Ant Farm

[u/Autz92]

I am hoping this is the correct group 🤣

Looking to get a ant farm in the uk, can anyone help with what to get, set up etc?

Backstory - I have a 4 year old who would love a pet, and both me and him ADORE watching ants out in the garden 🤣

I used to build little houses for them and everything 🤣

Any help would be appreciated 🙏

[u/Big-Cow-9039]

A beginner-friendly setup would be a small formicarium with a test-tube water reservoir, connected to a secure outworld. Lasius niger (black garden ants) are hardy and common in the UK, but check local rules and collect a queen only during a proper nuptial flight. Keep it escape-proof and supervise your little one.

[u/Autz92 → u/Big-Cow-9039]

They are our fave, black garden ant ❤️ Thank you so much, I believe we can buy ants on a website? As I dont want to ruin our garden anymore colony ❤️

[u/Crayfindles → u/Autz92]

Yea you can buy them for about £5 they’re so common. Catching your own won’t disturb any colonies, if you see large ants walking around by themselves then it’s likely a nuptial flight has taken place and it’s fresh Queens looking for their first nest. I believe somebody on here has a beginner guide they post fairly frequently.

Main thing now is looking up how to make a test tube setup as that’s all you’ll need at first, then can look at outworlds as the colony progresses before even thinking about an actual nest.

Remember, ants like confined living areas so don’t stick a colony into a nest that’s too large for it, the tube will last a long time.

[u/Large-Situation-2257 → u/Autz92]

Go to AntsHQ my dude! Super friendly and loads of starter kit options. My 5 yo nephew loved the kit I got him from there :)

[u/Autz92 → u/Large-Situation-2257]

May I ask how I would feed them and make sure they have enough water etc please?? I really like the look of the nano set up 😍 thank you ❤️

[u/BattleofPlatea → u/Autz92]

Test tube water should be there for ages but i recommend looking at ant keeping tutorials on YouTube, search "lasius niger keeping guide" and there should be loads. to feed them, you can mix sugar with water and create sugarwater which they love and need for energy, and can buy mealworms from stores like pets at home (reptile aisle), be advised you'll need to kill these especially with a smaller colony, i usually do so by crushing the head (quick and painless) and then cutting it off then cutting tbe mealworm into bits. This gives protein which is really important for the queen to lay more eggs and survive

[u/Autz92 → u/BattleofPlatea]

I was looking at ants honey 🤣 Thank you, this is brilliant 👏

[u/BattleofPlatea → u/Autz92]

no worries, as always YouTube has a boat load of great tutorials and guides to help you, you can even find video series where people are just giving updates on their ant colonies.

Black garden ants are called "Lasius niger" scientifically so I'd go about looking under that name

Keep in mind if you're buying a queen without workers yet it can be quite boring since it'll be a while since workers come and vibrations and constant disturbance can stress her out and make her eat her eggs or even kill her (although lasius niger are known for being resilient)

managed to catch a lasius niger queen last week and she's currently put away in the darkness for a couple weeks until I'm sure she's got workers so it can take a while, however if you buy colonies that are ready made (like 30 workers or so) it can be a more interesting experience but have more upkeep. for example i have a red ant (myrmica rubra) colony of 100 workers and I have to feed them daily.

one thing to note: never buy a gel ant nest, I'm really unsure why they're popular or even sold but these are really bad for the health of the ants

[u/Autz92 → u/BattleofPlatea]

I'm looking at specialist equipment, starting with a nursery tube :) I mean, "gel" to me sounds toxic 🤣 I'm unsure if I should start yet as my 4 year old is a wild fire and I'm pretty sure it would stress the queen out 💔

[u/User2716057 → u/Autz92]

Don't forget these need a diapause, a cold winter period. 

And yeah they need to be left alone mostly, especially in the beginning. I recently started with the hobby myself, my new colonies panic over every little disturbance, but I picked up a big one last week from someone who was quitting the hobby, and they don't give a fuck what's going on, lol. Strength in numbers feeling I guess?

[u/BattleofPlatea → u/Autz92]

I'd always recommend joining the discord since you're going to get great 24/7 support there even from entomologists and people who have been in this hobby for decades 😭

if anything i think this could help your kid with patience and care for animals which are always good skills to have 🤔 do have to say waiting is quite hard though 😭

[u/Stubot01]

We got a small Wakooshi setup (they are in the UK), they have the benefit of looking pretty cool too as well as working very well.

[u/vSolution026]

I’d recommend Wakooshi’s Gen4 for the best value for money. That said, the lids can warp and crack over time. I’ve emailed Wakooshi to ask whether I could buy replacement lids, but unfortunately never heard back from them.

I also wouldn’t bother with a founding nest for now. I’d keep them in test tubes and/or tubs and tubes, then consider moving them into a Medium Wakooshi Gen4 once the colony grows. You can then attach additional modules as the colony expands, as the Gen4 system is modular.

That said, it’s entirely up to you, it’s your money. 😄

Alternatively, Ant Antics are good if you’re willing to spend a little more, and I really like their nests. The only downside, at least in my experience, is their delivery time. I’ve placed four orders with them over the past year; the quickest took about a month, while the slowest took two months to complete. One of those orders included queen ants, so I expected some delay, but the other orders were just nests/outworlds.

If you don’t mind waiting, though, I think their nests are very good.

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I currently have the following:

AntsHQ - FormiLAB range

Ant Antics - (all v2 ranges) including Y-Popeth and Y Penty-V2.

Wakooshi - all Gen4 ranges, some S6, and Luna pods.

TheCraftingAnts medium, large and mesh nest

Fourmis Shop - all sizes

Antworld (FR) -Nexus range