Nest Substrate

[WondringLisa]

For around 3 months I have been keeping a colony of Messor Barbarus and they seem to be doing well, they are in a substrate nest currently (i bought a pack of substrate mix at the time when i had money for it). However I have begun to find that my choice of glue construction was bad and things are starting to give, and having it in the same container as the outworld is a minor issue now.

So now I am working out a new nesting space in a separate glass vessel with a core to keep the substrate wall at the edges. I can't currently afford to buy substrate (was a sand/loam mix), Can anyone suggest places to gather soil to mix in with sand for a substrate mix?

Lisa

[Ants4fun]

You can probably find dirt mixtures at your local hardware store. Not sure if you can find too much in England this time of year, but almost any dirt/sand mixture should work. Just experiment and make sure that it is firm enough to hold their tunnels!

[antnest8]

You can use soil from outside just as long as you bake it for 15 minuets at least. As for the mix I would use a mix of potting soil and outdoor soil. The potting soil is cleaner and won't be as messy but the outdoor soil will give it stability.