In the past, I've made tutorials on how to raise ants in captivity, from a single queen,
to a colony thousands of ants strong. But I’ve only briefly touched upon potential
nesting mediums and designs. So, throughout this series of videos, I'm going to be covering
the subject in a little more detail, and walk you through how to build your very own ant
nest. In this first episode, we'll be looking at a very cheap and simplistic, yet highly
effective solution. Which I like to call, the "Tubs and Tubes" method.
A well-designed nest is comprised of two main elements. The foraging area, where the ants
collect their food and dump their garbage…and the nesting area, where all the ants reside
and store their brood. First, let’s focus on the foraging area.
Any sort of container will do. Transparent ones made of glass or acrylic are best, as
You can usually find such containers at pet, aquarium and kitchen supply shops.
You'll also need some vinyl tubing. This will act as tunnels for the ants to navigate through.
Vinyl tubing can be found at most hardware stores and comes in a range of sizes. Which
size you should choose will depend a little on the species you intend on housing. Ideally,
you want to allow at least enough space for two-way traffic. So, for most ants, 10mm will
do. For larger ones, like Sugar Ants, you might want up to 16mm, and for something like
Bull Ants, even larger still. Once you’ve picked an appropriate size,
you’ll then need to attach it up to your container. So, work out where you want it
to connect. Anywhere on the sides, towards the bottom is ideal. For mine, I’m putting
a couple on one of the sides. Now, it’s just a matter of cutting out some
holes. A drill is ideal, but if you don’t have access to one, a sharp and sturdy blade,
like from a pair of scissors, works perfectly. Just apply a little pressure, and slowly work
your way through, like so...
If you’re going with a glass tank, you'll likely need a specialised drill bit to get through cleanly.
Preferably, you’ll want to end up with nice
round circles, slightly smaller than the circumference of your tubing.
Once you're done, place the end segment
of your tubing in some hot water, just until it softens up a bit. Then, squeeze it through
and you should have a nice fit. Preparing these holes and tubes like this,
allows you to easily connect the ants up to additional foraging, and nesting spaces, once
they require it. Until such time, simply plug them off with some cotton wool, or remove
the tubing and seal the hole off instead. A bit of sticky tape works nicely.
Now the tubing’s done, the tub needs to become escape proof. I’ve found the most
effective way to do this is by using this specialised, non-toxic liquid, known as fluon.
Just apply a thin layer in a circular motion, with brush, or a bit of cotton wool. Make
your way all around the upper inner edges, being careful you don’t leave any gaps.
It helps if you work with the container upside down, that way you won’t end up with unsightly
dip marks down the insides.
When you’re done, just leave it to dry for
around 10 minutes or so. Once dry, the surface becomes super slippery. Any ants that try
crossing the barrier will have a tough time griping on, and end up falling back down to
the bottom. Over time, the barrier will lose its effectiveness, so every 3-6 months or
so, clean off the old layer and reapply a fresh one.
You can find fluon online. Although, it may seem a little pricey, you really don’t need
to apply very much of it for it to be effective. So, it’ll likely last you a long time. I’ve
had this small 100ml bottle for around 3 years now, and you can see it’s only just starting
to run out. For added security, it helps having a tight-fitting
lid, just in case some nifty ants manage to find a way up. However, you’ll still need
to allow for some ventilation. This can be achieved by simply cutting some holes into
the lid. Then just applying some fluon around the holes and/or stuffing them with some permeable
material, like cotton wool. Alternatively, you could cut out a larger
section or two, and glue on a sheet of meshing. Just make sure it’s fine enough so the ants
won't be able to squeeze through. Now, it's time to decorate. A layer of a fine
substrate, like sand works nicely. I'm going for this deep orangey-reddish sand, which
is found naturally throughout central Australia. Whichever you go for, just make sure it is,
and will remain, bone dry. Otherwise the ants may choose to dig into it and end up moving
their colony underground and out of sight. Next, I like to add in something that the
ants can climb on, essentially giving them additional surface area to explore. I'm going
for some small rocks and pieces of wood, but you can go for whatever you fancy, some figurines
even. It’s really up to you! Just don't get carried away. Remember the ants will be
using this space to dump their garbage, like the exoskeletons of past prey. So, the less
decorative, and more open the area is, the easier it'll be for you to clean and maintain.
Now, you can just leave the container bare if you like, but just note that having some
form of substrate can be beneficial for many species. Especially those whose larvae spin
cocoons. Like this colony of Jumping Jacks here. When the larvae are nice and plump,
the ants will carry little bits of substrate back into their nest and start covering them up...
This aids the larvae in the construction of their cocoons, as it gives them something
to grip onto and act like scaffolding for their strands of silk.
Finally, we're done with the foraging area, and it's ready for ants! Assuming you’ve
been raising your colony within a test tube setup, all you have to do, is simply place
the tube inside. For most ant species, test tubes, comprised of a water reservoir blocked
off with some cotton wool, serve as perfectly adequate nesting environments. Either plastic,
or glass tubes work fine. Personally, I prefer glass, as they provide a clearer view and
are far more scratch resistant than plastic. If you need some guidance on how to effectively
set one of these up, I cover the topic in my “How to Raise a Queen Ant” tutorial, here.
To prevent the tube from rolling around, press
it down and slightly burry it in the substrate. If you choose to go with a bare container,
use some Blu-tack to secure it down instead. You also have the option of connecting the
tube externally by utilizing the holes you've cut. Simply link up the test tube with the
vinyl tubing. Secure it on with some sticky tape, if needed.
Finally, you’ll want to cover up their nest from light. A strip of tin foil works well.
Or, if you want a more natural look, a leaf or a piece of bark will suffice. For the external
style, pipe insulation works perfectly, and like its name suggests, it’ll help in keeping
the colony at a nice consistent temperature too. Whatever you use, just make sure it's
not too much of a hassle to remove. That way you can check up on the ants with minimal disturbance.
Once you’re happy with their placement,
simply remove the cotton seal. Now the colony’s free to roam around and explore their new environment…
Place in some food, and they’ll be sure to find it…
This kind of setup is perfect for claustral
queens who’ve just recently acquired their first generation of workers, and for semi-claustral
queens too, queens in which must consume food whilst undergoing their founding stage, like
this bull ant queen here…
As the colony grows, they’ll require additional
nesting space, which can be achieved by simply introducing further test tube setups. Same
as before. Or what I like to do, is setup a small container,
something which hasn’t much depth to it and comes with a nice clear, and tightly fitting
lid. This phone case here works perfectly. Just drill a hole in to match the size of
your tubing, fill it with a few test tube setups, and attach it up. Before long, they’ll
discover the new space, and begin moving on in…
Eventually, the water in each of these tubes will run out, and the ants will need some
fresh ones to inhabit. So, when the water does start running low, just move the ants
out by exposing them to light. Perhaps direct them to a new module of tubes. Just keep it
nice and dark, and they should move straight in.
Once they’ve moved, simply detach and block off the old nesting area. The great thing
about test tubes is that they're infinitely reusable. So don’t throw out these old ones.
Just remove the cotton with a frayed stick, give them a quick clean with some hot soapy
water, and they’re good to go again. So, the “Tubs and Tubes” method. It really
is a fool proof, inexpensive, and highly effective way of raising ants. However, it does come
with its downsides. The cylindrical shape of the test tubes makes
everything inside seem a little distorted, and so, doesn’t allow for the greatest viewing
experience. And, more importantly, some ant species just
aren’t well suited for test tubes. Some find it difficult to grip onto glass and plastic
surfaces, so trying to raise them in one, could really debilitate the colony. And others
may prefer a relatively dry nesting environment, and so, won’t adapt very well to the high
humidity levels in which a test tube setup provides.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from raising ants, it’s that there is no “one
size fits all”. Each species has specific needs, and it takes some intuition and experimenting
to fulfil them. For this reason, throughout this series, I’ll be coving how to build
a variety of nesting styles, including hebel...
Acrylic...
Soil...
And more.
In the next episode, we’ll be working with hebel, also known as ytong or AAC. Featuring
our range of premium models, soon to be available on our official shop at antsaustralia.com
Here’s a little sneak peak of what we’ve been working on…
We’ll also be offering essential ant keeping items, many of which have been utilized throughout
this video, such as test tubes and vinyl tubing. More info on our shop coming very soon, here
on YouTube, and over on our Instagram and Facebook page. So, stay tuned.
As always, thanks for watching this video, and I hope you enjoyed.