Ants make fascinating pets for anyone who wants to watch the tiny insects build pathways through sand, store up food, and reproduce. However, like any other pet, ants and ant colonies take some tasks to maintain and care for. Once you’ve bought or built a home for the ants, feed them about three times a day with insects, fruit, or chunks of bread. Keep the ants warm and well equipped with water, and the colony will breed and develop within a few months.
Setting up a Farm
Purchase an ant farm from a local pet store for an easy and quick option
The easiest way to do this is to visit a local pet supply store and buy a sand-filled ant colony. These thin, vertical glass forms are usually about 12 inches (30 cm) high and help you observe your ants as they explore and build tunnels. If the farm isn’t already loaded with sand, speak to the pet shop staff. They should have some soil or sand to fill up the farm with. If you’re a first-time ant owner or allow your child to care for an ant colony, a premade ant farm is the way.
Set the ant farm on a flat, stable surface away from direct light
Once it’s set up and loaded with sand and soil, set the ant farm on a sturdy desk, tabletop, or shelf where it won’t be shaken or fall over. Find a suitable place to put the formicariums and leave it entirely still to stop excessive stress. Don’t place it in front of a window or directly under a desk lamp. Instead, place it where it will obtain ambient or indirect light. Direct, bright light can interrupt ants’ reproduction cycles by destroying larvae and eggs.
Obtaining and Adding the Ants
Purchase ants from your local pet store
Once your farm is set up, it’s time to load it with ants. Pay another visit to a good pet store and ask to look at their ant products. So that the ants form a single colony, all of the ants you buy should be of a single species.
Ensure that your colony of ants contains a queen
Regardless of whether you bought or harvested your ants, the colony must contain a queen. Queen ants are visually recognizable: they’re 2-3 times the size of most worker ants and have a long, wide thorax. If you’re harvesting your own ants and can’t visually recognize a queen ant, keep collecting ants until you get a queen. If you try to create a colony out of the only drone and worker ants, they won’t be able to reproduce and will all die off within a few months.
Feeding and Watering the Ants
Feed your ants once every 6 hours during the day
Ants need to eat regularly to stay healthy and reproduce. Ants are omnivorous eaters and can be fed various foods, including cake or bread crumbs, bits of bread soaked in sugar water, or small pieces of fruit. Start by giving the ants one small handful of food at every meal. As time passes, change the amount of food you provide the ants with after watching how much they eat. For instance, if the ants only eat about half of the food, you give them each meal and cut back on your quantity.
Provide your ants with a combination of sugar and water to drink
Ants require plenty of sweet substances. You can make sugar water easily. Mix 6-7 parts of tap water with 1 part of sugar (or, if you like, honey). Pour about one tablespoon into the lid of a soda bottle. Set the lid on the ant farms so that the colony can drink from them as they satisfy. Keep an eye on the water in the bottle cap and reload it as soon as it gets low.