Hi,

I've been interested in getting a glass Ant Village/House for a long
time and never seem to get around to it.

What's involved, how does one get their hands on a good quality
structure, where do I find suitable ants and what do I feed them?

Thank you.

-Mao

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 16 Jan 2005 12:59 PST

I was fascinated by ants when I was a youngster, and I had several ant
habitats. The best ant habitats are homemade, but some of the larger
commercial models are quite serviceable.

Would you be interested in a prefabricated "ant farm" like this one?

http://store.novapearl.com/giantantfarm.html

Or would you like to be your own antville architect, and build a custom habitat?

I'll be glad to gather information on either or both of these options.
I recommend building your own ant habitat, if you have the time,
patience, and skill. No great expertise is required. I built several
ant villages when I was ten years old, using simple tools borrowed
from my father.

Regarding the purchase of the ants, it would be helpful to know
approximately where you live (just City/state or province/nation, not
your full address, of course.)

---

Clarification of Question by 6ra3-ga on 17 Jan 2005 00:38 PST

Hi Pinkfreud,

Yes I'm looking for something ready and the example you showed is
suitable, but I would be interested in something more suitable for an
office in a wood structure.. also larger and more sophisticated
options if possible?

-Mao

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 17 Jan 2005 10:32 PST

Here is a very impressive wooden ant habitat. It's so fancy that it
isn't just an ant village, it's a "formicarium." I think this would be
a marvelous addition to an office. What do you think?

http://www.disktek.net/

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 17 Jan 2005 11:16 PST

This one isn't made of wood, but it is rather attractive, and is much
less expensive than the formicarium mentioned above. It uses a gel
substance that serves two purposes, as a tunnelling medium and as a
food for the ants:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/toys/6fd6/

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 17 Jan 2005 11:58 PST

A variety of ant habitats are shown here:

http://www.antcam.com/products/antfarm.html

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 18 Jan 2005 11:43 PST

Another possibility: perhaps if you were to contact the guys from
DiskTek and  AntCam (linked above), one of them would be willing to
build an ant habitat to your specifications.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 18 Jan 2005 14:42 PST

Here is an attractive thingie that could easily be turned into a
desktop ant habitat:

http://www.sargentwelch.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_WL9002_EA_A_The+Teaching+Tank%99_E_

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 23 Jan 2005 15:10 PST

Mao,

Have you had time to look through the links I posted? If none of these
ant habitats suit your fancy, could you give me some guidance so that
I can retarget my search?

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Clarification of Question by 6ra3-ga on 23 Jan 2005 15:29 PST

Hi,

These look good, please compile them along with any more you find into
an answer so I may rate them.

Thank you.

-Mao

I've gathered info on several ant habitat products, at different prices.

======================================================================

These are the ones that I think would be most suitable in an office setting:

Formicarium
http://www.disktek.net

AntWorks - Space Age Ant Habitat
http://www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/toys/6fd6/

A wide variety of ant habitats are available here:

Ant Terrariums or Habitats and Accessories
http://www.antcam.com/products/antfarm.html

Not an ant habitat, but could easily be turned into one:

The Teaching Tank
http://www.sargentwelch.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_WL9002_EA_A_The+Teaching+Tank%99_E_

======================================================================

These are more toy-like, plastic ant habitats:

GeoSafari Ant Factory
http://www.discoverthis.com/antfactory.html

Extreme Ant Fam
http://toyclassics.com/product.asp?pn=1131

Giant Ant Farm
http://store.novapearl.com/giantantfarm.html

Ant Hill Living Ant Habitat
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/insectlore/anlivanthab.html

Ant Farm Village
http://www.einsteins-emporium.com/life/natural-history/lna34.htm

======================================================================

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "ant habitat OR terrarium OR village OR farm" OR
formicarium -alien
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22ant+habitat+OR+terrarium+OR+village+OR+farm%22+OR+formicarium+-alien

Froogle Search: "ant habitat OR terrarium OR village OR farm" OR formicarium -alien
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=%22ant%20habitat%20OR%20terrarium%20OR%20village%20OR%20farm%22%20OR%20formicarium%20-alien&num=100&hl=en&lr=&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wf

======================================================================

I hope this is helpful. If you should decide that you'd rather build
your own, or have a handyman custom-build one for you, just let me
know. There are many online instructions available for constructing
ant habitats.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

Thanks! :-)

-Mao

Be aware that when you buy an ant farm you will not get a queen.  The
transport of queen ants across state lines without a permit is against
USDA regulations.

Please note that the gel ant farm mentioned by byronshell is exactly
the same AntWorks product that I mentioned above, as sold by
ThinkGeek.

Regarding the matter of obtaining an ant queen, sarujin is correct.
However, an ant colony can function without a queen for quite a while.
Eventually the workers will die out, and they will not be replaced
from within the colony. If a queen is desired, she may be acquired
locally.

Lots of useful info about keeping ants may be found here:

http://p211.ezboard.com/bantfarm

Hello sarujin,

Thank you, that bit about the queen is very important and is appreciated! :-)

-Mao

Hello pinkfreud,

Yes I've noticed the gel version as it stuck out of the bunch. :-)

Interesting about the queen.. I probably won't be able to get a queen,
nor would I probably want one because I would think it would make this
a bit too involved for me. ;-)

Thanks!

-Mao