I can’t believe it!
Don’t worry the Phoenix Empire, our colony of fire ants is alive and well, but can you
believe their approaching 1 year of age soon?
Today, we’ll take a stroll through their great paludarium kingdom, we all built together,
their Avatar-themed floating mountains paludarium known as the Ember Islands, in this update
video on our favourite fire ant colony.
Plus, a little something special for you today: Many of you have been watching my ant videos
wondering how you too can have your own flourishing ant colony at home, like our Phoenix Empire
here, and so, I’ll be showing you how you too can start building an ant empire of your
own starting today, using two very simple-to-use ant farms, and a live ant colony you can get
from a seller in your area.
Welcome to the AntsCanada ant channel!
Please SUBSCRIBE to the channel, and hit the BELL icon.
Welcome to the AC Family!
Enjoy!
An ant of the Phoenix Empire explores the thick foliage of the lush shadowy forest.
This tree has many blossoms, and covers a large area in the eastern territories of their
kingdom.
It’s the great tree, or trees, not too sure if this is one rockweed plant or several,
that grows on the rock waterfall, you guys have named the River Styx.
The entire mountain is dominated by vegetation.
But the Ember Islands as a paludarium has grown to look quite impressive and green.
The floating mountains still look as majestic as ever.
Every time I look at this paludarium, the grandeur of it all just takes my breath away.
At ground level, the rock shelf is littered with the exoskeletons of past meals.
The Phoenix Empire has been busy eating plenty.
Oh, have a look at how strong this ant is, lugging a huge piece of roach exoskeleton
somewhere, a fellow sister coming along for the ride, offering moral support, I guess.
She places it down here.
No clue why she chose this random spot, but it seems good enough a spot for both of them.
The lands continue to get greener and greener over time.
Check out all these carpets of moss, that look like rolling fields of green.
I planted little patches of Christmas moss in certain spots in the beginning but most
of this moss are totally different species, and have seemingly popped out of nowhere.
There are even baby ferns growing in certain parts of the territories.
Here, here, here, and here.
Again, no idea how these baby ferns got here, but I’m guessing all these new and welcome
vegetative growths were already embedded in the rock, in seed or spore form, and simply
sprouted with ample moisture and humidity.
I find they look great interspersed with the rockweed.
But here’s something I wanted to show you.
The ants have managed to tunnel under this thick carpet of moss.
See their entrance?
They actually have several entrance points into the moss carpet, and I’m pretty certain
the tunnels lead to the mothernest at Mt. Vulcan.
Now check this out, guys!
Have a look at the pile of dirt they’ve built under Mt. Vulcan, one of the floating
mountains, and one thing you’ll notice is the abundance of allies, springtails.
It does seem like springtails are like the rats of Phoenix Empire society.
They eat and help break down the leftovers of the ants, but I do see some of the ants
chasing them away when they get close.
Though the fire ants don’t particularly like them, the ants do actually need them
to help keep the lands clean.
Plus the springtails’ poop fertilizes the plants, so the springtails are indeed an important
link in this mini-ecosystem here.
Over here, you’ll see the ants working on a jelly cup.
They truly love their sugar!
Fire ants definitely have quite the sweet tooth.
Now in case you’re wondering if the ants still occupy the upper areas of the paludarium,
indeed the fire ants have long mastered the floating mountains, as they trail along the
root system connecting each mountain.
They all now know the quickest route to get to whatever place they’re wanting to get
to.
In terms of nesting in the mountains, it seems the ants are mostly nesting in Mt. Vulcan.
Check out the swarm that boils up to the surface the moment I come close.
I think they smell me, and have associated my smell with feeding time, or just want to
kill me.
One of the two!
It’s just incredible how wonderfully the ants have settled into this massive paludarium
kingdom, complete with aquatic life, plants, and weather system.
But, here’s the thing: I know a lot of you out there watching might see a complex setup
like this and think to yourself “Oh man!
This is way beyond anything I could possibly have, make, or maintain.”
And so, for those of you who love ants as much as I do, my team and I have tried to
help make things much more simple for you.
Do you guys remember how this fire ant colony started?
They started with just a single queen ant in a test tube with a few babies.
Then, the queen and her brood expanded to the point where they were eventually moved
into their first ant farm.
Now, I’ve got some great news for all of you wanna be ant keepers or those who have
been thinking about owning an ant colony but are too intimidated to start!
Trust me, guys!
Ant keeping is very simple, fun, and super rewarding if you have the right equipment.
So over at my website antscanada.com, we launched our biggest sale of the year, the AC Holidays
Sale 2020, where our two top ant farms for beginners are available at 20% off.
You have seen me use these ant farms in our videos, and they were used to house the Phoenix
Empire, before we decided to go real big and move them into their massive paludarium.
Well, even if you don’t intend on going as big as our Ember Islands, both our ac Ant
Tower Small and our ac Hybrid Nest Mini are excellent homes designed to house thriving
pet ant colonies for a long time, and both these items of AC ant farm tech are on sale
until January 1st, so if you’ve been wanting something special to spoil yourself with for
the holidays, or if you’ve been thinking of a wholesome gift for a nature-loving loved
one of yours, be sure to visit my website antscanada.com today, to grab one of these
easy-to-use ant farms found nowhere else.
We ship worldwide and also offer full email support if you need our help or have any questions
on how to use the ant farms!
Plus, if you use the promo code “antloveforever2020”, you get our Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook
ebook, complete with care guides on specific commonly kept ant species, totally free, which
you can add to your cart before checking out!
Now you might be wondering, ok but how do I get the actual ants to fill my ant farm?
It’s Fall and winter soon where I live, and there are no ants anywhere outside!
Well, if you’re a late bloomer, and didn’t catch a queen ant this season, no worries!
Just visit the QUEEN ANTS FOR SALE tab on our website to look for ant colony sellers
in your area.
Chances are you’ll find an ant colony to stock your ant farm with, but just a note,
if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, the ants you’ll be getting will probably be
groggy and sleepy until Spring next year, seeing as it is their hibernation season,
so you may have to be patient to see the bulk of the ant action which will probably pick
up around February.
But, guys you can start your ant keeping journey now!
I hope all of you wanting to get into ant keeping do take advantage of this great opportunity
to own your own ac Ant Farm today, and keep ants with me.
Oh, and I should mention that our AC Holidays Promo is a limited time offer, and ends January
1st, and you need to order before December 17th if within US or December 10th if outside
the US, if you hope to receive your package before Christmas.
Also, we currently have a limited supply of these AC Ant Towers and the AC Hybrid Nest
Minis, and they’re flying off the shelves of our warehouse location in the US, so I
recommend you guys order soon before they’re all sold out until next year!
Tell mom and dad, tell your girlfriend or boyfriend, tell your teacher, your friends,
or treat yourself to something extra cool this holiday season 2020, and head over to
antscanada.com to place your order to own an ac Ant Farm.
For me, keeping ants over the years has filled my otherwise mundane and/or stressful days
with wonder, inspiration, excitement, and curiosity.
Watching ants living out their best lives in the luxury setups I’ve setup for them
has truly been so fulfilling beyond words, never boring, and I always seem to discover
something new each time.
I also find ants to be extremely human-like in many aspects.
All of you AC Family, who’ve been watching this channel for awhile, or who have just
been following the almost year-long journey of the Phoenix Empire here, know exactly what
I’m talking about.
Ants are hands down some of the coolest pets ever!
I do hope you guys out there watching consider building and keeping your own ant colonies
at home, and growing your ant empires from their humble beginnings to magnificence in
an enclosure!
Thank you guys for watching, and supporting the ants.
It’s ant love forever!
AC Family, hope you enjoyed this week’s episode!
I was thrilled to update you on the Phoenix Empire’s progress, and happy to share with
you the great news of our Holidays Sale this year.
So many more ant videos are ahead, so if you haven't yet do SMASH that SUBSCRIBE button
and BELL ICON now, and hit ALL so you get notified at every upload.
Also don’t forget to hit the LIKE button every single time including now.
It would really mean a lot to me, guys.
Thank you!
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here, if you would like to watch extended
play footage of the Phoenix Empire in the Ember Islands!
It’s truly a magical world we’ve created, guys!
And now it’s time for the AC Question of the Week.
Last week, we asked:
What is unique about the entrances of stingless bee hives?
Congratulations to P.M.A.Gaming 89 who answered:
The hives have labyrinth entrances with false entrances so ants or
other intruders cannot get in.
Congratulations P.M.A.Gaming 89, you just won a free Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook from
our shop!
In this week’s AC Question of the Week we ask:
Name one plant in the Ember Islands that seemed to have sprung out of nowhere?
Leave your answer in the comments section and you could also win a free Ultimate Ant
Keeping Handbook from our shop!
Hope you could subscribe to the channel as we upload every Saturday at 8AM EST.
Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video, to help
us keep making more.
It’s ant love forever!