6 replies to this topic

[Jonny8040]

Was watching D colony today on YouTube and seen he made a formicarium with pre made tunnels but the tunnels were then filled with sand to allow to ants to dig but the tunnels not collapse. Thought that was a great idea and wandering if anybody else has done that?


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[antgallery]

I personally don't like sand in any of my formicariums as I find it obstructs the view of the ants themselves. If you aren't someone who cares about great viewing though, it might be a good idea.

[ANTdrew]

I personally don't like sand in any of my formicariums as I find it obstructs the view of the ants themselves. If you aren't someone who cares about great viewing though, it might be a good idea.

I agree with this. The digging formicariums are a lot fun, but only while the ants are digging, which lasts a week or so. After that, you can’t observe much, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of keeping ants.

[dspdrew]

I was going to do something like that because what I have a plan that will include a natural foraging area with a mound and all, but the nest will be predesigned.

[ZTYguy]

I was going to do something like that because what I have a plan that will include a natural foraging area with a mound and all, but the nest will be predesigned.

I have a similar scape with my Novomessor cockerelli colony. The foraging area looks like a naturalistic desert scape with natural nest openings. The greatest thing is that all of the tunnels are made of hydro stone or ultracal. One of my favorite setups ever.

[Jonny8040]

I was going to do something like that because what I have a plan that will include a natural foraging area with a mound and all, but the nest will be predesigned.

Would love to follow that progress


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[rptraut]

During construction I use sand to form chambers as I make the nest area of the formicarium.   I use grout and vermiculite 50/50 in a fairly thick state that can be formed and as I am filling the nest space I use sand to fill hollows that I form in the grout for the chambers. I continue filling the nest area with grout making as many chambers as I want formed with sand. The tunnels to connect the chambers are a little more difficult to make but you can do it. Remember, anywhere that you put sand will not be filled with grout. I hope I have explained this well, it's sort of like sand casting on the inside of your project. When completed it will take a while for the whole thing to dry because the sand absorbs water from the grout. I speed up the drying by heating it slightly on top of my grow lights. Once the sand is dry you simply pour the sand out and you have your chambers and tunnels. You don't have to take the grout out of the container for shaping at all! At first I agonized about getting every single grain of sand out, but, I always make the nest bigger than the ants need so they can expand.... so now I only take out as much as they need immediately and let the ants clean out the sand as they need the space. This overcomes the garbage in the nest problem, gives the ants something to do and let's them expand into the space they need when they need it.

A couple of construction tips - Put everything in the formicarium that you want in there ie water tower, sponge, cotton etc before you start casting as there is no way to add it later.
Use clean sand or there will be dust on the glass, fine beach sand works well - no dust and it pours easily.
You should avoid grout smudges on the glass when you form the sand chambers as there is no way to clean them off later.
Use a thin piece of wire if needed to loosen sand in the tunnels and chambers to pour it out. Leave something for the ants to do.
Clear enough area for the ants to reach their water source and to be able to nest comfortably.
I cover the nesting area with red cellophane and black felt so the ants feel safe, otherwise they can use sand to block out light or just not excavate to the glass and you won't be able to see them.

You can fill empty nest space with more than just sand.  I have a Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony that I installed in a new (larger) formicarium last season.  I made it quite a bit larger than they needed at the time, and they did the typical things like filling large areas with garbage, dead ants etc.  They even built walls out of garbage to enclose themselves in smaller areas.  Last winter, while they hibernated, I cleaned out all the garbage and replaced it with wood shavings.  I used shavings from a planer, not sawdust from a saw.  The pieces are larger, less dusty, and are easy for the ants to carry.  I made them an outworld for garbage and got them used to using it in spring by only having a sugar/water test tube where their outworld is usually attached, and the garbage outworld at the new entrance/exit to the nest.  I put some shavings in it to get them started and they quickly got used to putting the shavings and dirt in the garbage outworld while spring cleaning.  A couple of weeks later when I hooked their outworld to the nest (replacing the sugar/water tube) they did move some of the shavings into it.  I vacuumed them out and they haven't moved many back since.  The inside of the nest this year is a model of cleanliness and hygiene.  They have opened up channels and chambers through the chips for ventilation, raising brood, queen chamber etc and have basically made the nest the way they want it.  Right now they are raising a huge batch of brood and seem very happy.