WELCOME TO THE
WONDERFUL WORLD
OF ANTS
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Your Ant Journey
Download our care sheet above to learn how to properly care for your colony
1. Prepare your Ant's new home
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In the wild, Ants live underground, making it a bit tricky to see what they get up to inside their nests. A clear ant farm or a "formicarium" lets you bring the awesomeness of Ants into your home! Build the acrylic Ant nest included in the Starter Kit and decorate the outworld. You don't need to get anything special, just whatever you think looks cool. You can even leave it empty if you'd like.
2. Add in your Ants!
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Now for the fun part - catching your Ants!
Ants are all around us, all we have to do is look and be willing to get our hands dirty. Before you go out to catch Ants, you'll need to be prepared.
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All you need:
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Test tubes (included in the Starter kit) to transport your queen ant. Note: plug the top of the test tubes with cotton balls to keep the queen inside.
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You might also want to take an extra container with a lid to keep extra ants in. Something like a lunchbox or an old plastic takeaway box will work well.
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Soft tweezers or a spoon for scooping up Ants. You can try picking ants up with your fingers, but beware, many species of Ants will bite. You also run the risk of crushing Ants between your fingers - not ideal!
Start by doing some research. There are heaps of resources online, try looking up ant farming videos. find out what species of Ants live in your area, what they look like and how to identify their queen. Go hunting for Ants at your local park or even in your backyard. You will often find Ant nests under rocks or heavy branches.
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Look for the queen. All the other ants in the colony need their queen to survive, so it's critical that you catch her. Depending on the species, the queen is usually bigger than the other ants. Once you have a queen Ant, collect as many more Ants as you can from that colony. The more Ants you can get, the better!
3. Taking care of your Ants​
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Now that you have your Ants, it's time to get them set up in their new home. Your Ants might need some time to adjust to their new environment. Transfer your Ants to your prepared formicarium and give them some time to settle in.
Feeding your Ants​
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Ants need carbohydrates, protein and water to survive.
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Carbohydrates:
To give your Ants the energy they need, soak a cotton ball in a small amount of the Strawberry Sunrise Ant Nectar (included in the Starter Kit) and place it inside the formicarium. You can also experiment with feeding them honey, sugar syrup or even fruit! Ensure that you never introduce too much liquid food to their environment, as Ants can get stuck and even drown in too much syrup.
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Protein:
Ants also need protein to grow, particularly the queen and the larvae (baby ants). You can give them protein by mixing a small amount of All-in-One Ant Food protein powder (included in the Starter Kit) with water and sitting it inside the outworld. Try feeding your Ants a small amount of insects from time to time as well.
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Water:
The easiest way to ensure that your Ants have enough water is to fill a test tube with water and then place a wet cotton ball inside to keep the water inside. The water will seep through the cotton ball and your Ants can drink it at any time.
Observe your Ants
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Once you've got the basics down, it's time to start observing your Ants! Watch them build tunnels, forage for food, feed their queen and multiply. Pay attention to how they work together, communicate and organise themselves. You can take notes, draw pictures and take photos to document what they do!
ALL IN ONE KIT
In this kit you'll find everything you need to start your very own Ant Colony
NEST
Watch your ants inside the nest, taking care of their eggs and feeding each other
FOOD
All the food you need to get started.
TOOLS
Care and feed for your own Ant Colony with the tools included
CATCH
Hunt and catch your Queen Ant with the tools included