I Bought an ANT MANSION 🐜🏡

[Soberdxx]

you definitely need an antman statue for them to salute their leader

[insecrit]

“Hey bro you ready?”
“Hold up, my ants came in the mail today, give me a second”

[bearzz]

“since you guys told me to buy water, i bought a water park”

[agent_pilot]

As a professional ant keeper for many years, I confirm ants wouldn’t be soo happy in that mansion. Yes they’ll survive and feel cozy, but they’re just naturally designed to love being near dirt or sand, as well as their natural urge to dig.

[TheSCP_Foundation]

As an ant keeper, I'll give some tips.

1. Some species of ants love digging. You should have a digging medium somewhere, though the chance is high they'll live more in there.

2. This isn't always the case, but ants love darkness. Put them in a dark and silent area.

3. Never, but never let 2 different and colonies interact. But if a specie is semi-claustral, you can have multiple queens. (most of the time it's two.)

4. Be sure to not overfeed them. As long as the colony is small, give them parts of insects like crickets.

5. Make a place where you can have a test tube in filled a bit with sugarwater (use one part water to one part sugar. put it in a pot, put the pot on your stove and stir around. once the water boils, reduce the water to a simmer. wait around 5 minutes for the sugar to dissolve. let it go to room temperature and done.) Then get the test tube, fill it with some of the sugarwater, put a tiny piece of cotton blocking the sugarwater to go everywhere around the test tube. be sure to replace the sugar water and cotton if it starts rotting (looks pink, can have other colors)

The species seem to be 'Pogonomyrmex occidentalis' (Correct me if I'm wrong, I got this from a reply.) I don't see a queen from what is shown in the video. You should buy one.

(edit: holy sh ty for all the likes love y'all,
btw why is it that in EVERY comment section, there's a comment war..)
Edit 2: Added information about the queen

[Nameless_Miku]

As an ant keeper, I would like to make the following recommendations:

Don't use an excessive house: Many species do not like to have a big place for their nest. They often prefer to have multiple spots to feel less threatened. When you have a queen and a small colony in a test tube, start connecting that tube to another tube mouth to mouth with paper tape or a tube connector. This setup would be the perfect fit for them. Try to buy an "ant house" that is appropriate for the size of the colony. Remember, the less stress the queen experiences, the more eggs she will lay.

Put a red plastic sheet over the nest: Ants love darkness, and they don't see the color red. You can watch them since the sheet is transparent, and the ants will think they are underground. Also, avoid shaking the nest, moving it, or putting it in a wobbly place like a table.

If you have a herbivore species: Try to smash and mush the seeds before giving them to the ants. You don't want sprouts inside the nest, as they can rot and kill your colony.

Put a few mushed seeds inside the farm first: This will make it known that there is food available and help the ants feel less stressed during the first few days.

If you have a carnivore species: The same rules apply, but you should also be careful with your forager box and nest. Regardless of temperature or humidity, the ants will put the food inside the nest for saving it, and a corpse is much worse than mushed seeds for mold.

A tiny colony like yours won't walk that range of tube: There are only a few ants, and the queen doesn't have soldier ants. A soldier ant is an ant that is massive compared to others and has a big goofy head. Chop the trail because they will hesitate to explore, then to eat.

They HATE moving to other places: For sure, they disliked that "tube to nest" trip, so be quick. For the next time, you need to connect a tube connector (3D plastic object that can be sold on ant-specialized websites) to a plastic soft tube or hose and LET THEM move by themselves. Please don't dunk them in your new home.

Always water with sugar: You can also buy some protein juice for ants to supply the lack of nutrients. DON'T USE HONEY! Bees put an "essence" on the honey to keep other bugs away, so the ants will reject it.

Talcum powder mixed with a bit of alcohol is a good barrier: This is useful when the colony is so big that they escape when you open the forager box. Put a fine line of alcohol with cotton and then baby powder on the forager box. The alcohol is only for making it stick to the walls. Don't make a paste. Talcum, sticks to their legs, so they fall off the surface.

Do not use any soil: Several comments mentioned including soil for digging, but it is not necessary. You can use any soil that has a good ratio of clay. When you wet the nest for humidity, if there's no clay, everything will fall off. All the cavities will collapse, and the ants will die from suffocation or drowning.

In ALL types of ant nests, humidity is needed: Don't care if it is an acrylic type like yours or a sand one. You need water inside. In this case, it should have included a mushroom-form sponge. Always water it, don't let it fully dry and in a good temperature for all the year.

Some ants hibernate in the cold: For this winter, I suggest buying an electric ant house if you have really cool winters. Anyways, don't let it be cold.

I hope these tips help you in your ant-keeping journey. If I think of more tips, I will edit the comment.

(i have used a IA for fixing my grammar since several ppl had it pointed out lol im not a native english speaker. All the information is empiric and i have been keeping ants since 2018)

[horrorandexploration]

depending on what you plan to do with the ants you ahould def upgrade the enclosure. Like, you can keep the mansion, but you'll wanna put substrate down for them for a more healthy environment.

Also if you only bought workers and no queen then the colony will die in 2-4 weeks, just so you know.

[Xaviboy]

THERE ARE NO WALLS, BLUDS GONNA HAVE ANTS CHILLING IN HIS KEYBOARD WHILE HE GAMING

[BrotherE_elijah]

Wow Amazon really does have everything from A to Z

[UptodateNetizen]

'' No!, Billy you can't just sell ants on the internet no one will buy them-''

[shirleysilva]

The ants litterally gave off:
"Mom ordered ants for my birthday" vibes

[Seungberry.x]

12 dollars for something u can pick up outside is crazy

[chizlost]

Bro bought ants like wtf come to our kitchen one small cube of sugar is enough 😭 to invite them💀,
Okay- ofc there's queen that's why the ants coming in our kitchen exist

[Ea-wo]

Buying ants on the internet for 12 bucks is wild 💀

[Kemche]

The ants have a better house than what I’m currently living in💀

[MarleeKriel-btjs]

You need a Queen the colony won't grow without a Queen Quick tip, those are harvester ants

[gcpg]

As an ant keeper that ant farm is for a colony of ants with a queen. Without a queen they will die in 30 days more or less. The box in the middle of the mansions is the feeding box btw.

[supanerdreviews]

Honestly you could’ve gotten ants from the GAN project. It’s the global ant nursery and it could connect you to breeders in your area who have some starter colonies ready to sell like the ones you just bought

[snekanimatez]

“They only cost 12 bucks”
Man you can get them free in the wild 💀💀💀
edit:g-guys its a joke chill-

[Shadow-jkip]

I recommend you get a queen and remove the ants you just bought, they would die off pretty quickly without a queen. I recommend Messor barbarus(the same species of ant you just bought but dont keep them together) they are pretty straight foward to keep and eat seeds. If could also go with camponotus nicobarensis, they are pretty cool aswell but they look abit more, basic.