4 replies to this topic

[Plant0]

Hello! I really love ants and would love to keep some! i was wondering if it would be possible to create a more 'natural' home for captive ants. My idea is a 5 gallon tank half full with a dirt/sand mixture, and some natural items like larger rocks and wood. i have noticed that most of you keep your ants in pre-made burrows, but i'm all about natural habitats for my animals. I do keep a crested gecko, pacman frog, and several fish tanks all with live plants and coral in a saltwater setup. i was wondering if i could keep some small dwarf plants that need to die back in the winter (such as dwarf hosta) then just hibernate the whole tank somewhere cool in the winter. would this natural tank work? what are some problems to look for? Is it fine to let my future ants burrow for themselves? Any advice is welcome and appreciated!

[drtrmiller]

A few considerations about live plants:
 
Many European antkeepers maintain natural, planted terrariums in which the ants may inhabit without any separation between nest and foraging area.  Since the ants in such setups are not confined to a designated nest, and the colony is generally hidden from view, the setup can include some soil and other traditional elements beneficial to plants.  I imagine an ideal planted setup might look similar to this:
 

 
In the course of keeping a planted foraging area for about 9 months, I learned a few things:

• The larger the foraging area, the more difficult it is to keep the ants from inhabiting some small cavity or niche outside the designated nest and away from view.  Similarly, the smaller the ants, the more difficult this becomes.
• The ideal plant is a low-growing, trailing plant with small leaves, that can grow bare root (Baby's Tears, Creeping Fig, small bromeliads, some mosses, etc.).  An automatic misting system must run each day so the roots do not dry out.  If the system is left to dry for even a day, all the plants will die (happened to me).
• The lid must be well-ventilated (I had a custom lid and CPU fan for "active ventilation"), as even mosses and other high-humidity loving plants will die quickly if the air is stagnant.
• Tillandsias fared worst in my setup (they rotted), probably due to the high frequency of misting required for the other plants.

 

[Plant0]

 

A few considerations about live plants:
 
Many European antkeepers maintain natural, planted terrariums in which the ants may inhabit without any separation between nest and foraging area.  Since the ants in such setups are not confined to a designated nest, and the colony is generally hidden from view, the setup can include some soil and other traditional elements beneficial to plants.  I imagine an ideal planted setup might look similar to this:
 

 
In the course of keeping a planted foraging area for about 9 months, I learned a few things:

• The larger the foraging area, the more difficult it is to keep the ants from inhabiting some small cavity or niche outside the designated nest and away from view.  Similarly, the smaller the ants, the more difficult this becomes.
• The ideal plant is a low-growing, trailing plant with small leaves, that can grow bare root (Baby's Tears, Creeping Fig, small bromeliads, some mosses, etc.).  An automatic misting system must run each day so the roots do not dry out.  If the system is left to dry for even a day, all the plants will die (happened to me).
• The lid must be well-ventilated (I had a custom lid and CPU fan for "active ventilation"), as even mosses and other high-humidity loving plants will die quickly if the air is stagnant.
• Tillandsias fared worst in my setup (they rotted), probably due to the high frequency of misting required for the other plants.

 

 

Thank you! i'm going to keep all this in mind!

[dspdrew]

This is something I plan to do one of these days. It has actually been my ultimate goal for all my favorite colonies. It's going to be tough working around the problems that drtrmiller mentioned, but I'm hoping to find a way.

[Plant0]

This is something I plan to do one of these days. It has actually been my ultimate goal for all my favorite colonies. It's going to be tough working around the problems that drtrmiller mentioned, but I'm hoping to find a way.

I'm probably going to start construction this Friday. That will give me plenty of time to get the rocks and wood situated before spring when I can get plants, and of course ANTS. I'm incredibly excited to start his project. I'm currently redoing my crested gecko Viv so I'll likely have extra materials available easily.