepped display box. I flipped the lid upside-down and added a hole covered with wire mesh. The main rock formation inside is inspired by some THA outworlds. I created it by breaking up a failed plaster nest into chunks, hot gluing them into a desired shape, and then covering all the seams with thick Perfect Cast applied with my finger. I'm not sure if I'll use this method in the future since it took quite a bit of time, but I'm pretty happy with how this one came out.

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I would be worried about the line of dry rot that’s right in the center they can dig that out I would assume maybe resin on the top and bottom to stop an eventual escape ?

[Ants_Dakota]

This is my pseudomyrmex Apache set up they really like it balsa wood is incredibly easy to work with and they continue to expand their tunnels them selves you can see the growth from one picture to the next

That looks insanely good, and wow that colony is being productive right now!

[Artimusclydeperez]

This is my pseudomyrmex Apache set up they really like it balsa wood is incredibly easy to work with and they continue to expand their tunnels them selves you can see the growth from one picture to the next

That looks insanely good, and wow that colony is being productive right now!

Thank you I appreciate that! And yes they devour honey and I was feeding them termites but then I realized they will hollow out a pre killed Dubai in an hour ‍♂

[AntsGodzilla]

This is my pseudomyrmex Apache set up they really like it balsa wood is incredibly easy to work with and they continue to expand their tunnels them selves you can see the growth from one picture to the next

You should start a journal! I love pseudomyrmex sp!

[Artimusclydeperez]

This is my pseudomyrmex Apache set up they really like it balsa wood is incredibly easy to work with and they continue to expand their tunnels them selves you can see the growth from one picture to the next

You should start a journal! I love pseudomyrmex sp!

maybe I will
I just cought a pretty large leptogeny elongata colony I want to figure out a nice way to exhibit them they are nomadic and specialize in isopods it’s pretty cool they open up the belly then put the larva inside and they eat it like giant bowl of food lol

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

Here is a new formicarium that I made out of a plastic cover and 3D printed parts that I hot glued together. I designed it for my new Crematogaster colony and the plan for the formicarium was that it would be space economic and escape proof while being easy to maintenance. The hydration system is basically a liquid feeder with a rope attached to it that is lodged into the side of the nest. The point of It was not to have too much humidity and allow the ants do their thing, were they would drink water and apply it on the larva, like how they do it in the wild. The nest itself is 13.5 by 13.5 by 2.8 centimeters and was inspired half by a formicarium I saw on Ant Drew's Crematogaster journal and half on a formicarium that I saw on Formistudio.

 

Here are the photos:

Just a view on how It looks

 

The top view of the nest

 

If you have any suggestions please tell me!

[ANTdrew]

I can’t tell which parts are hot glued together, but be advised that Crematogaster will chew through hot glue in no time!

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

I can’t tell which parts are hot glued together, but be advised that Crematogaster will chew through hot glue in no time!

I actually read about that in your journal and I decided that the hot glue will be applied on the outside instead of inside so they cannot chew through it, and that I why it I harder to see it 

[ANTdrew]

You’re probably good to go then. Keep an eye on it, though.

[Artimusclydeperez]

Check it out I made my first glass out world yesterday definitely need to work on my silicone skills lmao but other then that it’s exactly what I was picturing
U can see the nest on the side it’s my Pseudomyrmex Apache colony! They are around 50-60 strong now and around twice that in brood 🤞 how’s it look?

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[OwlThatLikesAnts]

Check it out I made my first glass out world yesterday definitely need to work on my silicone skills lmao but other then that it’s exactly what I was picturing
U can see the nest on the side it’s my Pseudomyrmex Apache colony! They are around 50-60 strong now and around twice that in brood how’s it look?

It looks great!, how big are the sticks (In terms of width) because maybe they can nest in them, also just a suggestion, maybe you can add a feeding platform in the sticks to facilitate feeding? (when I mean that, I mean add a bigger one because I do not think that small one is enough when they grow bigger)

Edited by OwlThatLikesAnts, November 24 2024 - 5:29 PM.

[Artimusclydeperez]

The sticks are thin less then half inch most are 1/4” but this is the out world there is a tub that connects to the nest on the left of the picture also I added 2x balsa wood 1/2” squares so I can set a dish with honey and a dish with protein like killed roachs I also breed spring tails. So they get that once a week it’s fun to watch them hunt them down

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

The sticks are thin less then half inch most are 1/4” but this is the out world there is a tub that connects to the nest on the left of the picture also I added 2x balsa wood 1/2” squares so I can set a dish with honey and a dish with protein like killed roachs I also breed spring tails. So they get that once a week it’s fun to watch them hunt them down

Ahhhhhh, now I got it, thanks for the clarification

[AntsGodzilla]

I recently bought these, do you guys have ideas for what I could make with them?

Edited by AntsGodzilla, December 3 2024 - 1:35 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I recently bought these, do you guys have ideas for what I could make with them?

I  know a user here called kiedeerk who actually made a formicarium out of petri dish shown below. This could work with your smaller ants.

Also another user Miles Maxer made a vid of his dish formicarium shown here:

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[ANTdrew]

Those designs won’t work with a glass petri dish like his, though.