Pet ants?

[AngelGrinder]

I have always been interested by ants, and often see those small ant hAbitats where you can see the tunnels...

But I want a proper colony, and preferably not native ants, maybe a larger species? Anyone know if there's anywhere I would go about getting these? Also, will a colony survive without a queen, or do I need one?

Random subject and pet I know, anyone ever kept any? Any experiences with wild ants? Let's have a big ant discussion!!u
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[Misc]

Always wanted an Ant farm, they're fascinating & especially documentaries when you see that a group of ants actually hold their own in a jungle.

BTW, there's an amazing clip of what Ants can get up too, definitely worth a watch;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQERRbU23bU

[AngelGrinder]

I forgot to mention I am going to get a old aquarium and ant proof it.

I've kept spiders, scorpions, mantises, beetles etc before so have a bit of expeience, and am also happy to use heat mats, lights etc if that is what's needed!
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[steve32]

i got my ant colony from https://www.antstore.net/shop/ based in germany and they are really good at shipping them out to you

the species ive got are german carnivores that live on any bugs that fly and organic honey when i cant catch any live bait.

i think mines a year old this month and its still got strong,
if you going to use a old fish tank for them you're better off getting a mesh sheet to go over the top of the tank, because when the queen spawns new queens they take flight to leave the nest, its not a good idea when you spend 3hours trying to catch them all.

also if you get some thats not native to this country you have to make sure that they will never be able to escape alive if they mate with the ones in this country then you could be held responsible for making a new breed of ants
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[AngelGrinder]

^^Cheers for the help.

Looks like a good site, would be awesome to get some leaf cutters, but I don't think I could justify the price or the size of tank needed for them!

I'll probably end up going for these

https://www.antstore.net/shop/product_info.php/info/p1186_Messor-barbarus.html

https://www.antstore.net/shop/images/product_images/popup_images/1186_0.jpg

A Spanish ant, likes eating seeds (I can get hold of seeds easily, plus I have the dead remenants of crickets/hoppers from my Skink and Scorpion I can feed them.

I'll probably end up getting a tank like this also -

https://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4619070/PlasticFishTank_Full.jpg

^^But bigger than that. I will somehow fix some mesh to the top so they can't get out.

I will let you know how it goes....if it goes! Tank shopping tomorrow!
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[Visitor Q]

Martin, I'll have to come round an inspect it when you have it set up.

One thing...

A) Why get a species that doesn't have soldiers

B) Why get a species that won't drag any other arthropod to a kickign and screaming death

C) Why do it in a big tank like that, where you won't get to see the hive without some inventive displacement underground... If you're gonna go for a dull species of ant (come on man, no soldiers and herbivorous... pff) might as well get one of the gel hives.

Or at the very least, see if your chosen species can hack the gel.


https://www.antstore.net/shop/index.php/cPath/39_95/category/gel-antfarms

Seems you could just fill a big tank with it on second thoughts
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[Flip]

Do they have leaf cutter ants on that site? I did look but couldn't find them.

[Visitor Q]

[Flip]

Ant porn... Hmm...

[AngelGrinder]

Have you seen the prices of the tanks on that website??

The gel stuff is apparently no good for them either. I'll have a look about and see if I can find anything better. Problem I have is not much money spare, I can't justify the £40 for a tiny little tank from the above place, and no-one in the UK sems to do anything. I'll have a look around though and see.

Not so many of the Ant Species have Soldiers, and again, the ones that do seem to be expensive!


On a different note, has anyone seen the leaf cutter colony at London Zoo? Pue awesome!!

They have about 4/5 'Islands' with big colonys on, and a tank at one end with aload of plants. The colonys are joined by big bits of stiffened rope, which the ants walk all over getting on with their own jobs, you can see pieces of leaf being carried all over the place.

It's quite amazing to see!
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[AngelGrinder]

Oh, these are the Leaf Cutters -

https://www.antstore.net/shop/product_info.php/info/p1188_Atta-sexdens.html
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[AngelGrinder]

Just ordered the Spanish ones, got 10 workers and a queen coming!

The reason I am going for them is they are easy to feed! They will still eat other insects, I'm just thinking of winter when there aren't so many insects in the garden, I can just throw some seeds in!

Plus they are a fairly large ant.

I'm going to get a small glass tank, one for spiders/gerbils and drill a 10mm hole in the side. I'll leave a bung in the hole for now, when the colony grows/funds allow I'll expand the tank!

Will let you know how I get on!
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[Mr Hammers]

I find ants pretty fascinating too, but what I'd really like is a pet ant the size of a dog. I might even make it wear a furry jacket so I could stroke it.
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[The Shaggy D.A.]

[Visitor Q]

[nerd mode/pissing on bonfire mode]

It would however die pretty much instantly from suffocation, but, hey ho.

[/nerd mode/pissing on bonfire mode]



Something weird. Just got back from my shit hole gym, and there were FUCKLOADS of ants... on the first floor... IN the sauna.

Thats a new one.
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From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...

[Mr Hammers]

How come? Something to do with it's air intake's relative size, or something to do with it wearing a jacket?

Btw, did you know you can't kill ants in a microwave, and why? (something I learnt recently..)
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[AngelGrinder]

^^ants breathe through things called spiracles, they don't brethe through their mouth or have lungs. It's kind of like breathing through your pores.

Insects all round do some amazing things.

Also, apparently in some tropical enviroments, ants make up 25% of animal biomass......!!!!!!!
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[Mr Hammers]

[AngelGrinder]

[c_dug]

The ants in the microwave thing, make sure you take the spining plate bit out first, otherwise you will have mutant green nuclear zombie ants.

Basicly they line up inbetween the waves so they dont get toasted, cool stuff

c_dug
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[steve32]

this the is species ive got https://www.antstore.net/shop/product_info.php/info/p1073_Camponotus-ligniperda.html

they are good to watch when they are building the nest or eating a big assed spider and they helped me son in his natural science at school

edit: this is a good site to look at https://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=camponotus&rank=genus&project=Eurasianants
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[AngelGrinder]

They arrived last week, just couldn't be arsed to put up the pics!


I made the bit with the glass front out of a picture frame glass and back, with a bit of wood for a base and sides.

So far they have settled in the small tub, the queens been underground since last week, and more and more soil is appearing at the top (I have covered the top layer with sand, so I can see them easier, and what is being moved).

There is generally about 3 workers on the surface, carrying bits of soil or just mooching about.

You realise just how fast they can run for something so tiny!

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/angelgrinder187/DSCF1791.jpg

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/angelgrinder187/DSCF1785.jpg

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/angelgrinder187/DSCF1786.jpg
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[trevoriv]

Nice set-up. I used a 3 foot fishtank with my myrmica rubra with a plexiglass length across one side leaving an inch or so gap filled with sand/loam for them to nest in leaving the rest of the tank as wandering and feeding space.

Used talc and water paste to stop them from leaving the tank
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[rac3r]

After reading this last time I ordered one of those gel ones. It should be here tomorrow, can't wait!
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[steve32]

what species did you get ?
____________________
suzuki GSX 600F katana .: ~my bike up for sale~ :.
CBT = Completed
DAS= Working on it - theory test = Passed