3 replies to this topic

[BugFinder]

I have a friend who has a very large colony of ants that produce in his opinion, way too many offspring.

 

That has gotten me thinking...  Many of us who love keeping ants also love keeping other kinds of animals.  I've been thinking about how awesome or terrible it may be to keep a large ant colonly that produces a lot in a  large habitat with a bearded dragon or other reptile that enjoyes the same habitat conditions and will eat many, but not most, of the workers.

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Has anyone tried this or thought about trying it?

 

I love the idea of creating permaculture systems that need little or no maintenance.  This idea isn't there, as i would have to provide the ants food and water, and I would have to remove their trash pile regularly, and the reptile would need other types of food as well, but it was my thinking about permaculture systems that led me to think about the feasability of this kind of "roommate" habitat.  Eventually I may figure out how to keep ants in a semi or even fully permacutlure habitat.

 

I'd love to discuss this with anyone else who may be interested in it.  I'd love to hear your ideas.  

[Martialis]

It's definitely interesting.

 

One thing might be to devise a way to provide adequate space for the ants' prey items, as well as for decomposers like springtails (Though that one sorts itself out fairly well). 

 

One of the problems is that it would require so much space—you'd almost need to fill half a room in order to contain everything the creatures would need to survive in a permaculture setup. 

 

I think using smaller vertabrates (i.e., dart frogs/some geckos) instead of a bearded dragon might be a way to cut down on the resources needed. Ants are apex predators of the insect world in their own right, however, so they might need a bit more.

 

A semi-permaculture setup seems like the most possible in my opinion. 

[Ferox_Formicae]

I've thought about doing this with Texas Horned Lizards and Pogonomyrmex badius, as both species can be found in Charleston, where I will be headed within the next few weeks to do a bit of anting. It's certainly an interesting concept though, as I've certainly put some thought into introducing colonies into my Giant Day Gecko vivarium.

[BugFinder]

Martialis:  Good points, Its real interesting for me to think about.  I've been wondering about possibly creating a very large habitat someday that could serve a bunch of different roles, serving as a lounge area/seating area, mudroom, and an atrium that might have a few birds, a turtle, a koi pond, a variety of ants that don't sting, a small veggie garden in a raised bed.  I enjoy composting, raising composting worms, raising meal worms, and black soldier flies, and I have been wondering if I could integrate all of those elements into a room that I could use for entertaining guests, use it as a mudroom, and also play with/experiment with some of these ideas I have for a permaculture habitat.  I was thinking that doing a small amount of compositing in the raised bed would provide the ants plenty of resources if I weres shooting for a semi-permacutlure set up.

 

 

Does that sound stupid?

I've thought about doing this with Texas Horned Lizards and Pogonomyrmex badius, as both species can be found in Charleston, where I will be headed within the next few weeks to do a bit of anting. It's certainly an interesting concept though, as I've certainly put some thought into introducing colonies into my Giant Day Gecko vivarium.

 

What a great idea!!  I love horned lizards!!

Edited by BugFinder, March 10 2020 - 11:43 AM.