How To Start Ant Keeping?

We get questions everyday from people looking to get into ant keeping! They ask about the various kinds of ant farms and ant farm kits, which species of ants to choose, do you need a queen ant or only workers, and so on. This brief guide helps explain everything you need to know to get started having fun and keeping ants. 

How does an ant colony start?

Ant colonies typically start from a single queen, inside an ant farm, which seals herself off in a chamber and starts laying eggs. She metabolizes her wing muscles and food stores to raise her first brood of workers, which typically arrive within a month and a half. During this time, she does not need food, though it is nice to offer some anyway. Of course, there are exceptions. You may learn about them in the "Fertility Guarantee" section.

Do I need to feed the ants? If so, what?

You do not need to feed queens until they get workers, with a couple exceptions (none of which are beginner species). We have a feeding guide, but the gist is that they need some liquid sugar and some form of protein.

Do you sell ants / ant farms?

We sell ants, ant farms and other equiptment from which you can start growing a colony, as well as supplies to make the process easier. Click here to visit our store!

How many ants do I buy?

A single queen will normally start producing workers herself. As a general rule, a colony will grow faster with more workers to do tasks around the nest. A 10 worker colony will consistently grow (hatch more workers) faster than a 5 worker colony, and vice versa. More queens or more workers mean you get more activity inside the ant farm, and outside the nest. The smaller the colony, the less activity you see.

How are ants shipped?

We ship our ants in test tubes, which are typically the most conventional way to raise ants. You can either move them to a nest (Preferably the ants can fill up around 30% of the nest at minimum), or maintain them in the test tube until the water runs out, where you would move them into another test tube, or a nest.

How are ant farms shipped?

We ship our ant farms, and other ant keeping equiptment, in the most economical and environmentally friendly way. 

If you want to become more involved in the ant keeping community, formicultue.com is a great place to start! Tell them we sent you.