failry noob to all this but here's what i got going on 16+ weeks into it.
I keep the outworld quite clean. The colony politely dumps their trash in a single pile as far form their nest as they can get it. I vacuum this out about once a week/as it starts to be a pile. There is always some amount of trash strewn between the nest exit and the actual dump. A lot of the ants will only carry a thing so far, call it good enough and drop it for someone else to take the rest of the way. I don't worry about any of that as it will find its way to the trash pile eventually.
As i have three outworld spaces, i keep the insect feeding to the tiny world nearest the nest. Any bug bits that have not been taken to the nest or trash after about 48 hours i remove with tweezers.
Also i noted the ants do not eat bug legs, but they do take the time to remove them to the trash pile. So i just cut them off now and they go direct to the house trash instead.
I keep a little slice of apple out all the time in the medium outworld, refreshing it every 24-72 hours depending whenever any rot beginning to show.
I vacuum up any unwanted seed piles in the large outworld after a couple weeks of being ignored.
And i do all this because i know a small space well warmed with rotting detritus will get stinky, and they sit right next to my computer where i spend the bulk of my at home time.
So i stay on top of that and never let it get too far along to start stinking.
While it will be different species to species, colony size can influence behavior. I'd guess that as the combo of their colony size and outworld space grows, they might begin to remove the trash farther from their nest area.
Each time i added more outworld space the first thing the ants would do is relocate the trash pile to be as far form their nest as they could get it. But again a tiny colony seems to be less willing to venture as far a field as a larger one.
the other thing i get is poop stains in popular locations. The main floor and rock decoration of the med outworld becomes dark with it. I use water and a q-tip to clean it up as best i can whenever it starts to look bad. But the more porous material of the floor would need a stronger brush scrubbing than i can give it while they are still in it. I figure to detach and super scrub it up once every 10-12 months or so.
While i've not dealt in founding i've read people praising this stuff over cotton for not molding so badly/quickly/maybe at all.
https://www.aliexpre...o2usa4itemAdapt
not 100% sure if these are the same exact thing but also these might work for that purpose
https://www.thomassc...LTURE-TUBE-CAPS
https://www.thomassc...aps/_/Foam-Plug
On mite prevention i have assumed a cleaner environment is the base of a good defense, that's part of why i clean so regularly.
But also a well sealed up environment, nice fine mesh screening for ventilation, that can keep things out as much as in.
And then on advice form here, i also boil any feed insects for about 3-4 seconds to kill off any mites or mite eggs they might have on them. Making sure they get full submerged.
Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, May 18 2023 - 8:09 AM.