5 replies to this topic

[Gardav]

Hello Everyone! I am from Menlo Park and I am trying to raise some ants, I have a colony of Camponotus CA02 with a queen and 10 workers that I am attempting to get a Formicarium for but the prices are absolutely insane and everything I have gotten my hands on has had flaws that I can't risk as the ants could die! If you want to keep up to date on my ant keeping or help me find somewhere to house them please shoot me a DM through my discord gardav3warrobots

[Artisan_Ants]

Welcome to formiculture Gardav! As for your formicariun issue, I might be able to help as I have dealt with the same problem before. If you want to buy, then I would suggest Tar Heel Ants as they have nice sized formicariums which work very well and are reusable for very cheap prices (besides the large ones unless you need them which in this case, you don't). Mini Hearths are especially good for young colonies and my Camponotus chromaiodes love it! If you want relatively cheap formicariums that you don't want to buy, you can also make one for $30 or less with Plaster of Paris, Natural sand, neodymium magnets, and plexiglass. These seperately, could be more but if you have a hardware store nearby, they might sell it for cheap. You can mix these around and replace them for different things. There are so many videos explaining how to build easy formicariums, and there is also a thread on the forum featuring different formicariun designs that people have made for inspiration and I highly recommend the designs. Hope this helps and good luck with the colony. Camponotus CA02 are beauties!

[Miles]

Welcome to the hobby! As others have noted, a Tar Heel Ants mini hearth or fortress formicarium would be ideal for your incipient colony. You'll find that starting out with a high quality formicarium is not only cheaper than getting everything you'd need for a single DIY nest, but also teaches you many of the key components to a suitable formicarium.

 

When you're ready, feel free to give a DIY nest a try: https://youtu.be/ice...?feature=shared

[NotAxo]

Welcome to the forum! I just want to add a my penny as you are a new antkeeper.

Antkeeping is a hobby that can become slightly expensive, that is, if you try to get the perfect things. Sometimes, you have to go the DIY way and figure it out yourself. I've had no help from my parents regarding antkeeping, except a few meters of hosing and a mealworm culture (not for ants exclusively).

I wish you the best on your newfound journey with ants!

[Stubyvast]

Welcome Gardav! Yes definitely agreed, the combined prices of feeding them, upgrading their space, getting proper tools to take care of them, DIY is gonna be important. About 80% of my outworlds are homemade, and work great! But yeah, look for something good quality and cheap. Good thing you don't live in Canada, where them prices be double the ones down in the States haha! Hope Formiculture can help your colony grow and thrive!

[cooIboyJ]

Welcome to formiculture!!! As for the nest thing I would personally just make a nest like this: https://www.formicul...micarium-guide/

Edited by cooIboyJ, July 29 2024 - 5:09 PM.