ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Stilton]

Hi All

I have a colony of Camponotus herculeanus and a 60cm farm and arena for their home on order. I want to make sure I get the set-up to their liking so I would appreciate any suggestions, especially from anyone who has experience of this ant.

For the farm I have ordered clay for the bottom and sand/loam, humus and mould with the idea of making up a mix or layers similar to their natural forest conditions. I have pine needles for a sprinkling on top and a 12" by 1.5" piece of branch to lay on top. Any suggestions for how to layer or mix the material for best effect?

What temperature and humidity do these ants like best? I plan to get a radiant lamp but I'm not sure what type or power I need. Also, when I add water can it be plain tapwater or should it be bottled?

Finally, can I put plants in the farm (i.e. directly in the medium to grow)?

Thanks for any comments, I look forward to posting progress when everything arrives.

[deadmeat30]

hello Stilton, and welcome to the forum! Nice to see another nottingham lad on here. heh.

Sounds like a nice set-up you have planned. Which farm did you get?

Camponoyus Herculeanus should survive just fine in the british climate without any need for heat lamp or changing the humidity. Is this the first colony you have ever had?

you can use tap water, i most certainly do... no need to give your ants volconisity! lol.

good luck with it and keep us updated!

Alan

[Stilton]

Hey Deadmeat

I've ordered the 60x30x6cm farm so the little fellas will have plenty of room. Thanks for the climate info. I was thinking about getting a low-powered ceramic lamp to warm up part of the farm and see if this affected where they went but I guess it would be hard to tell anyway once they burrow.

Do you know if they will prefer sand/loam/humus or a mix, or even a layer of one on the other?

I just found this web-site recently; it's fantastic this kit and the livestock is available now. I've wanted to keep ants for a long time but those toy antfarms never interested me. This will be my first colony (if you don't count the one in my back garden ).

[deadmeat30]

a sand and loam mix normally works a treat. thats all i use with my colonies. well a 60x30x6cm is a great size! but what u will find is they will burrow in the middle of it, so you wont see any tunnels, well not until the colony gets bigger!

if you wanted to watch the nest activity then a ytong nest is normally best, as this will let you see every tunnel and chamber!

Alan

[JimmyVe]

Hi Stilton and welcome to the forum.

For now i think you have al the help you need from deadmeat
I must say (like deadmeat did) that if you want to look at the ants in there nest (underground) you better consider taking a Y-tong nest, but if you just like to see them above ground you can take a sand/loam nest. (that is up to you)
If your not sure what to take, take a look at the gallery here on the site. There are plenty of pictures from farms, so you have an idea before you start.

Happy ant keeping.

[Stilton]

Thanks for the comments. I think I'll go for the standard sand/loam mix then, with maybe a couple of cms of humus on top for appearance as much as anything. I'd like to get a forest feel if I can; make 'em feel at home

I'm still wondering about planting but that's a specific area so I'll start another thread.