The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

I am creating a habitat for my new Solenopsis colony, but I don't want to use dirt from outside, because it has proved unreliable (long story), so I wanted to see if anyone knew a solution for sediment for this habitat. Keep in mind, I captured my queens in jacksonville, fl.

You could use coco coir. It's commonly used in hydroponics and reptile keeping. Unlike soil it is an inert media with no nutrients which means it will not harbor bacteria or other microorganisms without some form of organic material or compost added to it. However it provides great aeration and water retention.

Plain old dirt works, too.

Martilias is right. I know everyone is on the sanitizer kick these days but when I was a kid we use to play in the dirt and yes maybe even eat a little lol. The only issue I could see with soil is the possible harmful pathogens, mold, viruses or bacteria it might contain. If thats your concern the solution to make any soil safe would be to sterilize it. Bake it in the oven for an hour or so at a very high temperature. This will kill almost all organisms, harmful and beneficial. Other than farmer ant species though I don't think their are any negatives to starting off with a sterile substrate.

TheL3g3nd wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 13, 2017 9:30 pm

I am creating a habitat for my new Solenopsis colony, but I don't want to use dirt from outside, because it has proved unreliable (long story), so I wanted to see if anyone knew a solution for sediment for this habitat. Keep in mind, I captured my queens in jacksonville, fl.

Can you PM me he long story?

YOU SHOULD TELL US ABOUT THE LONG STORY

Ants can't make a home in coir it doesn't decay stuff like soil does if you want you can mix a little plain coir is no good

I totally wanna hear the long story...

Long story or it didn't happen..