Hi all!
Devi here pitching a new idea I had. I was thinking of developing more formicaria, just brainstorming about ideas, and I had an idea that could possibly be pretty cool, or not well received. I So, here is what I am thinking. Something very, very customizable, with different options for what different species need, and for what different people desire. I am thinking of a high quality clear acrylic or plasting container that is cylindrical. This container would have an air-tight lid so no ants could breach the lid. That being said, there would also be a ventilation duct, with mesh for quality air-flow for your ants. This would be a formicarium that has both the nest aspect, as well as an outworld, a 2 in 1, which helps keep price low, while still having quality compact formicariums. There would be two holes drilled in the side of the formicarium, with the options of having something similar to a nestmate, so there could be a quality water source for your ants, or a spot to put vinyl tubing in to connect these with other formicariums of the same type. I think two of these connected could look quite cool! Now here is where this formicarium is special, and this is what sets them apart from others. This part will be entirely customizable. This would be a sandy formicarium, with sand as the only substrate. I would have multiple options, most being fine-grain. I would have red/orange sand as one option, beach/ocean sand, (so like whitish sand) and then a coarser sand, with bigger grains, and this one being multi-colored, and very natural. I would also have different options for outworld decor, such as mountain, beach, forest, desert, stuff like that. For example, mountain might be a few darker rocks, a small branch or stick, and possible a branch similar to a evergreen or pine tree. This might go well with the coarse sand for instance, or maybe the beach sand.
PROS:
-Simulates a natural habitat. Queens can dig founding chambers, and colonies can decide where they want to make tunnels.
-The look is very clean. It would look very good on an ant shelf, and would look quite clean.
-Very customizable. Whatever look you want to create, it is my goal to make those options be availible, and also easy to navigate.
-Modular. This formicarium line would be easy to connect to other outworlds, nests, and formicariums from this same line.
CONS:
-Hard to see your ants. Except ants that are on the surface foraging, you would rarely see your ants nest. Unless they nested on the side I suppose.
-Hard to maintain humidity. With this setup, you would most likely have to mist it, and use something similar to nestmates.
What are all of your thoughts? Any suggestions, changes, etc? I would love to hear feedback. Thanks so much guys!
-Devi, with MMM
