2 replies to this topic

[futurebird]

I was talking to so people who keep lizards and spiders and asked "hey why not keep some ants" most liked the idea but the biggest drawback was "You can't handle ants, you just look at them." 

I thought about this after for a bit. I don't feel like I've ever decided that I wanted to open up an outworld and pick up an ant... but I feel like I get to "handle" them plenty. I also, feel like they are much more interactive than, say, fish. From feeding them, to helping them move. There have even been some intense moments, like helping a nanitic out of her cocoon ... or giving a camponotus worker a "mite bath"

Granted I've never tried moving Pogonomyrmex with my hands, with most other ants I can get them to come up on my hand and move them that way. 

At worst use the paintbrush. 


So, do you think ants are "interactive" or are they more like just something you watch?

[FinWins]

To me ants are much more interactive then my tropical fish. Ants you can pick up in test tubes, ants you can feed off a Q tip, ants you can give them new homes and struggle with food items that YOU place in, etc. Those are just some of the many reasons that ants are interactive.

[Serafine]

For people keeping spiders there's a much more important problems - most ants eat spiders. Generally it's not a great idea to keep ants and spiders in the same general area.

 

I do disagree that ants are more interative than spiders - most spiders aren't even that active, let alone interactive. Commonly kept spiders are ambush predators who sit in the center of their selfmade trap for ages until prey walks into it. I've barely seen anyone keeping active hunters like huntsman spiders or wolf spiders (probably for good reasons).

 

 

Lizards... well I can see that. I'd say they are about as interactive as ants, with the added bonus that you can actually take them out of their enclosure, pet them, etc. - on the other hands you don't get the social teamwork aspect of ants, so i'd say that evens it out.

Edited by Serafine, August 20 2022 - 7:01 PM.