The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Hi, I am buying my first colony staring with Dorymyrmex Sp. I really want this to work out but I'm currently in college and as much as id like to buy a starter kit from AntsCanada I can't afford it. I've been looking for cheaper alternatives but I don't trust myself %100 to choose what's right. My budget would max be 60ish dollars but if there's no way for me to succeed with that amount I could try to save more.

I was thinking a 10-gallon fish tank (I found one for $24), with a tube leading from the bottom of the tank through mesh I would use at the top of the tank leading to a cheaper alternative for a hybrid nest. I'm looking for help with finding these cheaper alternatives, help with all the soils and filling for the tank id need (Preferring fake plants) and listing all the things I'm forgetting.

You could try checking YouTube. I believe there are tons of do it yourself tutorials. Also you could try tarheelants.com. They’re pretty expensive, but you might find something you’re looking for.

I've been up all night looking stuff up haha and I came across some "do it yourself" options like cement and stuff. The only thing with that is the fact id have to make a whole new one after a while to due to the substance molding or something. I think this is a good option for me, (https://www.etsy.com/listing/663603731/natural-ant-farm-formicarium-modular-kit?plkey=c1276d86e2b8024d46f55affa90a97e27db4e196%3A663603731&frs=1) and after a while if they need more room I could move them into a AntsCanada Outworld.

the ant's Canada hybrid nests are under $60 and you can just use tubaware for the outworld, or just thinking about it you could just use all tubaware. for one of my colonies I use a Red Vine container that I ate all the red vine.

with an ant barrier you can have the Tuberware open lid or you can just but hole in the lid large enough for cotton ball to fit in and plug those. The second solution could have less ventilation though.

Okay, so what I've decided is going the completely homemade way to just save up for a super nice setup when my ants need it. I think I'm going to buy a 14 slot pill sorter thing that you see people use in movies. It's two rows of 7 spaces and each of the spaces opens individually so 14 lids. I was thinking I could put cotton on the far left top and bottom spaces for their water then drill holes on the inner walls of the casing to have them be able to walk through. Then like yall were saying use a tubbaware for the Outworld. One thing I was wondering was what dirt I should use to put into the pill case for a good hydration gradient.

so I've heard this method being used with bead sorters and such but this is basically the same idea. so you can put cotton in one of the slots and drill tiny holes that ants can't fit in so the hydration can spread out, you also can use two hydration chambers and alternate them so you reduce the risk of mold outbreaks.