antbridge
Ant Egg 
Posts: 5 
Country: England
Pets: 2 Dogs, a girlfriend and 2 housemates
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Post by antbridge on Aug 5, 2013 14:54:25 GMT
Hi all, This is my first time on this site. I'm just starting out in the world of ants and would like a few questions answered before I delve in and buy any thing or make anything. 1) What size should the habitat that I buy or make be? I have seen some which are 20 cm by 10 cm by 10 cm. Is this a good size for the foraging box? and for the nest box I was looking at 20 by 10 by 1.8. Again is this a good size. 2) Are there any books that you would recommend? I have bought "The principles of keeping ants" but it has yet to arrive and it looks as tho it maybe a little thin on the ground for info. I'm sure that once I've had a bit more time to think I will come up with some more questions for you good people but for the moment that is all.  |
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Post by Zarbi on Aug 5, 2013 15:09:03 GMT
Hi Antbridge and welcome. Size of set up depends a lot on the size of ants you plan on keeping, but taking into account that 10 centimetres is 4 inches, you could always go a bit bigger as ants love plenty of room to nest in and forage around in. As for books, try looking for some of those recommended in this thread here Woodand Jen's Ant Books |
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antbridge
Ant Egg
Posts: 5
Country: England
Pets: 2 Dogs, a girlfriend and 2 housemates
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Post by antbridge on Aug 5, 2013 15:26:52 GMT
Thanks that's a great help. I have a look at those before I make up my mind.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 5, 2013 15:32:58 GMT
Hi Antbridge and welcome to the Ant Hill. Amazon.co.uk is a good place to find ant books which are reasonably priced. Have fun exploring the forum as you will find a wealth of info posted by members, as well as some great photos and videos of ants and formicariums; and more boards will open as you go up in rank.  |
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Post by Jonzii on Aug 5, 2013 18:00:08 GMT
Hi Antbridge, welcome to the Ant Hill!
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antbridge
Ant Egg
Posts: 5
Country: England
Pets: 2 Dogs, a girlfriend and 2 housemates
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Post by antbridge on Aug 6, 2013 7:43:03 GMT
Thanks guys. The book I ordered arrived. However the information contained within was a little sparse. It raised some interesting points that I hadn't thought of. Like using an air source as you would in a fish tank to provide air currents to the tank. Is this something that is commonly done in ant keeping?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 6, 2013 7:50:59 GMT
Thanks guys. The book I ordered arrived. However the information contained within was a little sparse. It raised some interesting points that I hadn't thought of. Like using an air source as you would in a fish tank to provide air currents to the tank. Is this something that is commonly done in ant keeping? It does depend on which species you keep, as some tropical ants may benefit from extra air flow; but on the whole I just allow a bit of air in my set ups when I open up the foraging arena/tank by gently blowing it in. Ants living underground don't have air pumps and rely on the wind to blow the stale air out from their nests. |
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Post by honeypotant on Aug 6, 2013 8:28:07 GMT
What ant books did you get Antbridge?
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antbridge
Ant Egg
Posts: 5
Country: England
Pets: 2 Dogs, a girlfriend and 2 housemates
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Post by antbridge on Aug 7, 2013 10:58:20 GMT
So fair I still only own The Principals of Keeping Ants. Its not a bad book. Its just very thin on the ground. I have learnt much more from reading the posts on this forum than from the book but I can see it being useful as a big of a reference every now and then. I'm looking into buying the lives of ants. But any suggestions that any one has would be good.
:-)
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 7, 2013 14:20:08 GMT
I'm not sure if I can suggest any book on ants which is suitable for a novice, apart from those written for young children; but Adventures Among Ants by Mark Moffat is a very good read, as are books written by Holldobler and Wilson, as these guys are quite eminent and well known in Myrmecology. If you can get then buy Ants by Dr M V Brian whose book on British ants is the one I learned a lot of my knowledge from.  |
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Post by Black Ant on Aug 7, 2013 17:41:35 GMT
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antbridge
Ant Egg
Posts: 5
Country: England
Pets: 2 Dogs, a girlfriend and 2 housemates
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Post by antbridge on Aug 9, 2013 7:28:48 GMT
I'm tempted by it. The price looks good as well. I'm also planing on going round a used book fair at the weekend to see if they have anything. You never know I might get lucky and find something there.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 9, 2013 8:06:30 GMT
I'm tempted by it. The price looks good as well. I'm also planing on going round a used book fair at the weekend to see if they have anything. You never know I might get lucky and find something there. Second hand book shops sometimes have the odd ant book in, but bear in mind that they can be very old and more recent modern books on ants can be bought online. I have closed this thread as it is now off topic and has now moved on from habitats to books. |
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