10 replies to this topic

[Rashid_Chakrabarti]

Hi! I haven't been in the hobby for about 2 years now and recently I started thinking about coming back. I'm a fairly experienced reptile and tarantula keeper and I'm currently thinking about buying an Asian species or other exotic species. I previously had success with keeping messor barbarus, camponotus barbaricus and tetramorium caespitum colonies. Do you guys have any recommendations for an active species that grow to nice-sized colonies, optionally is polygamous, and where to buy them? I almost forgot to mention I live in the EU

 

- Thanks a lot in advance and I hope to be a part of this hobby again fairly soon!

[ANTdrew]

They’re not exotic, but good ol’ Lasius niger seem like some of the funnest ants to keep. Period.

[Kaelwizard]

They’re not exotic, but good ol’ Lasius niger seem like some of the funnest ants to keep. Period.

Never thought I would see an English teacher say “funnest”

To the OP, I would recommend starting with something suited for beginners as you haven’t kept ants for a bit. Some of the more exotic ants could be a little challenging depending on species so make sure to research before buying one.

Edited by Kaelwizard, April 17 2021 - 4:46 AM.

[Rashid_Chakrabarti]

 

They’re not exotic, but good ol’ Lasius niger seem like some of the funnest ants to keep. Period.

Never thought I would see an English teacher say “funnest”

To the OP, I would recommend starting with something suited for beginners as you haven’t kept ants for a bit. Some of the more exotic ants could be a little challenging depending on species so make sure to research before buying one.

 

I've had my fun with challenging spiders before, both in humidy requirements and well being all around agressive little crawlers so humidy related issues shouldn't be a problem. I'm actually looking for something in-between, not really a beginner species like a lasius or messor but not something without any reliable information on it like diacamma species or something extremely diffult to raise (carebara) or contain (solenopsis, anolepis etc.). I've been looking at asian camponotus species but I'm always interested in hearing other people's opinions

Edited by Rashid_Chakrabarti, April 17 2021 - 5:19 AM.

[ANTdrew]

They’re not exotic, but good ol’ Lasius niger seem like some of the funnest ants to keep. Period.

Never thought I would see an English teacher say “funnest”

To the OP, I would recommend starting with something suited for beginners as you haven’t kept ants for a bit. Some of the more exotic ants could be a little challenging depending on species so make sure to research before buying one.

Superlative adjectives, my friend. The rule for one syllable adjectives is to add -est. No reason to treat fun as an exception. I’m willing to die on that hill. Lol

[Canadant]

They’re not exotic, but good ol’ Lasius niger seem like some of the funnest ants to keep. Period.

Homest question: What makes them so fun?

[ANTdrew]

I'll let this journal answer that question: https://www.formicul...-niger-wegmier/

[NickAnter]

Lasius brunneus is a journal I would love to see, some of my favorite European ants. Another interesting one is Aphaenogaster subterranea, as well as Crematogaster scutellaris.

[NPLT]

 

 

They’re not exotic, but good ol’ Lasius niger seem like some of the funnest ants to keep. Period.

Never thought I would see an English teacher say “funnest”

To the OP, I would recommend starting with something suited for beginners as you haven’t kept ants for a bit. Some of the more exotic ants could be a little challenging depending on species so make sure to research before buying one.

 

I've had my fun with challenging spiders before, both in humidy requirements and well being all around agressive little crawlers so humidy related issues shouldn't be a problem. I'm actually looking for something in-between, not really a beginner species like a lasius or messor but not something without any reliable information on it like diacamma species or something extremely diffult to raise (carebara) or contain (solenopsis, anolepis etc.). I've been looking at asian camponotus species but I'm always interested in hearing other people's opinions

 

So, I'm not sure if I am qualified to give any advice for ants, but I think I did enough research so, I think I can, since you're looking for challenging and fun species, any Colobopsis ants ( how can you not love their flat heads ) or my dream ants Cataglyphis, or Strongylognathus testaceus if you want to dive into parasites ( even if the queen dies, they coexist with queens of Tetramorium caespitum in one nest without killing eachother so you'd be left with T. caespitum ), or Solenopsis fugax, or Manica rubida if you're in for a risk of stinging.

 

All dead queens and purchases are entirely not the fault of commenter

 

But if I were you, I'd go for something in the European Camponotus or Formica species, they're not that hard, but I believe offer more challenges than good ol' Lasius, Messor, or Tetramorium. ( All mentioned species are European and npt exotic, while the risk of creating an invasive species is minimal, importing ants can be both costly and dangerous for the ants [ also, my personal beliefs but I do not want to start a flame war on ethics of exotic ants ] ).

Edited by NPLT, April 17 2021 - 12:46 PM.

[JoeByron]

 

Hi! I haven't been in the hobby for about 2 years now and recently I started thinking about coming back. I'm a fairly experienced reptile and tarantula keeper and I'm currently thinking about buying an Asian species or other exotic species. I previously had success with keeping messor barbarus, camponotus barbaricus and tetramorium caespitum colonies. Do you guys have any recommendations for an active species that grow to nice-sized colonies, optionally is polygamous, and where to buy them? I almost forgot to mention I live in the EU

 

- Thanks a lot in advance and I hope to be a part of this hobby again fairly soon!

 

 

 

The fact that this is the definition of exotic "1 : very different, strange, or unusual. 2 : introduced from another country : not native exotic plants." I do not think anyone here would support a decision for a less experienced ant keeper to keep ants that are not from around their area. 

 

Its hard enough to support people I know to keep ants from not around our area. 

 

HIGHLY recommend picking your own local ant species.

[Kaelwizard]

Hi! I haven't been in the hobby for about 2 years now and recently I started thinking about coming back. I'm a fairly experienced reptile and tarantula keeper and I'm currently thinking about buying an Asian species or other exotic species. I previously had success with keeping messor barbarus, camponotus barbaricus and tetramorium caespitum colonies. Do you guys have any recommendations for an active species that grow to nice-sized colonies, optionally is polygamous, and where to buy them? I almost forgot to mention I live in the EU

- Thanks a lot in advance and I hope to be a part of this hobby again fairly soon!

The fact that this is the definition of exotic "1 : very different, strange, or unusual. 2 : introduced from another country : not native exotic plants." I do not think anyone here would support a decision for a less experienced ant keeper to keep ants that are not from around their area.

Its hard enough to support people I know to keep ants from not around our area.

HIGHLY recommend picking your own local ant species.

The OP believes they are ready and in EU it is legal to get exotic species, so I don’t see any problem.