5 replies to this topic

[William. T]

I really need a quality formicarium for my T. Sessile. ByFormica hasn't seemed to release their "eco nest" yet. The test tubes I have them in are filled with ant waste and moldy, which seem to discolor and infect the brood. Besides, my T. Sessile are too cramped for a test tube, and they crap up any test tube easily. As these ants are extremely hardy, I am thinking of using a slab of clay, like this:

 

 

I have picture frame glass I will use to top up the formicium. I will be using all natural, air dry clay, which does

not harm these ants. To hyrdrate the nest, I will insert the test tubes with water and cotton in. It's not like these ants are big on hydration. Any thoughts?

[Crystals]

Is the clay fired?

Are you planning on carving tunnels and then siliconing the glass on top?

 

You could easily create a watering chamber to hydrate the nest.

[William. T]

No. it is not fired. I saw that you had a Camponotus founding chamber with on fired clay. I will silicone the glass on.

[Foogoo]

I feel like Tapinoma won't really be picky as long as they have a ceiling to hide under. All the ones I've found were under rocks and when I first caught my colony they would rush under leaves, debris or anything else they could find to hide under.

[Ants4fun]

So is it just a box? No tunnels or anything? If you want that, you could just put this in a plastic box...

[William. T]

So is it just a box? No tunnels or anything? If you want that, you could just put this in a plastic box...

I do plan to gauge out chambers and the such, but I guess a wide open  chamber is good, as it saves space. After all, I find them under trash cans, flagstones, rugs, and even Bud light bottles, and They always have no complex tunnel system.