How to Raise an Ant Colony 101 | The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Pet Ants
Vložit
- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- Sign up & join our new AC SENATE now:
/ @antscanada
This is a full tutorial video on how to raise an ant colony from start to finish. Hope it helps you raise your own ant colony successfully. Ant keeping is a fun, educational, and rewarding hobby that inspires a love for nature, responsibility, and conservation. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution. Special thanks to nature photographer and biologist Alex Wild for allowing his photos to be used in our videos. Check out his amazing nature photography and order some prints: www.alexanderwild.com #ants #antfarms #tutorial
Topics Covered:
2:12 - Getting Started in Ant Keeping
2:18 - What is a Good Beginner Ant Species?
3:17 - Ways to Get a Queen Ant
4:19 - Catching a Queen Ant During Nuptial Flight
5:38 - Test Tube Setup & Care
7:13 - How long until you get eggs/workers?
8:56 - Ant Diet
11:32 - Ant Farms
11:42 - The Dangers of Gelfarms
13:15 - Ant Barriers
13:42 - Ant Maintenance & Routine
14:44 - Ant Hibernation (for temperate ants)
15:29 - Why Keep Pet Ants?
Ant keeping gear featured in this video:
AC Hybrid Nest 2.0™ Camponotus: www.antscanada.com/shop/new-c...
AC Ant Tower™ Small: www.antscanada.com/shop/ant-t...
AC Test Tube Portal™: www.antscanada.com/shop/ac-te...
AC Outworld™: www.antscanada.com/shop/ac-ou...
AC Hybrid Nest™ Mini: www.antscanada.com/shop/new-h...
Basic AC Test Tube Pack™: www.antscanada.com/shop/ac-st...
AC Large Vinyl Tubing™: www.antscanada.com/shop/ac-la...
Click here to SUBSCRIBE: goo.gl/tlCQJZ
Directed/Written/Filmed/Video Edited by AntsCanada
Executive Producer RJ Garcia
If you're new to the channel, catch up on your "AntsCanada Lore" with this playlist of the complete history of the ants of this channel: goo.gl/hVFxc2
Visit us at www.antscanada.com
CLOSE CAPTIONING "CC" available for this video. Please feel free to contribute to translating/CCing this video into another language: czcams.com/users/timedtext_cs_p...
A brand new video is uploaded on this channel every Saturday at 8AM EST (with frequent bonus videos) so be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the channel to catch every ant video we release! Thank you for the support.
Get our new AC Hybrid Nest 2.0 ant farm or
'All You Need' Hybrid 2.0 Gear Pack (complete kit): www.antscanada.com/product-ca...
▶▶▶We've got new Ant T-shirts! Check them out here: goo.gl/PjnB7t
▶▶▶Got a question about ants or AntsCanada? Visit our website FAQ: goo.gl/mJPEqn
▶▶▶Want an ant farm? Check out our ant shop. We ship worldwide: goo.gl/I4l7Ho
▶▶▶Need to buy an ant colony for your ant farm, or do you have ant colonies to sell/give away? Find out more about our GAN Project: goo.gl/jzo9Lc
Join us at the new AntsCanada Ant Forum: forum.antscanada.com
▶AntsCanada Official Website www.antscanada.com
▶Like us on / antscanada
▶Follow us on / antscanada
▶Follow us on / antscanada
Email us at info@antscanada.com for any questions or inquiries.
About AntsCanada.com: We believe ants are the most amazing creatures on the planet, and every new discovery about their micro world gives us some profound insights into the world around us and ourselves. Bringing the ant farm and love of ant keeping to a whole new level, we are dedicated to show the world the joys of keeping big and healthy pet ant colonies. Shipping worldwide since 2009, we are innovators of ant keeping products for ant lovers and museums alike.
Greetings, Ant Lovers/AC Family! Due to so many requests for tips on actual ant keeping, I decided that while I'm busy working on our Phoenix Empire's terrarium, I'd finally release this complete ant tutorial video to help you guys start your own epic ant colonies, so we can raise ants together! Anyone out there catch any queen ants this year? What ant species are you raising? Let us know!
To the person reading this right now
May all your dreams and wishes come true some day.
Read my name
Love the video
Hi AC family! If you read this, i hope you have an really good day!
Im unlucky today, i cant find any ant queen today hahahaha
Hey ac hope you see this but i just wanna say your vids are so good and keep up the work
Remember to stay hydrated today everyone!
*slowly dying because of dehydration*
Ah yes, you earned a subscriber, I shall drink water until I get hyponatremia 👍
Congrats you are an Meme
Drinks water
Tbh I do need to drink more water, I am now 10% more motivated
Who else thinks ants are so interesting.
I do
I just watch ants because it looks cool
I wouldn’t be watching ants Canada if I was fascinated by ants
Meee
I just watch him because it looks cool
My 7 year old loves your videos. We got him a cheap ant farm to start and now will probably try to get something so it’s sustainable and not just 2 weeks digging.
Chad parents
@@splitfancycake9069fr
When I was 7, I started ant-keeping too, but I am german, so I wasn't able to understand these videos. Now that I understand englisch videos, I've found myself enjoying and rewatching those old videos I watched
@@silkyzoid I want an ant farm but my parents won’t let me bc they think the ants are gonna go every where
@@TOEZKAIJUKING Tell them that you'll do your research and maybe wait 1 or two months and if you are still interestet by then, you'll get some ants
You are the reason I love this hobby thanks 🙏
Thanks fot the support! #AntLoveForever
You deserve COEMS 🤑
@@AntsCanadaomg he responded
@@AntsCanadacan i have a queen ant
others: *"Keeping up with the Kardashians"*
me: *"Keep up with the Ants"*
Just Me true
The Kardashians are non productive members of society, ants on the other hand... Are not only beneficial to our well-being but act as a community. Can't really say the same for the Kardashians!
True
Karda who?
@@DianeSturlinXX *My diamond earrings* 😭
AntsCanada: **posts tutorial**
Me: **aggressively grabs notebook**
@@zacharyhay9896 who cares we watching ants
ThePenguin64
Bruh i clicked the link and found out this "Zachary Hay" was just a bot
@@nightowlanimate7813 really? I had that thought i have a idea comment test and see if he replies
@@zacharyhay9896 haha idiot bot made by idiot 6 yr old
Me to lol
I remember the time from when the fire nation and golden empire was so young. So nice
Those were the days.
I bought nests from you a decade ago and outworlds. I love how pretty they were with the sand and pumice and glass frames. I understand the concept and cleanliness of the new nests but I miss how the old nests looked.
Me: *Interesting*
Ants on my shoulder: 🤔Veryyy
ant appears on my window
*stares*
*stares*
Ants on my leg 🏃🏼♀️🏃🏿🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽🏃🏽♂️🐜
Ant foraging for the sugar I keep in the food cupboard: *guess I never had to do this anyways*
"The Secret World of Pets"
Me: meh
"The Secret World of Ants"
Me: Oh yeah!
Kool aid man: OH YEAHH
Me:umm ok
My little sister:i want to kill ants!!!!
Me:dont hurt ants!!
Sis:but I want to:(
Me:i said no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey sandy
The camera-ant is the real deal :>
😱😱😱
I just found 8 QUEENS! This is my first starting this hobby so I need to gather everything but I am so pumped! You’ve inspired me so much!
I just found one so excited
Still at it at year 3. Im happy for ya.
Good luck, normally cuz I do this for over 3 years I would give you some advice. But this video already did it 😅 I hope you're queens survive
It been 11 months how is your ant colony doing?
Mikey: how to keep ants
Me with 5 years of antkeeping experience still watching: hmm interesting.
same lol im only watching cuz hes my fav youtuber
Its so true
@@zacharyhay9896 lol no
Zachary Hay bot
2:11 LOL!!!
When I was a kid I used to keep ants too. Very relaxing
Instead, i just deliver food to the colony near my yard, and sometimes, look for the queen to see the food and brood.
@@Material_GrL Me too I deliver food to ants everyday So cute
AC: so every spring and summer...
me: laughs in tropical country
yeah im in tropical country
Me To! I’m from tropical Country!!!
Laughs in Floridian
Me: laugh in indonesian
Me: Cries in Canadian 😭
Me: **never gonna keep any ant colonies**
Also me: **watches this**
same i just learn
You Should Start keeping ants! It’s very fun!
I doubt I will, at the moment I simply can't, but I love to watch his channel too
same ha
Same
I’m waiting for August to get Black Garden Ants, this is so nice!
i caught a messor structor queen while i was ant hunting near a lake and this tutorial really helped me i found my queen in february 28th.
How did the colony turn out?
@@thehobbist5544 dead, a year later, infertile, somewhere in the world being a dead queen
@@Alex1A547 aww, sorry bro. I hope you catch a fertile one this year!
@@thehobbist5544 im actually suceeding alot now!, i have 1 tetramorium caespitum colony and 2 tapinoma colonys with 1 camponotus cecconi colony and i have a bunch of messor queens that all layed egges, no big colonys yet but hopefully this summer, happy nuptial flight season by the way!
Me: **subscribed**
Also me: **hopes he posts a tutorial**
Antscanda: **posts a tutorial**
Me: *_YESSSSSSSSSSSSS_* **flips table and grabs desk and aggressively takes notes**
Hahah
Why are you taking notes when you can watch the video as many times as you like
Comments are so dramatic these days smh
Why did you flip a table then get a desk
Floof Flff
Because it’s ant tutorial school, *duh.*
"Start with whatever ants live around you" *me only seeing fire ants* ah yes, so it is agni kai
Underated Comment
i don’t live near ants.
Fire ant stings hurt
@@last.atlantean i am not kidding. there are absolutely no colonies
Same
I saw your one video recommended on 16th November and now today I made a ant colony home with a aquarium and decorated it with eggs rocks drift wood etc.... And placed it near by ant colony and from now I will regularly disturb those ant colony with lemon water so than they can migrate to their new colony .❤️👍 Tomorrow I will give update .... Thanks 🇮🇳 love from India Jharkhand.
Did you stay with it? How are your ants?
I did the hardest option finding a queen from a different company but it was extremely easy I found a very small colony with around maybe 50 or 30 ants i’m actually put them in a small chest tube set up and I talked at all of the workers and they are doing good right now!❤❤❤
I have had my black crazy ants for 12 year's now and still going strong.
Good for you!
How about you make a series lika ac
Nice
How is the queen still alive? Correct me if I'm wrong but i thought queens only live a few years
@iiFocus Plays you need a queen.
I’m not first
I’m not last
When antscanada post
I click fast
Same
I'm always here within an hour, like theirs some pheromone controling me 🤔.......
You’re thirst
Still not first
Remember that
You should eat ants today
MrRabbit 👀👁👄👁👀
@•ΔMaskeΔ•
"nice, it rhymes"
says the mask In Replies
"I'm not first" sounds rehursed
And "I'm not last" Is way to fast
But when its antscanidas post
We all expect the most
Of what any ant has to offer
Because we all love Mikey
And all his lil ant brother
Whether we like to rhyme (y)
Or just arrogantly dismiss
It's all for the love of Ants,
And maybe taking the piss....
🐜😝👌👍👌😘
Thanks so much! I have been planning to have an ant colony for a long time. This will help a lot!
That was really helpful. Thanks.
AC: Any Ant Species outside your home is a good beginner ant!
Me: **Solenopsis Geminata everywhere**
Me too selonopsis geminata everywhere!!
*Looks at bull ants around my house.* Yeah... about that....
@@alexanderlambert295 bullet ants
Fire ants
It seems like all we have in Texas are these damn fire ants!
*Me watching this even though I won’t get any pet ants anytime soon:*
Hmmm, interesting...
czcams.com/video/2zWeMGwV2qs/video.html
Same
Same
Same till me 22 plus
Zachary Hay which website is this
This helped a lot for my first ant farm thanks for your videos!
Thank you for your help!
YES!!! just as I found a queen 2 weeks ago I needed this so much thank you
Sad, i found one and i left it
@@d0mb75 I'm sure you will find one some day :)
What did you do to it in those 2 weeks???
@@Hp-xk2dw test tube setup and left her alone, she has eggs already!!
u should record it
Belle Delphine: I have the most simps!
Pokimane: No, I have the most simps!
*Amateurs...*
What was that, punk?
Every queen ant: AMATEURS!!!
this is THE BEST MEME EVER!
well it make me happy at least
Kiryu Type3 no The Male ants During Nuptial Flights!
Kiryu Type3 it’s a joke way to ruin it
I have found a certain type of 🐜... I have s small video of it. She looks like a cross between a 🐝 and a Queen Black Crazy Ant. She has a sort of reddish or deep orange exoskeleton, like armor and stripped on her booty, lol. She looks lol. she could make herself more intimidating by stretching her legs to keep from being in danger. I want to know whatkind of Ghostrider babe she is... Help???? I wish i could post the video!!!
yoo ac
I just got a ant queen and bought some of your strucures for ants love your work
Very nice video - Thanks man, Love it 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you, I need this for my friend!
AntsCanada: **Bumps Table** **Tank Of Ants Falls**
Ants: WERE FREE!!
The resources quality they have Shows Self Respect, hard work.
Thanks for all the cool videos
I live in Australia and I’m thinking of keeping green headed ants when I’m older. They can’t climb up smooth surfaces but they have painful stings and many aussies watching this can probably relate to the pain we felt in primary school when we were outside and one crawled on your leg
Most harmless animal in Australia
I suggest keeping bull ants since they’re very common there
@@heisenburger1899 yeah bull ants are cool I’ve been thinking of those too
Watching this in 4K is just PERFECT
Oh wow your website/store sounds like a great idea !!! ❤❤❤
This was so helpful
Me who just got my ant queen: *furiously taking notes*
I've found around 20 and didn't keep them I just put then in different areas of garden.
So, so, excited for you! My husband has told me I can't have any ant for any reason. He is fine with idea of spiders or anything else.
Best of luck!
Good luck starting your ant family
Relatable: 200%
I got mine yesterday lol
Has anyone tried communicating with them giving a series of taps or lights to associate with things
No and I don’t think I shall
Osmosis Jones no
Sounds potentially dangerous
The gods shouldn't never reveal our existence
Hi just got a new colony and this is helpful
I just got a ant colony because of you!! You are a big inspiration!!
My brain : you're not gonna keep ants right?
Me:ye
My brain: watch this
Me: why
My brain : cuz you like AC
Me: k
Me
You play minecraft
@@olivinebalili6138 i like your cut ,g
This video blessed me with luck. I found a queen the day after I watched
How is your colony doing?
@@anonymoususer4412 i think I did something wrong cuz the queen died before she could start a brood
I find one before but think it was a soldier ant because in a movie soldier have wings
Same
My queen is just kinda broke her wings off now so I think she’ll lay her eggs
I wanted an ant farm for probably over a year now and today fsm houndreds of ant queens were wandering over the streets ( and also in front of the house my house ) so i just caught one with a very spontanious test tube setup 😅 i hope everything will go well with my queen. Thanks for your cotent!
Its ant love forever.
why is this a comfort video for me😭😭😭
The noptual flight is when all the virgin queens fly out followed by males to get their new colony started. The queen will come down and find the perfect spot , the male however sadly dies. I recognize this when i see loads of them flying around followed by birds trying to catch them. I managed to get a queen now (finally) and now got about 5-7 worker ants helping her! So excited 🙌
I think it’s interesting to see new behaviors in North American ants, where I live in northern Ontario I watched a colony of ants start tending to a sun flower in a sun flower patch I planted near by, I saw them making little rooms drinking sap or what ever comes from the stem of a sun flower, aswell it seemed to improve the plants growth rate as it was the only flower to successfully bloom but not seed, after blooming the ants kept one room for taking the liquid from them stem and then collecting pollen(I think among other tasks), and I have never seen this behavior again, sadly before being able to document what I’ve seen we got hit with a few frosts and they went into hibernation, however I’m going to try and plant sun flowers in the same location and see if they repeat this behaviour or if they were taking advantage of how this sunflower grew, aswell as another behavior change I’ve noticed is the presence of 2 or more queens, aswell as two environmental changes I think might play a part aswell, over the last couple years it’s been significantly hotter during the summer and the arrival of an ant species I’ve never seen until a few years ago, I’m not sure what it is but it’s very small and is clearish brown in colour, and seem to either have a massive nest or just hundreds of nests around in the sandy soil
My goodness all that typing for 1 like and no replies
Awesome! Thanks so much for all your knowledge!
Thsi is the best channel i have ever seen love your viedeos you make everything so interresting that you just want to start such a hobby
No one:
Literally everyone when ants Canada uploads: To the Comments!!
People who don’t but look at the comments after the video:
Um yeah about that...
Actually not that many people do that
Been waiting for this!
Thank you AC family for this vedio this was very helpful to raise my ant colony I am just a beginner .So this vedio help not only me but to also many other ant colony beginner like me .Thank you so much for the vedio I really liked it 👍👍👍😀
Ants is a good example of working hand in hand and honesty
me:founding a queen with wings
me: still thinking that maybe that its just a flying ant =(
Edit: its been 2 years I forgot I sent this comment and uh. I have a thriving colony of fire ants now :D
Remeber queens have wings
@@K.Pershing queens might not have wings if they have mated and male alates also have wings
There are only a couple flying ants on the world. Never miss a queen ;p
I thought a black queen was a gly, and killed it, now theres a hole on my heart.
@vercenary Ant workers
thank you this helped so much just realised all the mistakes i made when i was starting up
Hey antscanada! I love your channel and am here from the beginning! At i first saw you i got a colony of monomorium subobacum when i was in holiday in thailand. It was just 1 queen. I now have hundreds of thousands ants. ANTLOVE FOREVER!!!
As a kid I created my own setup with a large jar. I found a container that fit the center of the jar perfectly and filled in soil around the container and against the sides of the jar, creating a circular area in which the ants could dig their nest. I found a large harvester ant queen that had shed her wings and was wandering around looking for a nest site, captured her, and placed her in the jar. I started a depression for her in the soil to get her in the mood to settle in quickly, which she did. After a few weeks I had a tiny colony of ants starting up. Just goes to show that you don't need to buy things or even have an elaborate setup. Ants are happy as long as they have the basic ingredients for a comfortable nest.
This is so helpful, I have two queens and am not sure when to expect the eggs to become workers and how to feed them. Can I feed them nuts of any kind?
Finally an ant keeping tutorial - thank you for coming back to the basics! :)
Yes, been waiting a long time for this... a high quality tutorial like your own! that is it!
Totally, back to the roots
@@grexodus5493 Thank you. Well many of us have been inspired by him, so was I, to a certain extent :)
@@markmonster8748 This will surely help a lot of ant keepres all over the globe out ;)
What a Surprise! I Was just scrolling through the comments then spotted you! I’m Subscribed to you!
Thx so much ants Canada! I need skills on ant keeping! This video really helped! I'm buying a colony to raise! You deserve a great subscription rate!
Thanks!
Me: watching ant videos in bed
Also me: why is my back itchy?!
I think ants are so cool!! Thank you so much for introducing me to the world of any keeping!!
Thank you antscanada you really helped me take care of my queen and also now I have my CZcams channel
I have a custom made sheet for ant keeping that I made with double sided mirror tape. it allows the queen to feel secure, while I can freely check on them
AC question of the week: A nuptial flight is a flight, where Virgin queen alates mate with multiple male alates before landing to start a new colony.
:( my comment didn't even get a like ;(
Add Antlions to the terrarium as a natural, slow feeding, awesome predator.
Slow feeding?? My ant lions are nuts 😂
Definitely gonna try and start a colony. Also checked your site and I knew my local exotic store started selling ants in the last few months. I didnt know you sourced them though!! Definitely gonna stop by there
Hi I love your video so much! And pls never give up❤️❤️❤️
What a nuptial flight is, is when virgin queens and males from different colonies fly out and mate with other virgin males and queens of the same species.
Answer to AC Question: When male and female ants, known as alates, leave their colonies in search of mates. After the mating process has occurred, the male will pass away and the female will start a new colony.
Bruh
I hav question i want atta species (leafcutter) colony but their queen its huge its better me to create then in a pot or in a common test tube in the start?
@@ben-lu4jk they dont need a test tube since it wont really work for their fungus gardens just a small square glass with soil and a nice place to nest is good
@@icamehomewiththemilkson3618 ok tysm
LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!
MORE PLZ!
This helped I was planning on keeping ants
I keep finding Solenopsis Invicta queens and they are everywhere
Kill them all
Lol not worth keeping them they grow to fats and they sting unless you have money and you can afford to keep adding more space the Sure keep them but you will have to freeze them eventually because they are invasive if your in any part of the world except South America you can keep them
Advanced Being why not capture them, grow a colony and sell them through AntsCanada's GAN program
@@etrnlygr8tful cause they are highly invasive and have wiped out millions of native ant colonies
@@TheSleepyPP good point. I was about to say don’t kill them they are important
I've always wanted ants now I know how thanks!
I love this channel so animals and ants loving
I got inspiration from this video thank you ants Canada
AC question: A nuptial flight is when virgin queens and male alates from different colonies of the same type of ants go and mate.
First time I was this early was in my previous life
Sure bud
I really want to get into ant keeping at some point. Luckily, I have enough patience and empathy to just let ants crawl on me, so I'd probably easily get a queen once I identify her.
Fun story: in elementary, I often got put in time out during recess. I'd just sit there and let ants crawl on me. Most of them were black ants, but some were fire ants! They didn't even bite/sting me! So yea, I now love ants.
Nice I feed near by colonies, but I used to use mainly bread now it's sweet stuff and sometimes steak left overs
when u were in elementary i sneeked up to ur bed and secretly smelled ur feet while u were asleep
Same ant keeping is sounds so much fun
Thxs ants Canada I found a pavement ant queen and this tutorial helped me a lot!
Nuptial flight: Is when a colony is mature and new male and female larvae start to develop wings to seek out ants from other colonies to mate with. Virgin queens (alates) will then mate with males from other colonies to start a new one of there own. It is the key phase of the ants life cycle and there survival. Mature ant colonies will repeat this cycle at the right time of the year, this would also include the correct weather (rain ect..). Really love your videos keep up the good work.
The Nuptial flight is a super important phase in the life cycle of a Queen Ant. It’s the period of time that the Queen leaves the nest and mates with males in order to found a new Colony or in some cases to continue an already existing one. Keep calm and Ant on!
You made me love ants so much I'm starting a ant farm. 🐜
THANK YOU
I clicked right on the notification
yay
14 min ahhh
Me:*sweat aggressively*
334 *comment*
Me: How da hell are u so quick
Bruh just hit the notification bell
Same
sound a bit like you wanted to be
_first_
I caught 4 queens today
So excited
Im going to make my ant colony. Thank you so much. From Philippines.
The OG antscanada tutorials are back 😁
AC Question: A nuptial flight is when male and female alates emerge from their nest to fly and mate
Thank you for sharing you're information on how to take care of my ants.
I'm currently doing research on how to keep my ant alive and happy, feeding, the whole thing.
I'm most likely going with 3 choices of ants in my area witch are the black carpenter ant, fire ants, black garden ants.
Thank you for making all you're videos and guides it has helped me a lot!!!
Kill fire ants!!!!!
Is it going well
If you like low mantience ants and dont mind waiting, go for a black carpenter queen. If you want to see the colony grow to a huge size quickly, while also needing maintance almost every other day, fire ants. And if your looking to budget/not spend alot on formacariums and such then go for those garden ants.
I finally got my hands on a big Red Crazy Ant queen, though, I need to check on her often, because the house is infested with Ghost Ants that might raid my test tube, maybe I'll buy a test tube set up from your store in the future, that one you're using on the Woodland Warriors, Ant Love Forever!