11 replies to this topic

[skocko76]

Is it just me, or any commercial solution offers huge nesting areas and comparably tiny outworlds.

Maybe I'm weird, but seems to me that if you have a small colony, they will dump trash in the excess space of the nest - places you cannot reach to clean.

On the other hand, if your colony fills the nest, the outworld is so tiny for that colony size that you won't be able to clean either, as it will be overcrowded.

Okay, that's where the expansion ports come into play.

So I look for outworlds, and the "extra large" varieties reach 25x15x10 cm (10x6x4 inches) ...   ?

One could argue that outworlds are just plastic boxes and that manufacturers cannot make much profit on them... nope... these plastic boxes are expensive as heck. Another argument might be that ant keepers would just use whatever they can as a large outworld... Still, I'm puzzled as to the nonexistence of professional, high-class outworlds...possibly decorated as well.

 

This is what I'm talking about:

 

 

Dumpster fire...

At least the last one is modular and one could mount multiple outworlds (I like that). However, for commercial reasons, the manufacturer chose to entice potential buyers with a combination of 5(!) nests and 1 outworld...

[Barristan]

The question is: Do ants need a lot of space in the outworld if you provide them with enough food etc.? Of course if the arena is covered with ants you should expand the outworld.

 

On the other hand some ants show strange behavior if there isn't enough space or distance to the nest. For example they carry around dead ants almost forever, because they try to get far enough away from the nest. That's why I like tubes and pipes, so you can simulate long distances and you also don't need a lot of space at a single place. Seeing ants walk through tubes is also quite interesting.

 

In my garden I have a Camponotus vagus colony and I find them up to around 100m away from the nest. Quite impossible to have an outworld as large as a small garden.

 

In labs the situation is often even worse, see for example: http://www.sbs.utexa... Drip Line.html.

 

Interesting topic and probably with a lot of different opinions

 

PS: Try to find plastic aquariums, a German brand sells these ones. Except of the smallest one the walls are almost 90°. I also have several of these (I planned selling them) but shipment to Croatia would be too expensive I guess . Transparent polystyrene is also a lot cheaper than acrylic glass.

Edited by Barristan, December 11 2020 - 3:11 AM.

[ANTdrew]

I started a thread on this a while back as well. I really wish more large outworlds were available commercially. Too small of an outworld makes cleaning and escape prevention almost impossible. Having hundreds of ants up in the outworld can generate enough humidity to render fluon ineffective. Some ants, like Crematogaster, are hardwired to explore long distances, so they will obsessively seek and find ways to escape if the outworld is too small.
I’ve taken to making my own huge outworlds with display case boxes. I will need to hook up several with long tubing next year as my Crematogaster colony closes in on 4,000 workers.
I’m selling these outworlds through the AntsDakota site, but no one has ordered any yet. Shipping to the old country might be too expensive, though.

Edited by ANTdrew, December 11 2020 - 4:43 AM.

[DDD101DDD]

I think this is because making nests actually requires certain tools or materials a lot of the time, and can be complicated to make sometimes. Outworlds however are really simple and easy to make, and the only tool that might be needed is a drill.

[Ants_Dakota]

The question is: Do ants need a lot of space in the outworld if you provide them with enough food etc.? Of course if the arena is covered with ants you should expand the outworld.

 

On the other hand some ants show strange behavior if there isn't enough space or distance to the nest. For example they carry around dead ants almost forever, because they try to get far enough away from the nest. That's why I like tubes and pipes, so you can simulate long distances and you also don't need a lot of space at a single place. Seeing ants walk through tubes is also quite interesting.

 

In my garden I have a Camponotus vagus colony and I find them up to around 100m away from the nest. Quite impossible to have an outworld as large as a small garden.

 

In labs the situation is often even worse, see for example: http://www.sbs.utexa... Drip Line.html.

 

Interesting topic and probably with a lot of different opinions

 

PS: Try to find plastic aquariums, a German brand sells these ones. Except of the smallest one the walls are almost 90°. I also have several of these (I planned selling them) but shipment to Croatia would be too expensive I guess . Transparent polystyrene is also a lot cheaper than acrylic glass.

so that is why my ants act like they are stupid my dragging their dead around for like years!

[Devi]

 

The question is: Do ants need a lot of space in the outworld if you provide them with enough food etc.? Of course if the arena is covered with ants you should expand the outworld.

 

On the other hand some ants show strange behavior if there isn't enough space or distance to the nest. For example they carry around dead ants almost forever, because they try to get far enough away from the nest. That's why I like tubes and pipes, so you can simulate long distances and you also don't need a lot of space at a single place. Seeing ants walk through tubes is also quite interesting.

 

In my garden I have a Camponotus vagus colony and I find them up to around 100m away from the nest. Quite impossible to have an outworld as large as a small garden.

 

In labs the situation is often even worse, see for example: http://www.sbs.utexa... Drip Line.html.

 

Interesting topic and probably with a lot of different opinions

 

PS: Try to find plastic aquariums, a German brand sells these ones. Except of the smallest one the walls are almost 90°. I also have several of these (I planned selling them) but shipment to Croatia would be too expensive I guess . Transparent polystyrene is also a lot cheaper than acrylic glass.

so that is why my ants act like they are stupid my dragging their dead around for like years!

 

Yep.  Same.  My tetras literally fight each other to be the one that gets to carry around this one dead worker.  As for the nest/outworld discussion, I completely agree, they do need to be bigger.  I am hoping that for my upcoming Pogonomyrmex, a labyrinth will be big enough.  I tried to pick something that has a fairly big outworld, so hopefully that works.  It just gets to be a pain to clean small outworlds, harder to apply a barrier, easier escapes, etc...  

[skocko76]

 

The question is: Do ants need a lot of space in the outworld if you provide them with enough food etc.? Of course if the arena is covered with ants you should expand the outworld.

 

On the other hand some ants show strange behavior if there isn't enough space or distance to the nest. For example they carry around dead ants almost forever, because they try to get far enough away from the nest. That's why I like tubes and pipes, so you can simulate long distances and you also don't need a lot of space at a single place. Seeing ants walk through tubes is also quite interesting.

 

In my garden I have a Camponotus vagus colony and I find them up to around 100m away from the nest. Quite impossible to have an outworld as large as a small garden.

 

In labs the situation is often even worse, see for example: http://www.sbs.utexa... Drip Line.html.

 

Interesting topic and probably with a lot of different opinions

 

PS: Try to find plastic aquariums, a German brand sells these ones. Except of the smallest one the walls are almost 90°. I also have several of these (I planned selling them) but shipment to Croatia would be too expensive I guess . Transparent polystyrene is also a lot cheaper than acrylic glass.

so that is why my ants act like they are stupid my dragging their dead around for like years!

 

Yes! Same here! Cult of the dead all around with my Crematogasters.

[Devi]

 

 

The question is: Do ants need a lot of space in the outworld if you provide them with enough food etc.? Of course if the arena is covered with ants you should expand the outworld.

 

On the other hand some ants show strange behavior if there isn't enough space or distance to the nest. For example they carry around dead ants almost forever, because they try to get far enough away from the nest. That's why I like tubes and pipes, so you can simulate long distances and you also don't need a lot of space at a single place. Seeing ants walk through tubes is also quite interesting.

 

In my garden I have a Camponotus vagus colony and I find them up to around 100m away from the nest. Quite impossible to have an outworld as large as a small garden.

 

In labs the situation is often even worse, see for example: http://www.sbs.utexa... Drip Line.html.

 

Interesting topic and probably with a lot of different opinions

 

PS: Try to find plastic aquariums, a German brand sells these ones. Except of the smallest one the walls are almost 90°. I also have several of these (I planned selling them) but shipment to Croatia would be too expensive I guess . Transparent polystyrene is also a lot cheaper than acrylic glass.

so that is why my ants act like they are stupid my dragging their dead around for like years!

 

Yes! Same here! Cult of the dead all around with my Crematogasters.

 

I thought it was just my strange ants, but it turns out this is a thing!  

[Devi]

You know, now that I think of it, a great nest that has much more outworld than nest is the upcoming AntsDakota Desktop Formicarium, made by Ants_Dakota!  I kind of forgot about this formicarium but it has a great nest/outworld ratio if you are looking to have a large outworld.

[Ants_Dakota]

You know, now that I think of it, a great nest that has much more outworld than nest is the upcoming AntsDakota Desktop Formicarium, made by Ants_Dakota!  I kind of forgot about this formicarium but it has a great nest/outworld ratio if you are looking to have a large outworld.

it does. all my supplies are put away for now, but this spring i will begin producing them again. it has, oh, maybe a 8 to 1 ratio between the nest and outworld. and, on top of that, you can expand the nest and keep the same outworld. or you can add another nest and outworld onto the side. can't wait until i can offer these!

[Boog]

Seems like the solution is to pick up a locally sourced barebones aquarium and modify it. Have you looked up comparable sized aquarium prices? They can get really pricey. Then the cost of decorating with sturdy hardscape and dealing with shipping & handling for something that large on top of that?

Antkeepers already complain about the price of a $30-40 nest, imagine a few hundred bucks for a well designed and hand-made decorated outworld.

I’ve thought of this problem too and if you want something cool-looking and inexpensive, DIY is the way to go. Unless you can drop that amount then maybe you could commission someone to make you one

[Devi]

Seems like the solution is to pick up a locally sourced barebones aquarium and modify it. Have you looked up comparable sized aquarium prices? They can get really pricey. Then the cost of decorating with sturdy hardscape and dealing with shipping & handling for something that large on top of that?

Antkeepers already complain about the price of a $30-40 nest, imagine a few hundred bucks for a well designed and hand-made decorated outworld.

I’ve thought of this problem too and if you want something cool-looking and inexpensive, DIY is the way to go. Unless you can drop that amount then maybe you could commission someone to make you one

 

Yeah, agreed.  Coming from one of the best formicarium makers I can think of I will take that into consideration!  I just wanted to add something because I forgot about it.  Reading through ANTdrew's monomorium journal made me think of it.  An inception chamber from THA is actually really good outworld/nest size.  I actually thought of getting one for my molesta a while back, becuase they contain ants very well, and because the outworld is big.  Just wanted to add that.