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Future ant Nests

Started By Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* , Jan 4 2022 4:01 PM

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81 replies to this topic

#21 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 9:31 AM

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Also, I know some people have said this and there are nests out there like it but I would also like more expandable nests to be available, Like you can click it together and you have another chamber to add space. (similar to Tar heel mini hearth nests but without the added outworld.) Should be cheaper over all having smaller compartments instead of buying whole nests that need more tubing to connect them from one nest to the other. Some nests have plastic slots you can pull out over time to add more room but these nests are only good for larger ants. Smaller ants can get through the small acrylic holes. All this would save time and money by not having to use more larger nests as the colony ( multiple different nests) grows and maybe giving too much space at first. Making the new nest you add a dumping ground. 
I know there are HappyAnt Hexanest Modules you can buy but they are not very cost effective. They are also made of corks and my Polyrhachis Ammon would make a right old mess chewing that all up until there is nothing left, making it pointless spending all that money for them to destroy it. So they are only good for some species. 

I will defiantly make nest holes in the side, and nest for smaller genuses. The nest have an aus ant material, but not the same. I plan on small nest (2x2) being under 15$, as aus ants who have a similar size sells there’s for 23! I am planning on making the nest stackable, in a way so it is space conservative. I do not think I will be making 3d printed nest, as they are not very Great in my mind. I cannot make promises about escapes with rover ants and ghost ants, but I will have prototypes soon.

Here is some small nest features(for founding instead of tubes)
-Side connection(might require like 1 cm of tubing
- 2 chambers(may change)
-Sponge for hydration
-Will probably come in different colors



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#22 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 9:35 AM

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Nests where you can easily take out brood for your parasitics or Dorylines, more natural nests made for species >1mm, and adjustable self-hydration.


So, a easily removable tray and/or lid of part of the nest for stealing brood? Also, I WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT make promises about ants <1.5mm due to their escape habits. Also, is a ant setup that you can get for a large invicta colony under 120 cheap, as they have large numbers?

#23 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 9:37 AM

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Something easily expandable that wouldn't take up too much space. Also, it wouldn't need to be watered often and would be mold-proof. An outworld that can be easily removed and attached to different parts of the nest would also be interesting.


I could try a water reserve that consistently gave water to the nest(probably wouldn’t work with moisture hating species), but I also am trying to figure out how to make a reserve that the output can be easily adjusted.

#24 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 9:39 AM

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As for mold proof, I think I might offer springtails for free with certain nest(no promises on this one)

#25 Offline Canadian anter - Posted January 8 2022 - 9:52 AM

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Gel farms that actually work


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#26 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 11:01 AM

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Gel farms that actually work


Gel farms don’t work Becuase it doesn’t provide enough nutrient to the worker. Talk to NASA lol. Or you could feed your ants in the fel farm food.

#27 Offline Canadian anter - Posted January 8 2022 - 11:49 AM

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Gel farms that actually work


Gel farms don’t work Becuase it doesn’t provide enough nutrient to the worker. Talk to NASA lol. Or you could feed your ants in the fel farm food.

 

No one said the gel had to be nutritional


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#28 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 12:32 PM

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Gel farms that actually work


Gel farms don’t work Becuase it doesn’t provide enough nutrient to the worker. Talk to NASA lol. Or you could feed your ants in the fel farm food.
No one said the gel had to be nutritional
So if there was a gel that the ants could dig through, but not eat it would be “working”?
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#29 Offline antsriondel - Posted January 8 2022 - 4:33 PM

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You all need to think bigger!

agreed!!!!!!


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#30 Offline Chickalo - Posted January 8 2022 - 6:56 PM

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A nest that neutralizes the pheromones of any colony inside of it, so you could plop multiple colonies of any species into it and they'd automatically get along with each other.


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シグナチャーです。예.

 

#31 Offline eea - Posted January 8 2022 - 7:05 PM

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a nest that kills invasive ants


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#32 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 7:55 PM

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a nest that kills invasive ants


You tell that to someone who’s name is “SolenopsisKeeper-“ and lives in the US XD
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#33 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 7:56 PM

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A nest that neutralizes the pheromones of any colony inside of it, so you could plop multiple colonies of any species into it and they'd automatically get along with each other.


There is a way to have monotonous colonies with multiple queens btw. It just takes a good nest design.
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#34 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 8 2022 - 7:58 PM

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My idea for a future ant nest that All I'd ever want is a ant nest with a knob to be able to adjust temperature of the whole nest. Not just one part of the nest. So then I can hibernate my ants easily.


Just have an ice pad that generates cold built in with nest and sell it lol
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#35 Offline UtahAnts - Posted January 8 2022 - 9:03 PM

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I think it would be interesting to make a nest that could control population growth. If you wanted to keep a colony small at a manageable size, the nest could somehow regulate that. If you wanted a large colony, the nest could open up new modular chambers that the ants can move into once a certain population density is reached.


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#36 Offline NicholasP - Posted January 8 2022 - 9:06 PM

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I think it would be interesting to make a nest that could control population growth. If you wanted to keep a colony small at a manageable size, the nest could somehow regulate that. If you wanted a large colony, the nest could open up new modular chambers that the ants can move into once a certain population density is reached.

After reading you say "control population growth" the picture in my brain was an ant getting sucked up by a built in vacuum lol


Edited by NicholasP, January 8 2022 - 9:07 PM.

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#37 Offline Chickalo - Posted January 9 2022 - 7:18 AM

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A nest that neutralizes the pheromones of any colony inside of it, so you could plop multiple colonies of any species into it and they'd automatically get along with each other.


There is a way to have monotonous colonies with multiple queens btw. It just takes a good nest design.

 

Nah, I'm talking about making multi-species colonies without having to start with to queens using vinegar- like how you can mix two colonies of Anoplolepis gracilipes and they'll get along.  That but two different species.


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シグナチャーです。예.

 

#38 Offline ANTdrew - Posted January 9 2022 - 7:48 AM

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A nest that neutralizes the pheromones of any colony inside of it, so you could plop multiple colonies of any species into it and they'd automatically get along with each other.

There is a way to have monotonous colonies with multiple queens btw. It just takes a good nest design.
Nah, I'm talking about making multi-species colonies without having to start with to queens using vinegar- like how you can mix two colonies of Anoplolepis gracilipes and they'll get along. That but two different species.
It wouldn’t work because disrupting pheromones would seriously mess up basic colony functions. You’d basically be blinding your colony.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#39 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted January 9 2022 - 8:00 AM

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A nest that neutralizes the pheromones of any colony inside of it, so you could plop multiple colonies of any species into it and they'd automatically get along with each other.

There is a way to have monotonous colonies with multiple queens btw. It just takes a good nest design.
Nah, I'm talking about making multi-species colonies without having to start with to queens using vinegar- like how you can mix two colonies of Anoplolepis gracilipes and they'll get along. That but two different species.
It wouldn’t work because disrupting pheromones would seriously mess up basic colony functions. You’d basically be blinding your colony.
You can. Just put mesh in between the nest, and allow them to develop the same nest scent for a few months. Then combine them and I think that would work, as long as the queen can’t go into the other nest.
With muti species that might work still… pretty sure how headhunter ants survive

Edited by SolenopsisKeeper-, January 9 2022 - 8:01 AM.

#40 Offline ANTdrew - Posted January 9 2022 - 2:59 PM

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You know what? Why even bother with glass? We need invisible force fields to keep the ants in.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
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