Tackle box formicariums?

[Aaron567]

I saw this idea from idahoantgirl and there is a video on youtube about making a formicarium out of a bead organizer/tackle box. I want to do this for my ants since it is very cheap and easy to make. I bought some tackle boxes and I plan on replacing the plastic lid with glass to make it escape proof and putting damp cotton in one of the compartments. I will keep my Solenopsis invicta colony in them. My questions are:

Does anyone on this forum actually keep their ants in these formicariums?
Is hot glue safe for ants? That's what I want to use to glue the glass on, since it dries quickly and is easy to use. I've seen some peoples' ants die when they happened to use hot glue in their setups, but I've also seen people use hot glue with no issues. Does anyone know for sure? Thanks for reading

[nightxwolf88]

I have made some out of bead organizers and my 10 queen solenopsis molesta colony has been in one for three months without issues. I would suggest using 100% silicone it isn't expensive, can find it at your local hardware store, and is definitely safe once it is dried.

[nightxwolf88]

Also I would make sure you have a way to remove the cotton if it molds so you can replace it instead of moving the colony to a new formicarium.

[idahoantgirl]

I have made some out of bead organizers and my 10 queen solenopsis molesta colony has been in one for three months without issues. I would suggest using 100% silicone it isn't expensive, can find it at your local hardware store, and is definitely safe once it is dried.

like nightwolfox said, if you use silicone, make sure its 100 percent with no additives. If it has mold preventive chemicals it is not good at all. I think that hot glue would be fine. it doesn't contain nasty chemicals and dries very hard so it should be fine.