How to make an ant farm at home. Gel ant farms and formicaria

17.06.2019

At the sight of an ant in a room, the natural reaction of every normal person is to figure out how to get rid of house ants. However, there are people who deliberately breed these insects in their homes. What for? Recently, home ant farms have become increasingly popular.

Young children have a natural urge to explore the world around them, including various bugs and insects. Therefore very interesting idea it can be the manufacture of a safe anthill that can satisfy the curiosity of the child and become interesting and informative visual aid for the study of ant life.

There are two main types of ant farms: gel and mud. In gel "houses" ants live in jelly filler. Such farms can be purchased ready-made.

mud ant farm

It will be easier and more interesting to make an ant farm on your own by connecting a child to the process. How to make an anthill at home with sand filler?

First you need to buy the narrowest glass container that you can find on sale. An excellent anthill will turn out from a double-glazed window for windows, in which you can see from both sides how insects dig tunnels.

You should lay a piece of polyethylene or oilcloth on the floor, put a container on it and fill it with soil.

It is necessary to lightly shake the soil so that there are no voids left, but it is not necessary to press down hard. Fill the container in this way almost to the very top, without adding about three centimeters to it.

Now you go outside with a container to look for an anthill. Most often it can be found along roadsides or under trees.

After the anthill is found, put on gloves, use a spatula or scoop to remove a few ants and place them in a container. It is advisable to find an ant queen, which differs from the rest of the ants in a larger size.

At home, you need to put a cotton ball moistened with water in the container so that your pets can drink water, and also place a small cracker as food. Now you should tightly close the container with a lid and seal the joints of the lid and walls with adhesive tape.

Wet cotton wool and crackers should be changed every 2-3 days. After a while, you will be able to see how the ants dig tunnels, drink, eat and communicate with each other.

Did you know?

If you decide to start an ant farm at home, then you will need to study some information about the anthill ecosystem. Few people know that all the ants that live in anthills are girls. Soldier girls, worker girls, and they only need boys to breed, just once. The winged prince and the winged princess mate during the breeding season, after which the princess discards her wings, and the prince ... skates. One such time is enough for a female to lay eggs for about twenty years! Interestingly, no other insects on Earth live as long as the queen ant, and the life span of worker ants is 1 to 5 years.

If you manage to find a fertilized, winged queen, and you put her in a home ant farm, you will become a real myrmikeper. A myrmicary is a person who has settled an ant queen in a home farm called myrmicarium or formicarium and watches how the ant family lives and develops.

Myrmikeper can see the following interesting pictures from the life of these insects:

As a soldier feeds each porter at a meeting.
How ants carry larvae larger than themselves.
How the ants decide to close up a hole in their plaster house.
How, after hard work, their mouths were filled with plaster.
How they help each other get rid of fillings.
How ants unpack a newborn from a cocoon.
One of my favorite treats is cat food.

Gel Ant Farm

How to make an anthill at home with gel filler? If you use jelly as a filler, you will be able to observe in detail how the ants dig moves, pulling out small pieces of gel to the surface.

To make such a farm, you will need 3 bags of gelatin, 15 g each, which should be dissolved in 2 glasses hot water. Stir until gelatin dissolves, then add 2 more cups of water.

Pour the prepared mixture into a container and send it to the refrigerator.

After a while, remove the container from the refrigerator, wait until the gel reaches room temperature and you can run it in new house ik residents.

It is necessary to keep an eye on the young entomologist, since children's curiosity may require you to find out how the container with insects opens, and they will spread throughout the apartment.

You can use a plastic CD or DVD box as a temporary portable container by filling it with soil or sand.

Ant farm with built-in gypsum block

This farm is very convenient both for observing ants for humans and insects for life.

The features of such a farm are:

Embedded plaster block.

The entrance to the gypsum block is located at the bottom, which avoids problems with debris in the chambers.

To prevent escape inner surface glasses on top should be treated with baby powder or a special powder bought in a store

As a filler, aquarium soil was used, with which the ants play quite amusingly, dragging pebbles around the cameras and around the arena.

The arena has a fairly large volume, so a small test tube with water is placed in it, which is used as an additional source of moisture. A gypsum block 2 cm thick was processed using a milling cutter.

Basic conditions for an ant farm

The farm should not have sharp corners that can hurt a person or ants inside the house.

The material from which the container is made must be environmentally friendly without harmful impurities.

The container should be provided with a ventilation system to ensure that air enters it.

If your farm is do-it-yourself, and not purchased, then you should purchase a temperature controller for it. As a rule, purchased farms are equipped with such regulators.

Ants should not be cramped in the container.

The gel for the farm can be either made independently from gelatin or purchased ready-made in a special store. You should know that the gel for the ant is not only a habitat, but also a nutrient medium.

Basic conditions for ants

All ants must be from the same anthill, since most insects can kill a stranger who accidentally gets to them.

The farm should not be placed in the sun, as ants prefer cool places.

Don't have too many ants.

You should know that these insects are afraid of a sudden change in lighting and perceive bright light as a signal that they are not in an anthill.

If the filler for the farm is gel, then you do not need to water and feed the insects, since the gel
is both food and drink for them.

An open container should not be installed as a drinking bowl for ants, because they can drown in water. For a small colony, a cotton ball dipped in water, which is changed once every 2 to 3 days, will suffice.

How to care for an ant farm?

It is important to know not only how to make an anthill at home, but also how to care for it. Ants do not require special care. Quite rarely, owners of a gel-filled farm will have to replace the gel with a new one (it can be purchased separately), wash and dry the container.

If pets live in a filler made of sand, soil or gypsum, they need to be fed and watered. You should know that, in addition to bread crumbs, various grains and much more, ants also love sweets. However, when treating them with sugar syrup, it is necessary to control that they do not get stuck or drown in it, so the syrup should not be poured into a container, but slightly smeared on the surface.

The ant farm will especially appeal to the child. It is very interesting and informative to consider how life is in full swing in these insects, how and what they eat, what they love, and what not. It is advisable, before you get ants at home, to read the necessary literature about them in order to know exactly how to properly care for them.

How to make an ant farm with your own hands

Cats, dogs and hamsters are great, but many people have such pets. What if you want something unusual, interesting and not too expensive? You can make yourself or your child a wonderful gift - an ant farm. The originality of this gift lies, first of all, in the fact that it is quite easy to make it with your own hands.

Preparatory stage

To make an ant farm with your own hands, you need to do a little preparation. To begin with, it is worth deciding on the capacity in which we will place the restless family. An excellent ant farm is obtained from a flat aquarium, but this requires additional costs. Craftsmen can make a plexiglass container by bonding it with silicone glue. In this case, the design will turn out exactly the form that suits you the most.

The simplest version of an ant farm will be obtained from two containers for bulk products of different sizes. These can be jars or boxes made of transparent material without a pattern and damage, one of which fits freely inside the other. Both jars must have tight lids. You will populate the ant colony in the space between the two banks, so that it is convenient to observe its life.

Soil or base for an anthill

The choice of filler for an ant farm depends on where you are going to get its inhabitants:

Be sure to keep in mind that the mixture of soil and sand must be not only well loosened, but also moistened. However, do not overdo it, if you make the mixture too wet, then the ants will simply drown in it.

Do not fill the container all the way to the top with the mud mixture. Leave a few centimeters of free space. And do not tamp the mixture, but just shake it slightly so that the inhabitants can easily make their own moves.

How to collect ants

The easiest way is to find ants in the yard. There is nothing complicated in this, especially if you connect a restless child to the process. Small anthills are very common, to find them, it is enough to follow where the small workers so purposefully drag their finds.

To collect an ant, take gloves, a scoop and a jar with a tight lid. In the lid, you can make several holes for air access with a thin needle, but they should be so small that insects cannot crawl out. You can drop honey or jam on the bottom, then the ants will gather around the sweets and will not try to get out. Carefully dig up a few anthill inhabitants and place them in a jar. Try to find the mother. It is much larger than the rest of the ants. For your farm, 30 - 40 inhabitants are enough.

To populate a farm created with your own hands, you need to consider the following nuances:

Only working insects can be collected on the surface of the anthill. They are unable to reproduce. To watch the ants lay their eggs and care for them, it is imperative to get the queen queen. Alas, but for this you have to dig an anthill deep enough.
An ant farm inhabited only by worker ants will last no more than four weeks. This is their natural lifespan.
Larger species of insects can be found in forest anthills than in urban sites. They are easier to look after.

It is not enough to make a house for an ant family. In order to observe how ants live for a long time, you need to properly care for the farm:

Understanding how to make an ant farm on your own is not at all difficult. If you involved children in this process, then watching the little inhabitants will be even more interesting. The main thing is to act carefully so that the ants live where it is convenient for you, and not where they want.

lapku.ru

Do-it-yourself ant farm - what it looks like, making it from acrylic, plaster and gel, how to care for ants

In childhood, many people liked to look at the anthill and imagine what was happening inside it. An ant farm created by your own hands is a unique design that will become a home for ants. Having settled these creatures in the created structure, you can satisfy your own curiosity by observing the life of these small insects.

How an ant farm looks and works

There are many types of ant farms, everyone can find something to their taste and possibilities.

The farm is an artificial anthill. A design with many passages, tunnels, paths for movement, which is most often made of plaster, acrylic and special gel. They are horizontal and vertical, voluminous and flat.

The main thing is that it be suitable for life, so you need to put inside not a large number of soil. Such an environment will allow the ants to feel like in natural conditions, they will create their own passages and burrows.

We must not forget that ants need oxygen. they breathe atmospheric air spiracles - holes in the body through which air enters the body of an insect. In order for them to breathe, you need to make small holes in the structure on the lid, which the farm is usually covered with from above.

Main types

A horizontal ant farm is inconvenient because it takes up more space than a vertical one.

These designs are of several types:

Horizontal. These are "lying" farms in which the main plate is located horizontally, as in natural anthills.
Vertical. The main slab "does not lie", but is in a standing position, imitating longline ant dwellings.
Complex. It combines several types at once: both nests and an arena are located inside, they are larger in size, reminiscent of an ant town.
Island. The arena is surrounded by a moat, there is a farm in the middle, no nets and glasses are required. The main thing is to monitor the water level and clean the moat.

Ant farms can also be divided according to the material from which they are made. Gypsum, acrylic, gel and even wood are used.

The most common constructions are made of gypsum and acrylic: they are easy to perform and do not require frequent repairs. Wooden ones faded into the background due to the fact that they quickly become unusable: the tree begins to rot, becomes less durable, falls apart.

How to make a gel farm with your own hands

The gel farm is one of the simplest types

A gel-filled farm is very easy to maintain, and the material itself is a source of moisture for ants. This design is similar to an aquarium, but inside is not water, but a blue or blue gel. Green colour which is completely safe for insects. It is not only an environment for life, but also food.

To create such a design you will need:

glass aquarium or jar;
special gel;
ants.

Also, a special gel for an ant farm can be ordered on the Internet, where a wide variety of colors and compositions are presented.

Creating such an anthill is extremely simple: just place the gel in a glass container and populate the anthill with residents.

The gel is created on the basis of water and algae, so the ants feed on it without needing to be fed. You can buy it ready-made at the pet store, or you can create it yourself. To do this, water, algae, which are pre-crushed, are mixed. The mixture should dry and thicken.

This is one of the most simple ways create an anthill:

Prepare a glass container (aquarium, jar), wash it and wipe it dry.
Then pour the gel into the container. The gel should be more than half the level so that the inhabitants of the farm are not crowded.
You can launch ants there - they themselves will dig passages and tunnels.

It remains only to periodically ventilate the structure and add the gel as needed.

plaster

To make a gypsum ant farm with your own hands, you will have to spend more time, because. it is necessary to wait for the solidification of the material

Necessary tools and materials

To create a gypsum farm, you will need:

capacity;
gypsum mortar;
water;
cocktail tube;
pencil;
drill;
stationery knife.

Step by step instructions for making

The first step is to prepare a container for diluting gypsum.
Mix water and gypsum to the consistency of thick sour cream.
Next, you need to leave it to harden for 5-7 days.
Carefully remove the dried mass from the container.
Draw future moves and exits with a pencil.
Drill small paths, you can use a clerical knife.
Place the finished structure in an aquarium or jar right size.
Make holes in the lid for air to enter.
In order to moisten the habitat of the ants and feed them, insert cocktail tubes.

Acrylic

For an acrylic farm, the most difficult thing is to form passages and burrows for ants

Necessary tools and materials

pencil:
paper;
acrylic;
polycarbonate;
plastic rivets;
cocktail tubes.

Step by step instructions for making

Develop a project for a future farm. To do this, on a piece of paper you need to draw with a pencil the future structure, the approximate location of the tunnels, the dimensions of the structure.
Take acrylic and, following the example on paper, make small holes, the so-called moves.
When the structure is ready, fasten it to the walls and the polycarbonate cover using plastic rivets.
Before settling the farm, it is necessary to insert cocktail tubes into the structure so that air, water and food enter through them.

Other manufacturing options

Often, ant lovers create clay farms. Such designs are created easily and quickly. Clay does not harm insects, easily takes any form.

by the most budget option is a styrofoam truss. The material lends itself easily to the design of tunnels and passages. But it is short-lived and less convenient for ants.

Settlement of ants

To find ants, just go outside and find a small anthill

It is very important to remember that it is impossible to immediately populate a large number of non-insects in a new home.

In no case should you settle ants of different colonies in one place - there will be a war! In addition, gradually they will begin to multiply and there may not be enough space.

How to care for an ant farm

It should be remembered that periodically the farm is covered with soil and sand so that the insects feel like in natural conditions. It is important to add some water, food.

The glass is wiped, and the farm itself is ventilated. Ants need shade, so it's best to keep their home out of the light and avoid direct sunlight.

Creating an ant farm is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. It is enough to read the instructions and the list necessary tools and materials that are readily available and inexpensive.

zoolog.guru

Ant farm with ants. How to make an ant farm with your own hands?

Have you ever observed the life of ants? This is an extraordinary world with its own orders, laws, relationships. In order not to go to the forest to the anthill, we suggest you create your own ant farm. Having settled small inhabitants in it, you will be able to observe how paths and tunnels are being built, and how important these little hardworking creatures are scurrying back and forth, as if they are doing someone's task. How to make an ant farm with your own hands, we will tell you in this article.

What do you need for a farm?

You need two jars with lids - one larger and one smaller (so that the second can fit inside the first). Ants and earth will be placed in the space between the small and large capacity. A smaller jar is needed to leave space in the center.

Ants will be able to lay their eggs at the top edge and build tunnels, and you can watch this process. Airtight containers are great for "building". You can create with them right size farms. Please note that the jars should not have any drawings, cracks, scratches, etc. If you want your ant farm (with ants) to be flat, buy a small, narrow aquarium at the nearest pet store.

What are ant farms?

Ant farm can be of several types. The differences lie in the composition of the filler. The most common accepted are:

soil-sand;
plaster;
gel.

Let's consider each of these types in more detail.

Soil-sand farm

First you need to prepare a mixture of sand and soil. Ants need a humid environment. This will allow small residents to dig tunnels and paths. If you collect ants in your country house or yard, use the same land so that they, having moved to a new house, find themselves in their usual habitat. It will take enough earth to fill the space in the bank. Loosen it well.

Mix two parts soil with one part sand. You can buy fertilized soil and sand from the gardening department and mix them well. If you buy special ants from a farm in a pet store, then the necessary mixture is attached to them.

We are looking for an anthill

Now you need to find "tenants" for your farm. The easiest way to find ants is on the street. You will not have any difficulties with this, especially if you involve your child in this process. anthills small sizes often found in yards. You can find them if you follow where the little workers are in such a hurry with their finds. When you go to collect ants, take gloves, a jar with a tight lid, and a scoop with you.

Poke a few holes in the lid with a needle (for air access). They must be very small so that the insects cannot get out. Drop honey or jam on the bottom of the jar. In this case, the ants will gather around the sweet treat and will not try to get out. Very carefully dig out the inhabitants of the anthill and move them to the jar.

Try to find the uterus. You will immediately recognize her - she is much larger than the rest of the inhabitants of the anthill. An ant farm inhabited only by working insects that live on the surface will last no more than four weeks. This is how long these insects live in natural conditions. An ant queen, which is ready to lay eggs, can be found near anthills in early autumn, immediately after mating has occurred between males and females. In addition, the uterus can be bought from professional breeders. Your ant farm can start with 30-40 insects.

Building a farm

Now you can start building the farm. Cover the smaller jar with a lid and place it in the larger one. To make it stand in the center, you can glue it to the bottom with glue. Pour in the earth. Make sure the lid is closed tightly. Fill the space between the banks with a soil-sand mixture. This composition should not be tightly packed - the ants will not be able to move inside.

The soil should not reach about 1.5 cm to the top of the jar. This is necessary so that the insects cannot get out when you open the lid. Plant the ants in a jar and close it. Do it very carefully. Use a needle to make air holes in the lid.

Farm care

We figured out how to make an ant farm. Now you need to know how to take care of her.

It is necessary to regularly moisten the soil and feed the inhabitants of the farm. Every 3-4 days, throw small pieces of fresh fruit into a jar, a few drops of jam or honey - ants have a sweet tooth, they are very fond of sugar.
Ants should not be given meat or any other cooked foods. Otherwise, your ant farm will attract unwanted insects.
When you are not observing insects, cover the jar with a light, dark cloth. The fact is that ants dig their tunnels at night, in complete darkness. If this is not done, the insects will be in a state of constant stress and may lose activity.
Ants are fragile creatures, rough handling can kill them due to the collapse of the tunnels. Therefore, the jar should not be shaken.
The ant farm (you see the photo in this article) should be in a warm room (at a constant temperature.
Keep the farm out of direct sunlight. The walls of the jar may heat up and the ants will die.

Farm with gel filler

The gel ant farm is now sold in stores in a complete set. Of course, the set of such a farm does not include its inhabitants. They must be bought separately or collected in the yard or in the forest. You can make such a house for ants with your own hands. We assure you that it will be interesting not only for children, but also for adult naturalists to watch how insects dig tunnels, pulling pieces of gel to the surface.

For this you will need:

a flat container with a lid and transparent walls;
gelatin.

Cooking gel

Three bags of gelatin (15 g each) pour 0.5 liters of hot water, stir well so that the gelatin is completely dissolved. Then add another 0.5 liters of water. Pour the finished composition into a container and put it in the refrigerator. When it hardens, take it out and wait until the gel mass reaches room temperature.

Gel for the aquarium can be bought in the store ready-made, but it is more interesting to make it yourself. You should know that such a filler for an ant house is not only a habitat, but also food. As soon as you make a small indentation in the gel and plant ants in it, they will immediately begin to "eat" their moves and build tunnels. Let us remind you once again that ants living on a gel farm do not need to be fed and watered. The gel is a source of moisture and food for them.

Gypsum Ant Farm

Such a formicarium (the so-called ant farm) is attractive in that it is completely open for observing insects.

To create it, you need a transparent container. Dilute gypsum to the consistency of sour cream. Pour the resulting composition into a container, after placing an ordinary plastic tube in it (near the side). It should reach to the bottom of the container. This is necessary in order to later add water to the formicarium, which will maintain the humidity level.

After pouring the composition, the workpiece sets very quickly, but dries completely after about a week. On the third or fourth day, take it out of the mold. If it doesn't come out easily, soak it in hot (but not boiling) water for thirty seconds. After that, the workpiece will easily come out of the mold.

Now it's time to show your design abilities, that is, to "draw" "rooms and corridors" on the blank. At this time, the composition is still raw, so you can easily scratch out any tunnels on it - it depends on your imagination. Although amateurs who already have an ant farm recommend studying the structure of a real anthill so that the moves are as close to natural as possible.

The two entrances for the inhabitants of the formicarium can be drilled with a drill. Now take any convenient tool (stationery knife, screwdriver, etc.) and start making tunnels according to your drawing applied to the workpiece, choosing gypsum from them. Do this carefully so that the composition that has not yet dried completely does not crumble.

At the bottom of the workpiece, several recesses should be made for better distribution of water and moistening of the formicaria. They must be connected by a small channel with a cocktail tube. Such recesses significantly reduce the weight of the formicarium. Don't forget to make ventilation holes in the top cover and sides. To do this, you can use a 0.5 mm drill.

Your farm is almost ready. It remains to dry it well and place it in a container. Here again you may encounter a problem - the dried blank will not want to go back into the mold. Do not be discouraged, but again place it for 30 seconds in hot water, and it will easily enter the container.

It remains to find ants for the formicarium. There are many types of them, therefore, before purchasing, it is advisable to look through the special literature in order to select the most unpretentious of them. After settling the farm, you can study the life of these insects.

As you can see, a do-it-yourself ant farm is made quite simply from any material. In conclusion, I would like to give a few tips that will be useful to you.

Ants can be fed dead insects, but only if you are sure that they are not poisonous.
Plant insects of the same species in the farm. Two colonies can't get along, they can fight to the death. Therefore, even if you catch ants yourself, try to collect them from one anthill.
All ants bite. Some less often, others more often. For example, red ants bite and sting very painfully. So use gloves.

textman.ru

Ant farm do it yourself

People are used to having familiar animals, such as cats, fish, dogs. The ant farm is an unusual, interesting and affordable entertainment that helps to relax. To observe the life of ants, you can buy a ready-made farm or make it yourself.

mud farm

If you connect a child to the process of making a farm, it will be easier and much more fun. For this you need:

Purchase a glass container. A double-glazed window is also suitable for monitoring the digging of tunnels from two sides.
Prepare a bucket of sand (slightly damp) or soil for plants. The latter contains a large amount of organic matter, while the soil has less weight.
Line the floor with polyethylene, then install a container with filled soil. The content must be shaken so that there are no empty spaces. The container should be filled almost to the top.
Find an anthill on the street. Mostly they can be found near roads, in gardens.
Using a scoop, take the ants and the uterus, move it to the container.
Place a cracker and a piece of cotton wool soaked in water. With it, pets will drink. Then close the container and seal the joints with tape so that the ants cannot get out.

gel farm

Gel, jelly can be used as an anthill filler. For this you need:

3 sachets of gelatin (15 g), 2 cups of hot water. Stir gelatin until dissolved, then pour in the same amount of water.
The resulting mixture is placed in a container, and then in the refrigerator.
After a few hours at room temperature, let in new residents.

It is necessary to look after the child, because his curiosity can lead to the fact that insects crawl around the room.

gypsum block truss

The insects themselves will also like this farm, because it is comfortable for their life. Would need:

Gypsum block to be embedded in a container.
To avoid clogging of the chambers, it is necessary to make an entrance at the bottom.
To prevent insects from running away, you need to treat the glass surface with baby powder.
Filler - soil for an aquarium. Insects play with him, drag grains of sand and pebbles around the cells.
Place a test tube with water in the arena, for additional source moisture.

The main conditions for creating a farm

The container should not have sharp corners so as not to get hurt.
Environmentally friendly container material that eliminates harmful impurities.
Take care of the ventilation system for air intake.
Equip the farm with a temperature controller.
There should be plenty of room for insects to move.
The filler can be made by hand or bought in stores. Remember that the habitat must be nutritious.

If the farm has a gel filler, then it needs to be changed very rarely. Wash and dry the container thoroughly beforehand. If sand or soil is used as a filler, then it is required to periodically add food and water. In addition to crackers, you can feed grains, sweet syrups. So that insects do not get bogged down in the syrup, it is better to spread it on the walls of the surface. Before you equip the ants, you need to study the literature on proper care.

conditions for insects

The ants that will live in the farm must be taken from one anthill. Because when meeting a stranger, ants can accidentally kill each other.
The farm should be in a dark and cool place.
The number of ants should not be large.
Insects do not like sudden changes in lighting, and bright light for them is a signal of being outside the anthill.
Gel farms do not need to feed the ants because the gel is food and water.
Open drinkers can be traps for insects that can drown in them. The ideal option is a moist cotton ball that needs to be changed every three days.

Man wants to know more about the life of hierarchical insects, such as bees, wasps, termites, and ants. This interest can arise at any age. Understanding the process of creating a farm is quite easy. Well, if you decide to release your pets, then you should do it in the spring or summer.

mud farm

If you connect a child to the process of making a farm, it will be easier and much more fun. For this you need:

Purchase a glass container. A double-glazed window is also suitable for monitoring the digging of tunnels from two sides.
Prepare a bucket of sand (slightly damp) or soil for plants. The latter contains a large amount of organic matter, while the soil has less weight.
Line the floor with polyethylene, then install a container with filled soil. The content must be shaken so that there are no empty spaces. The container should be filled almost to the top.
Find an anthill on the street. Mostly they can be found near roads, in gardens.
Using a scoop, take the ants and the uterus, move it to the container.
Place a cracker and a piece of cotton wool soaked in water. With it, pets will drink. Then close the container and seal the joints with tape so that the ants cannot get out.

gel farm

Gel, jelly can be used as an anthill filler. For this you need:

3 sachets of gelatin (15 g), 2 cups of hot water. Stir gelatin until dissolved, then pour in the same amount of water.
The resulting mixture is placed in a container, and then in the refrigerator.
After a few hours at room temperature, let in new residents.

It is necessary to look after the child, because his curiosity can lead to the fact that insects crawl around the room.

gypsum block truss

The insects themselves will also like this farm, because it is comfortable for their life. Would need:

Gypsum block to be embedded in a container.
To avoid clogging of the chambers, it is necessary to make an entrance at the bottom.
To prevent insects from running away, you need to treat the glass surface with baby powder.
Filler - soil for the aquarium. Insects play with him, drag grains of sand and pebbles around the cells.
Place a test tube with water in the arena for an additional source of moisture.

The main conditions for creating a farm

The container should not have sharp corners so as not to get hurt.
Environmentally friendly container material that eliminates harmful impurities.
Take care of the ventilation system for air intake.
Equip the farm with a temperature controller.
There should be plenty of room for insects to move.
The filler can be made by hand or bought in stores. Remember that the habitat must be nutritious.

If the farm has a gel filler, then it needs to be changed very rarely. Wash and dry the container thoroughly beforehand. If sand or soil is used as a filler, then it is required to periodically add food and water. In addition to crackers, you can feed grains, sweet syrups. So that insects do not get bogged down in the syrup, it is better to spread it on the walls of the surface. Before you equip ants, you need to study the literature on proper care.

conditions for insects

The ants that will live in the farm must be taken from one anthill. Because when meeting a stranger, ants can accidentally kill each other.
The farm should be in a dark and cool place.
The number of ants should not be large.
Insects do not like sudden changes in lighting, and bright light for them is a signal of being outside the anthill.
Gel farms do not need to feed the ants because the gel is food and water.
Open drinkers can be traps for insects that can drown in them. The ideal option is a damp cotton ball, which should be changed every three days.

Where to begin?

Which ANT farm to choose?

Ants are social insects. They cannot live separately and are always attached to home- an anthill. The queen-womb lives in them, the offspring develops, food reserves are located there in case of critical situations. Also, anthills serve as a place of protection for their inhabitants. Ants always return to their home, and even soldiers can envy the dedication with which they protect the anthill.

That is why it is necessary to keep ants not in any bank, but in special ant farms (or in other words, formicaria), which in their structure resemble an anthill. Also, the fact that they can serve as a good element of decor in your home speaks in favor of formicariums, and watching ants is made as convenient and interesting as possible.
An ordinary formicarium is a terrarium with transparent walls, consisting of a nest (thanks to it, the internal structure of an anthill with various passages, etc. is copied) and an arena - a free space with good lighting.
There is a large number different types ant farms. Still, because certain types of ants need certain types of formicaria. Each has its own device and dimensions. It is very easy to get confused when choosing them, especially for a beginner, so let's figure it out.

When it comes to ants, it is a small black insect that sometimes flies and loves sugar. But this is only a superficial idea of these amazing living creatures.

The article will not talk about a couple of annoying insects, but about creating a full-fledged do-it-yourself formicarium.

Ant species are different. But no matter what species is chosen for breeding, the same rules for creating a cozy anthill apply to everyone. Where to start?

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How to make a formicarium for ants?

As you can see from the photo, this is a special aquarium, an ant farm. They are different sizes, formats, with different content. Can be used as soil sand. From it, ants will build nests, create transitions and an arena.

Perfect fit finely sifted natural sand. Should stop using garden soil because it contains various bacteria and chemicals. It is permissible to use plaster. It is poured into a special mold, forming passages and minks. After hardening, the formicarium will be ready.

The third option is to use special gel. Insects will use the gel both for construction and as food.

Features of keeping domestic ants

An important component happy life ants is moisture. Its level varies from 80 to 90 percent.

The lack of moisture is equivalent to the death of the entire anthill. With an excess of moisture, fungus and mold can appear, which is also fatal. If perspiration appears on the walls of the formicaria, this is a sure sign that it is necessary to stop moisturizing for a while.

The required level of humidity is found out in a practical way.

For drinking you can put a small saucer or a tin bottle cap in the anthill. Ants will use this water to moisten their homes and build new passages. It is important to remember that only filtered water can be given to ants.

In the vast majority of cases, room temperature is suitable for ants, about 25 degrees Celsius. If the room is cool, then this will slow down the development of the ant farm. In such cases, it is advisable to use special lamps or heating pads. A terrarium thermometer will help you keep track of the correct temperature level.

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Ants feel best when moderate lighting. It is desirable to darken not only the chambers, but the entire formicarium.

Insects will get used to open lighting, and quickly enough, but for a comfortable life it is better to leave them in the shade. Sunlight has a particularly harmful effect on the larvae. Adults are also not recommended to be exposed to ultraviolet radiation for a long time.

If for some reason the owner needs formicarium lighting at home, experts recommend using moonlight lamp. Such a lamp will be able to warm the ants in a cool room and will not cause them stress.

What to feed the ants?

Contrary to popular belief, sugar is not the best food for ants. protein source worms and cockroaches can act. To provide carbohydrates, honey water is made by diluting 1:1. It is important to remember that such water can ferment quite quickly, and this is harmful to insects. As solid food suitable for ants: pieces of vegetables and fruits, bread crumbs, dead insects and mixtures for parrots.

Like many living things, ants fall into hibernation. Insects become inactive, refuse proteins, rarely leave their nests. For this period, you should change the approach to caring for formicarium with your own hands. The temperature must be maintained between 0 and 10 degrees Celsius. An aquarium can, for example, be put in a refrigerator.

Periodically, but not so often, you need to moisten the soil. Hibernation lasts 1-2 months. After this period, you need to bring the formicarium back into heat and gradually warm it up to the usual temperature. The warming process can take up to 7 days.

Here's how to make a do-it-yourself ant farm. With proper care, the owner can get a very interesting and developed ant world. It is interesting to watch him, he is interesting for both children and adults.