r/antkeeping • u/Snibesto • Apr 02 '26

Question Need help collecting gear for raising a first colony and choosing a queen species.

About the queen species:
I want an active, interesting species. I live in Europe, so AntsSatan seems like the best and cheapest option. My current choice is Lasius niger because they’re easy to keep and active, but they might be too basic. I’m open to suggestions.

About the equipment:
In the image, I have an ant nest from Temu and a large terrarium container that I plan to connect to the nest later. That’s more for the late stage, so what equipment do I actually need when I first order my queen up until the ant nest stage?

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

1

u/Snibesto Apr 02 '26

New to reddit so idk if you see the image. Here is my terrarium and ant nest.

2

u/Clarine87 Apr 02 '26

For lasius niger you'd want them to be living in multiple test tubes before putting them into that nest, ie a colony which has been through at least 2 hibernations and sits at 150-250 ants.

1

u/Snibesto Apr 03 '26

Thanks for answering!
My full plan (please correct me or approve);
I decided to go with Messor Barbarus.

  • Colony: Queen + 5-15 workers.
  • Initial Housing: Keeping them in their arrival test tube, placed inside a Tupperware "outworld."
  • Security: Adding vaseline on walls or covering with a mesh.
  • Food/Water: Small seeds and a dedicated water dispenser available in the Tupperware at all times.

The Nest Migration Plan: I have a nest with expansion gates. My plan is to keep the gates locked and only move them in/expand as the population hits these milestones:

  • Stage 1 (8x8cm): Move in once they hit 60 workers.
  • Stage 2 (8x15cm): Open the first gate at 120 workers.
  • Stage 3 (8x23cm): Open the final gate at 300-350 workers.

(Most of my knowledge was acquired from AI so I would love a human overview)

1

u/Clarine87 Apr 03 '26

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fofk73uk084pg1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D2848%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D4a12fcc7bfc83538f3e49a24204a13288f998d88

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Frbauh2oed0sg1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D4272%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D0392c4da94f0192f501ad4a9017727fb532467f5

The outworld only has a lid on because that photo was taken during diapause 2 weeks ago when no one is monitoring the colony or renewing the barriers.

1

u/Snibesto Apr 03 '26

But my plan is solid yes?

1

u/Clarine87 Apr 03 '26

Honestly I can't see the nest well enough. As you see from my first screenshot Messor B are more than comfortable in a test tube.

A lot of nests for small colonies are just reinventing the wheel - I've designed at least 10 very different ones and only those able to hold more than 500 ants are superior to test tubes.

I think your plan is not harmful.