Starting a natural nest

Show us your formicariums and ant setup, ask formicarium-related questions, or share your experiences with building an ant home. Here you will also find formicarium requirements for specific ant species.

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Sethinski
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:16 pm
Location: Grand Junction CO

Starting a natural nest

Post: # 18256Post Sethinski
Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:28 pm

I want to make a natural nest for a Pogonomyrmex barbatus colony but i have a few questions. What would be the best digging medium? I have a burrowing lizard that need digging stuff and for her i use a dirt and sand mixture, would something like that work? And are there any kind of things i need to regularly do such as wetting the dirt? Any advise would be very helpful!!!!!

Martialis
Posts: 1576
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2016 5:30 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Starting a natural nest

Post: # 18257Post Martialis
Sat Mar 18, 2017 11:16 pm

A dirt-sand mixture would work fine. Putting rocks or sticks in the dirt would give it structure to prevent tunnel collapses.
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SpeciesK

Re: Starting a natural nest

Post: # 18311Post SpeciesK
Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:13 pm

I have mine in dirt in buckets. Each has different dirt. The one that is almost completely clay is probably the worst because the bottom will never dry out while the top is like concrete. My Good Ants are in dirt that has a lot more sand and is coarser. I think that the deeper your dirt, the coarser it needs to be so it drains out the water, and the ants can remove pieces while the rest supports itself. So play sand would be too fine, it would stay wet down deep, and collapse of it was dry. Aquarium gravel is too coarse. I'm sure you will find the perfect thing though.

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