Are dirt setups bad somehow?

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foopaints
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon May 10, 2021 10:26 am
Location: Shanghai

Are dirt setups bad somehow?

Post: # 77616Post foopaints
Fri May 14, 2021 3:41 am

So while my queen is (hopefully) laying eggs, I've been starting to think about what kind of ant setup I would like eventually, mostly to keep myself from checking on her, lol.

When looking for resources online, I seem to mostly see either natural setups with (often bioactive) terrariums where the ants can nest where ever they like without being observed in their nest. Or outworlds connected to pre-hollowed out nests of various kinds.

What I see almost not at all is dirt setups that allow ants to only gig in a very shallow slice so they will dig their nests up against the glass, which to me seems like the best of both worlds...?

Is there a reason for that? Am I missing something?

I have been considering making my own setup to make this possible and it would look roughly like this:
Image
(the live plants are optional I think - but you get the idea)
What do you guys think?

PS: I'm fairly certain the species I have (Camponotus japonicus) are capable of digging a nest. If they don't want to, I suppose I can always get a different setup! haha
Janet

- total ant noob! :lol:

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AM1C39
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Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2020 12:17 pm
Location: Canada, ON
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Re: Are dirt setups bad somehow?

Post: # 77620Post AM1C39
Fri May 14, 2021 6:52 am

Your ants will love that setup only thing I would change is instead of putting an empty space you replace it with ytong/AAC that has tunnels carved into it so the ants can dig and you can see them nesting in the ytong/AAC. This is completely your decision.
My current colonies:
-Miniature Military(formica neogagates)
-Black Hearts(crematogaster cerasi)
In search of new camponotus colony
[Have a look at antmaps.org]

foopaints
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon May 10, 2021 10:26 am
Location: Shanghai

Re: Are dirt setups bad somehow?

Post: # 77622Post foopaints
Fri May 14, 2021 8:33 am

Aww! Yay! Yeah I was thinking of how I can utilize that space. I might do that actually! That way one side could have the dirt nest and the other a ytong or similar nest and the ants can choose or use both maybe...

I forsee a fun DIY project in my future! :D
Janet

- total ant noob! :lol:

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