Dimensions
Width 60mm
Length 75mm
Chamber depth 9mm
Total depth 25mm
Material
Aus Ants Acrylic nests are comprised of 5 separate sheets of acrylic. Acrylic is a lightweight and robust thermoplastic. Once the stainless fittings are tightened and assembled as a formicarium, these sheets form a solid structure that is both water retentive and escape proof. A perfect environment for a thriving ant colony!
Hydration
The nests require around 5-10 ml of water every 3 to 6 days, depending upon ambient temperature, as well as the particular ant species being housed (as some ants may prefer their nest wetter or drier than others). Its advised you do some research and experimenting to find your ant species ideal humidity preferences.
Colony Size
Aus Ants Acrylic formicaria are the perfect environments for ant colonies, big and small. This äóÖfounding sized formicarium is suitable for housing a colony ranging from 1 to 500 ants (depending on the size of ant species). The depth of the chambers (9mm) is more than enough to comfortably accommodate all ant species.
WHY PICK AUS ANTS ACRYLIC NESTS?
Aus Ants have been ant keeping for many years. One look at their Youtube channel "Ants Australia" and it's clear, they know what they're talking about. They have poured all of their knowledge and ant keeping experience into designing, producing, and then testing hundreds of nests over the past years to arrive at these current designs.
Aus Ants acrylic formicaria come fully assembled, ready to use. They're sealed together with stainless steel screws. To ensure these exposed screws dont scratch the surface of your tabletop, bench, or shelf, smooth dome nuts are fitted onto their feet. Because our nests are tightly sealed, it makes them an excellent option for tiny ant species, of which have been known to escape nests made from alternative materials such as ytong, plaster, grout, or resin. The robust nature of acrylic also allows it to be reused many times over. Simply move your colony out, disassemble the nest, give it a good clean under some hot water, reassemble, and its ready to house ants once again. Aus Ants Acrylic formicaria are built to go the distance!
The top layer of each nest feature laser cut micro holes for improved ventilation, without the risk of the tiniest ant species ever escaping. The transparency of their cast acrylic layers surpasses that of glass, with zero distortion of light waves. Plus, the base plate of the nest (where the ants reside on) is a slightly opaque white, allowing for both light to bounce off, and shine through. This reflective white base, in conjunction with the highly translucent top layer, provides the ant keeper with a crystal clear, untainted view of all the action within! Making the nests ideal for filming and photography. Additionally, as the base plate is semi-translucent, when a light source is positioned behind this layer, it glows, illuminating the ants from below. This helps the ants stand out clean and clear from the nest, and results in an interesting silhouette effect.
Their 3D printed entrances (designed to holster standard 13mm external, 10mm internal vinyl tubing) are internally tapered to ensure a tight fitting, escape proof connection. Plus, as the entrances are bolted onto the sides of the nests externally, this allows the ants to travel in and out of the nest unhindered by a reduction of tube diameter (which often results in a bottle-necking in the ants' traffic). This also allows larger species to comfortably enter/exit the nest.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
To learn more about Aus Ants acrylic nest range and other ant keeping products, head over to the official Aus Ants site here.