8 replies to this topic

[Ross123]

Hi, I'm Ross and I jsut started keeping ants recently. As we know, keeping ant is a relatively minor hobby, which causes the ant related equipment hard to buy, and also costly. 

 

But I found this website called Aliexpress, which is a Chinese version of Amazon, most sellers are from China, and they have many varites of nest and ship globally. 

 

I bought from a store called Phoedix Store, I bought 2 nest and some tools, only cost me 60 dollars, free shipping.

 

Though it will take about a month for the goods to arrive, but I think the price worth it. I will update when my nest arrives. 

Edited by Ross123, January 4 2023 - 1:45 AM.

[Ross123]

I'm new to this forum, and I'm figuring a way to upload the image of my order, but you can always check the store by yourself.

Edited by Ross123, June 27 2022 - 12:53 AM.

[T.C.]

I ordered years ago just to see. The one's I got where garbage!   If it wasn't falling apart, the lack of humidity or poor building materials would surely kill your colony. I was better off putting my colonies in a potato with some glass smashed to the side of it. 

 

I will stick with building my own and dealing with the Australian, U.S.  and Canadian suppliers.

Edited by T.C., June 27 2022 - 12:59 AM.

[aznphenom]

They're cheap enough to try and I have tried a lot of the fancier ones. If it works, great, if it doesnt, they may or may not have good customer service, and some are what you paid for. The fancy one with a built in heater is great on paper but whatever cement/plaster they use is garbage. if you get it wet, it crumbles. The water tower is barely visible and small, you have to refill it every 2-3 days bc the heater evaporate it so fast. I stick to the more basic stuff from aliexpress, like test tubes, sponges, bamboo style tubes, etc

[Manitobant]

Don’t buy from aliexpress, It’s full of cheap chinese garbage. I’d recommended Tar Heel Ants or Arthropod Antics if you are looking for a quality ant nest.

[bmb1bee]

I’ve seen Etsy as an interesting source of formicariums (not illegal ants, I might add), which have a large variety of gypsum, plaster, and plastic nests you can check out. There are a few from UndergroundCiti and AntersAssemble I would recommend checking out.

[ANTdrew]

Ughhhh, Etsy.

[antgallery]

I'm pretty sure about 50% of the time you buy from Aliexpress your order doesn't even arrive.

[bmb1bee]

Ughhhh, Etsy.

I was referring to the formicariums from reputable sellers only. Aside from those, I highly agree with your opinions on illegally sold ants on Etsy.