The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

An easy work around is get some red film (used in photography and cut it to the size of the lid opening. This will serve 2 things, #1 most ants will consider this as darkness as long as you don't shine a extremely bright light into it. #2 you can observe your ants with out removing it if you like.

If you notice on some of Mikeys video's he'll have the red film placed over the nest to make the ants think it's dark and it can be easily removed for full light viewing.

That's what I'm going to be doing with my large hybrid that should arrive tomorrow. Not even going to use the lid. Also another cure (and this is up to you and would void any warranty that the nest would have) you could drill some very small holes across the lids surface and that would break the vacuum that you say yours has. Like I said do at your own risk!

Just some random thoughts from the Mad Vamp

MadVampy wrote:An easy work around is get some red film (used in photography and cut it to the size of the lid opening.

I googled "photography red film" but didn't find what I was hoping to find. What should I search for if I want to find some of this to purchase? Do you know of a vendor or web site where I could find some? Thanks!

We used to sell red film at AC but the supplier that I used to get it from in Toronto no longer carries it. Thanks for the suggestion, Allyoo!

@Allyoutoo : I have experienced this same issue when removing the lid to observe. If I'm not super careful, it startles the colony. Then of course other people who come in to see the ants just pull it off and put it back on very roughly, not knowing that I'd prefer it be done softly.

We will look into a better solution. Maybe the first attempt will be something simple like small circular felt pads with adhesive on one side to stick to the glass (or the lid). This would most likely require the nest portion to be 1/32 or 1/16 inch taller in order to still have a nice fit for the lid. This shouldn't be too big of an adjustment though.

Thanks for the suggestion!

ooper01 wrote:

MadVampy wrote:An easy work around is get some red film (used in photography and cut it to the size of the lid opening.

I googled "photography red film" but didn't find what I was hoping to find. What should I search for if I want to find some of this to purchase? Do you know of a vendor or web site where I could find some? Thanks!

Here's some on Amazon

http://amzn.com/B003DIGLV8

It's still up in the air about if ants can or can not see red light, I've read many posts and articles about it. The most common thing is to avoid very bright light and heat, ants can see if the light is too bright and of coarse we all know they are sensitive to heat.

Cool! I just bought some. I'll try it out

Quick and dirty fix could be one of these two items. I just picked them up at Walmart for a couple of bucks each.

The felt circles are just a bit thicker than the mounting tape. I did notice with the placement of the mounting tape right in the corners, even extending just a hair past the edge of the lid, helped quite a bit in minimizing the noise/vibration when removing the lid. If the edges of the lid come into contact with the nest, it still rattles the nest a little bit, but if the mounting tape, or even the felt pads, extend just a tiny bit beyond the edge of the lid, it prevents the lid from contacting the nest when taking on/off.

Of course, you have to be sure not to extend too much or the lid won't fit back on the nest. Also the nest will have to be extended a bit higher or there is a slight gap when adding these materials.