Want to start ant keeping

[millsons]

Hello 

I'm new on this forum and I would like some hints and tips on ant keeping. I also have some questions.

Can you keep ants in a shed outdoors? I've been told not to keep them in the house. 
What is the best type of ant for beginner? 
I want to make the nest out of wood would be that ok?
How do I go about the out world?

Thanks for your answers in advance. I will be looking around on this forum to get a better idea of things?
 

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Millsons and welcome to the Ant Hill World forum, it is nice to see you've found us and have a few questions, as we are all here to help those who are just starting with the fascinating hobby of keeping ants.

As long as you keep ants above or about 5 degrees Celsius so that they don't freeze, there is no problem keeping them in your shed, as during winter most ants hibernate. I would not recommend that you try to keep tropical exotic ant species outside, but a hardy species is fine.

What country are you in? This will, to some extent determine what ants you can keep.  Making a nest out of wood will only last as long as the wood is good for, as it will rot when damp soil is placed into it over a period of time.
Ants can even chew through soft wood, so you might wish to reconsider your choice of nest material. 

[Jenny]

Hello Millsons,
welcome to this forum nest   you will find loads of information here in different forms categorized on the different boards to help you find stuff.  Get used to the layout and you will be able to find what you want quicker.

Most ant keepers when starting go for the L.nigers, which are usually the safe bet as they are the hardy British species. L.flavus, are underground dwellers and are easy to start with, but they are difficult to feed as they won't come to the surface resulting in losses. You also never see them because they are underground so this makes new ant keepers disheartened. Yet round where we live, there must be hundreds of nests along the pathways. Some people find M.rubra are easy and some don't, they can be difficult to get going.

Ant keeping is very much trial and error, and a lot of patience is required. Keeping  some hardier species in a shed is fine, but during the winter, formacariums are best insulated  in newspaper, bubblewrap, or polystyerene to protect from frost. If the set up is made from glass and is slimline, it will get even colder for them. 

Enjoy the forum, do some homework on ant keeping and you will have good results. When you have proven to other members of the household that ants can be kept without escaping and raid the kitchen cupboards , they might come round more.

[millsons]

Hello thanks for the welcomes

Thanks for your responses

I live in the south east of England. Yes I was looking at L. nigers to keep as my first ant as they are easy to find. What time of year do they breed in the UK? I can't wait to get it all set up. 

Thanks again for the response.

[Jenny]

Most ants fly in the UK during July-August after a storm and when it's hot and humid. I have always witnessed them after mid day to evening, as late as 8.30pm for flavus.

If you want them before that you have Queen Ant Shop (in the links) James Lovell, he might have some in at a good price early on. Keep an eye on the adverts.

[Wood~Ant]

Queen Ant Shop is perhaps your best bet, as James sells a small colony at £4-99 with free P&P. You will find his site and that of other reliable ant sellers in the "Ant Links" just below the forum banner. 

[millsons]

Thanks for your replies

I cannot buy the ant as my parents will not allow me to do so, I will have to wait till the summer  

Recently I was moving slabs from the garden and I came across an ants nest. It was built under ground but there were still chambers on top. I took a photo of it, but I can't upload it.
Why do they make obstacles in the way in there chambers?

[Jenny]

Mar 28, 2013 16:48:04 GMT millsons said:

 I took a photo of it, but I can't upload it.
Why do they make obstacles in the way in there chambers?

Hi Millsons,
to upload pictures, you need a photobucket account, or some sort of picture host. You need the  [ ] img urls to be able to show the image on this forum.

What sort of obstacles do you mean, that block chambers?