CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Things to note when buying an ant breeding box (What are the things to note when buying an ant breeding box)

1. What should I pay attention to when buying ants?

1. Think about what you want to buy, are you sure you want to buy it, and are you just impulsive or on a whim? If you buy it, you will regret it or not like it. It is best to make a list to avoid blind buying.

② Be clear about what you want. What quality do you want? Do you want a defective one or a complete one? Do you want the best quality or ordinary quality?

③ Think about whether you have the ability to raise this nest of ants. Don’t buy tropical species and then don’t have money to buy an incubator when winter comes. You may end up wasting your efforts if you can’t take good care of them while they are alive.

④ Prepare all the items needed to take care of ants, including nests, food, daily utensils, etc.

⑤ Learn relevant breeding knowledge and breeding points, and understand what ants need. This is what must be done before introducing new species.

2. Tips for raising brown-ridged red ants?

1. Site selection

Ants are nesting insects, and there are a lot of them in one nest. However, the establishment of ant nests has certain requirements for the environment. Whether it is raised indoors or outdoors, it is necessary to ensure that there is enough light, and no other things can be placed to prevent odors. Ants are very sensitive to odors. Once there is a little odor, it may cause the ants to die in batches. And the nest must be built in a dry place. As we all know, the body of an ant is very small, and a little water will disperse the ant colony, so it is necessary to ensure that there is no water and dryness around the nest.

2. Facility Preparation

After choosing a breeding site, you need to prepare the breeding facilities. First, use plastic film or other seamless items to build a water tank around the site, control the size of the water tank, and ensure that the water tank has a certain inclination. This can prevent ants from falling into the water tank and dying while drinking water. The water tank also needs to have a water exchange hole. Use bamboo or wooden sticks to build a frame in the water tank and arrange it in a track shape. Control the distance between each frame, and then put an appropriate amount of humus sand at the bottom to ensure that the ants can drink water normally.

3. Production of breeding box

The breeding box can be a shoe box, food box, or clothing box. The size of each breeding box should be controlled according to the number of breeding ants. Put an appropriate amount of Masson pine in the breeding box, because Masson pine is the most common material used by wild ants to make nests. You can also put some crop straw. The plant straw must be dried before putting it in to prevent rotting and threatening the growth of ants. Pay attention to the tightness of the material. It should not be too tight, otherwise it will be difficult for ants to carry it to make nests. Then seal the breeding box and keep the exit. Control the distance between each breeding box to prevent fighting.

4. Feeding and management

Ants have a wide range of diets, eating almost everything, but they mainly eat sweet foods. Ants eat as much as their bodies do, which is very small. On average, each ant eats less than 0.1 mg a day, but it also depends on the species and size. Ants are basically fed once every four days. When feeding, place the food bowl on the feeding box. Each time you feed ants, make sure that they can eat all the food, otherwise the remaining food will easily deteriorate. Appropriately change the type of food. Ants will become anorexic if they eat the same food for a long time, and would rather starve to death than eat it.

3. How to make an ant breeding box?

Get two glass jars with lids. You will need a large jar and a small jar that fits inside the large jar. The soil and ants will be placed between the large and small jars. The small jar will take up space in the middle so that the ants will build tunnels and lay eggs close to the outside edges, making it easy to watch. If you skip this step, the ants will build their nests deeper in the middle of the jar, which is their natural need.

Several canning jars of different sizes will fit perfectly in this design. You can make your ant farm as big or small as you like.

Look for bottles that have no patterns, prints, or raised numbers or letters. Smooth, clear glass will give you the best view of the ants.

If you prefer a flat ant enclosure, check your local pet store for a small glass aquarium. You can also order a custom ant enclosure from an online retailer.

4. Why do ants always die in the ant nest I bought?

Did you buy a gel ant farm? That kind of gel will release water and drown the ants. If you want to keep them well, I suggest you use a plaster ant nest or an acrylic ant nest. The gel is the ant's grave.

5. Does the box for raising ants need a lid?

There is no need to cover the box for raising ants! Even if there is a lid, it is useless! Ants are so small that even if there is a lid, they can't cover them. They will go wherever they want and rummage through the box. No one can stop them. Therefore, if you want to make ants live in the box and not come out, you need some tricks!

The professionals who raise ants keep the ants well-behaved in the box, and they don’t even need to cover the box! I’m so envious!

6. How big should the box for raising ants be?

Homemade feeding boxes are usually paper boxes that have been used to store food and clothing, and are generally 35-40 cm long, 20-25 cm wide, and 10-15 cm high. The boxes are filled with ants' favorite nesting materials, such as masson pine, followed by leguminous plant straw such as red beans, soybeans, and broad beans. Wild plants include small-leaf camphor, large-leaf camphor, and old grass, all of which need to be dried to prevent mildew.

Put the straw bundles and the seed ants in the nest into the box, seal it with tape on all sides, and drill a small hole at one end of the box.

7. Can I keep ants at home?

1. You can raise ants at home. You can use shoe boxes, food boxes, clothing boxes and other boxes as breeding boxes. Control the size of each breeding box according to the number of ants to be raised.

2. Put an appropriate amount of Masson pine in the breeding box, because Masson pine is the most common material used by wild ants to build nests. You can also put in some crop straw. The plant straw must be dried before putting it in to prevent it from rotting and posing a threat to the growth of ants.

3. Pay attention to the tightness of the material. It should not be too tight, otherwise it will be difficult for the ants to carry it to make a nest. Then seal the feeding box and leave the exit. Control the distance between each feeding box to prevent fighting.

8. Why can’t ant castles support ants?

There may be many reasons why ant castles cannot support ants, mainly including the following: lack of food, water or oxygen, unsuitable ambient temperature or humidity, too many or too few ants, lack of security, etc. If the design of the ant castle does not meet the needs of ants' survival, it will also affect their survival rate. It is recommended that when purchasing an ant castle, choose a type and size that is suitable for ants' survival and maintain it according to the methods provided in the instructions.

At the same time, clean and disinfect the ant castle regularly to ensure the health and safety of the ants.