29 replies to this topic

[cooIboyJ]

Does anyone know what the best size is for an outworld?

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

It depends on the size of the colony and lenght of the workers.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I mostly use empty spinach containers.

[cooIboyJ]

I will probably find harvesters or carpenters soon, so how about an outworld for a new colony of harvesters/carpenters?

[Artisan_Ants]

You can use any container. For younger colonies, I recommend plastic containers that still provide ideal viewing of the ants. And like the hat GOCAMPONOTUS mentioned, it really just depends on the size of the colony.

[cooIboyJ]

ok

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I use spinach containers ,plastic,and acrylic containers.

Edited by GOCAMPONOTUS, March 3 2024 - 4:58 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

You could also make an all in one formicarium.

[Artisan_Ants]

You could also make an all in one formicarium.

Very useful for small and large colonies.

[cooIboyJ]

I know but I probably won't.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

just use a plastic or acrylic box with a lid. cut out a small hole and then silicone some steel mesh

then cut a hole and place viynl tubing connecting from the outworld to the nest.

[Rrar]

Instead of mesh on top, which could be a little time-consuming, you could just drill a hole and block it with cotton.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

True but for me mush allows for more airflow. But cotton should also work just fine.

[cooIboyJ]

ok

Since my birthday is coming up, I might do some mesh because I can ask for it.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Happy early b-day!

[cooIboyJ]

Thanks

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

Something to consider/POV to use.

 

The outworld is an illusion for the ants, of being outside.

the more convincing this illusion is to them, the more it will bring on changes in their behaviors.

 

If from their POV the outworld is just more nest, then they will show you their in nest behavior almost exclusively.

But if they believe in the illusion, and their sensing equipment determines they have left the nest for the open outdoors. Then their behavior will change to show this change in their POV about their location status.

This is for most ants going to be what we think of as smell based.
This means if the outworld is smaller and/or closed lid. Then from the Ant's POV they may not perceive any meaningful distinctions between nest and outworld, just being all nest to them.

 

 

So if you have the space and the ability, i suggest giving your ants as much outworld as you can, and do them as open air tops with no lids.

 

While it is possile to give ants too much nest space and stress them out, it is impossible to give them more outworld than they would have had in the wild. As the outside of their wild nest is planet earth basically.

My nest/outworld ratio is heavily outworld lopsided, and i am always thinking about how to add more outworld.

 

My current, if i had the room fantasy, is to use a 45" diameter kiddie pool as outword for a large colony. They only cost about $15, which leaves a lot of budget for decoration.

[cooIboyJ]

ok

[futurebird]

Something to consider/POV to use.

 

The outworld is an illusion for the ants, of being outside.

the more convincing this illusion is to them, the more it will bring on changes in their behaviors.

 

If from their POV the outworld is just more nest, then they will show you their in nest behavior almost exclusively.

But if they believe in the illusion, and their sensing equipment determines they have left the nest for the open outdoors. Then their behavior will change to show this change in their POV about their location status.

This is for most ants going to be what we think of as smell based.
This means if the outworld is smaller and/or closed lid. Then from the Ant's POV they may not perceive any meaningful distinctions between nest and outworld, just being all nest to them.

 

 

So if you have the space and the ability, i suggest giving your ants as much outworld as you can, and do them as open air tops with no lids.

 

While it is possile to give ants too much nest space and stress them out, it is impossible to give them more outworld than they would have had in the wild. As the outside of their wild nest is planet earth basically.

My nest/outworld ratio is heavily outworld lopsided, and i am always thinking about how to add more outworld.

 

My current, if i had the room fantasy, is to use a 45" diameter kiddie pool as outword for a large colony. They only cost about $15, which leaves a lot of budget for decoration.

This is such a good point. My sadly queenless cone ant colony has a HUGE outworld compared to their nest, and today I was able to watch them make little trails to the food I put out for them. There are about 400 or so of them in the nest, and since they are tiny ants their nest is smaller than a deck of cards. Their outworld is 30cm by 30cm by 10cm tall. 

 

Seeing them feed their brood and make trails made me a little less sad about their queen being gone. They still have a lot of ant life to live. (and they have been raising some VERY FAT larvae ... I'm hoping they are raising alates which would be neat to see. )

 

Expanding their outworld and seeing more interesting behavior has inspired me to do the same for all my colonies. Though for my huge carpenter ants that's going to be a little more challenging. Their nest is nearly the size of a shoebox! So they'd need an outworld like a kiddie pool LOL. Don't know if I could swing that, but I can give them three 30x30 tanks... and some long tubes to run through. 

[Mushu]

Something to consider/POV to use.

The outworld is an illusion for the ants, of being outside.
the more convincing this illusion is to them, the more it will bring on changes in their behaviors.

If from their POV the outworld is just more nest, then they will show you their in nest behavior almost exclusively.
But if they believe in the illusion, and their sensing equipment determines they have left the nest for the open outdoors. Then their behavior will change to show this change in their POV about their location status.

This is for most ants going to be what we think of as smell based.
This means if the outworld is smaller and/or closed lid. Then from the Ant's POV they may not perceive any meaningful distinctions between nest and outworld, just being all nest to them.


So if you have the space and the ability, i suggest giving your ants as much outworld as you can, and do them as open air tops with no lids.

While it is possile to give ants too much nest space and stress them out, it is impossible to give them more outworld than they would have had in the wild. As the outside of their wild nest is planet earth basically.

My nest/outworld ratio is heavily outworld lopsided, and i am always thinking about how to add more outworld.

My current, if i had the room fantasy, is to use a 45" diameter kiddie pool as outword for a large colony. They only cost about $15, which leaves a lot of budget for decoration.

This is such a good point. My sadly queenless cone ant colony has a HUGE outworld compared to their nest, and today I was able to watch them make little trails to the food I put out for them. There are about 400 or so of them in the nest, and since they are tiny ants their nest is smaller than a deck of cards. Their outworld is 30cm by 30cm by 10cm tall.

Seeing them feed their brood and make trails made me a little less sad about their queen being gone. They still have a lot of ant life to live. (and they have been raising some VERY FAT larvae ... I'm hoping they are raising alates which would be neat to see. )

Expanding their outworld and seeing more interesting behavior has inspired me to do the same for all my colonies. Though for my huge carpenter ants that's going to be a little more challenging. Their nest is nearly the size of a shoebox! So they'd need an outworld like a kiddie pool LOL. Don't know if I could swing that, but I can give them three 30x30 tanks... and some long tubes to run through.

Three 30x30 tanks would be amazing.