11 replies to this topic

[cfreidsma]

Kind of curious on what everyone uses. Mine are currently in a test tube, but it is getting close to dry.

[futurebird]

I have this unit from "por amor" and it's great for small ants. It has a cavity shape acorn ants might like:

 

https://www.poramora...e-mini-cave-2-0

 

It's VERY small. The glass windows are microscope slides. 

 

It's worth the price. Glass windows, nice magnets, excellent construction, hydration ports. I was worried the gray color would be too dark to see the ants well, but with two windows it's easy to view and photograph them. There is a space for a heating cable which my Dorymyrmex bureni love. (They have two nests, one is half heated, this one is fully heated, I always like to have a non heated space for ants, but they just like heat. I mean they are from GA ...)

 

I don't know about acorn ants in particular but thought I'd mention a nest that worked well for tiny ants. 

 

Por Amor has many nice options for small ants:

 

https://www.poramora...ium-small-tower

 

I have not tried that one, but it looks very "acorn like"

Edited by futurebird, March 18 2024 - 3:30 PM.

[Ernteameise]

This is how I keep mine.

https://www.formicul...deri/?hl=walnut

 

Please note:

I had intended for them to move into a walnut. So far, this still has not happened.

[futurebird]

I think that many ants can see red light. So red screens don't make real dark. Could they be in the cork bark for moisture and for a more dark environment? Wonderful colony thanks for posting the links. I've always been curious about this species. They sound like they have opposite personalities to Dorymyrmex bureni. Dorymyrmex are crazy active just frantic all the time and hilarious to watch. But like the acorn ants they have certain times of day when they are most active, mostly when the sun would be out and it's nice and warm. Maybe little ants need to stay warm for safety. A cool breeze could take all their body heat. 

[TacticalHandleGaming]

I used a tarheelants mini hearth and they were plenty happy. Probably be better off in a bifurcated one however.

[futurebird]

What's a "bifurcated one" ?

[TacticalHandleGaming]

What's a "bifurcated one" ?

These bifurcated mini hearths are meant for smaller species specifically.
https://tarheelants....arth-bifurcated

[futurebird]

Tar heel mini hearths are excellent nests, but I feel the outworlds are just too tiny once the colony gets going at all. I could never stop ants from loitering around like it was part of the nest. I ended up blocking my outworld in my mini hearth off with cotton and connecting the nest to a larger outworld which worked great. 

 

It's possible to get one without an outworld: https://tarheelants....micarium-type-i

 

excellent construction and water management. an advantage of tar heel over por amor is the water res is much larger so you can leave them for a few days when it's hot or dry. With por amor you must check on the water more often. That said, por amor has better lighting and it's smaller so maybe better suited to tiny ants. 

[UtahAnts]

I housed a colony of T. nevadensis in a simple wood nest I quickly put together some years ago. Just drilled some chambers in a simple block of wood, attached some plexiglass and they did the rest. The nest can be kept dry as long as the colony is large enough and they access to water in the outworld. I've also used Foranto products which work well under the same principles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cfreidsma]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I'll look into por amor. I've purchased from tar heel before but por amor is new to me.

[Flu1d]

I like Arthropod Antics style nests. I make my own, and it's fairly simple.. but buying straight from them is a great idea if you don't wanna make a bunch of nests due to having a ton of supplies. Also, you'd be supporting a pretty good dude.

He has great outworlds as well.. which I also make mine in his style.

I recommend buying 1 of his smallest, his regular and his XL for nest and one of his "large" sized outworlds. You can buy the nests one at a time as your ants grow in numbers if you like, but it's always good to have something for them to grow into.. but just going from a test tube to his regular sized formisquarium is a good way to go, as well, once they outgrow the tube.

[Virginian_ants]

Currently my temnothorax live in the hydration chamber of a formisquarium and I can't get them to move.