# A Massive Ant Terrarium



## cam1941

If you like vivariums, terrariums, insects, nature in general and good story telling I highly recommend the following videos:















I would never have thought to keep an ant colony in a viv like this, so its just amazing to see the creativity, ingenuity and energy people are devoting to this amazing hobby. 

Also, its amazing to see all of the different hobbies that are now coming together; PDF, Insect, Lizard and Snake keepers who are all now interested in keeping their animals in naturalistic enclosures.

This is really only the beginning so I can’t wait to see what the future holds. 

Next step, the Holy Grail of self sustaining vivariums… Hopefully soon.

Enjoy the vids…


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## JPP

cam1941 said:


> Also, its amazing to see all of the different hobbies that are now coming together; PDF, Insect, Lizard and Snake keepers who are all now interested in keeping their animals in naturalistic enclosures.


I totally agree. It works almost perfectly with PDFs...but it works pretty well for some other herps and inverts too depending on size and scale.


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## cam1941

That's a great point about size and scale. It really makes all the difference. Works so much better with smaller animals that can be given vast areas to thrive in relatively small quarters.



JPP said:


> I totally agree. It works almost perfectly with PDFs...but it works pretty well for some other herps and inverts too depending on size and scale.


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## cam1941




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## cam1941

This one is great, especially if you like carnivorous plants. 

Also, if you are interested in the concept of finding a way to create a truly self sustaining vivarium that showcases symbiotic relationships between a few different types of animals and of course plants and animals. 

The holy grail of our hobby and many others that are closely related...​


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## Ed

If you are interested in the intersection of the hobbies, consider going to Microcosm this year. There tends to be a wide range of different aspects of terrarium/aquarium intersection there. 

some comments 

Ed


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## cam1941

Thanks for the suggestion, didn't know it blended those different hobbies. I would definitely love to go as its a really fascinating concept to me.

I'll have to see if I can make it out there this year.



Ed said:


> If you are interested in the intersection of the hobbies, consider going to Microcosm this year. There tends to be a wide range of different aspects of terrarium/aquarium intersection there.
> 
> some comments
> 
> Ed


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## saltyfish

cam1941 said:


> Thanks for the suggestion, didn't know it blended those different hobbies. I would definitely love to go as its a really fascinating concept to me.
> 
> I'll have to see if I can make it out there this year.


I'll be going for the first time this year. I'm really excited 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


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## klawfran3

I actually keep myrmica and formica ant colonies, when I'm done traveling I should post pics in this thread 

BTW we call ant vivaria "formicariums" or "formicaria" and their care and raising is called "formiculture" in the hobby since ants are social wasps in the family Formicidae


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## cam1941

Awesome, def sounds like a great show... Will def try to make it myself.




saltyfish said:


> I'll be going for the first time this year. I'm really excited
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


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## cam1941

Very cool, I have a colony of Tetramorium Species E and 2 colonies of _Camponotus pennsylvanicus _that are just getting started in test tubes. 

Currently building a formicarium for one of my _Camponotus _colonies and the Tetramorium. I'm in no rush though as neither have any nanitics yet. Just eggs, larva and pupa at this point. 

Looking forward to having some thriving colonies. Trying to find a good home for my extra _Camponotus pennsylvanicus _colony as well.

Feel free to post pics 



klawfran3 said:


> I actually keep myrmica and formica ant colonies, when I'm done traveling I should post pics in this thread
> 
> BTW we call ant vivaria "formicariums" or "formicaria" and their care and raising is called "formiculture" in the hobby since ants are social wasps in the family Formicidae


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## klawfran3

cam1941 said:


> Very cool, I have a colony of Tetramorium Species E and 2 colonies of _Camponotus pennsylvanicus _that are just getting started in test tubes.
> 
> Currently building a formicarium for one of my _Camponotus _colonies and the Tetramorium. I'm in no rush though as neither have any nanitics yet. Just eggs, larva and pupa at this point.
> 
> Looking forward to having some thriving colonies. Trying to find a good home for my extra _Camponotus pennsylvanicus _colony as well.
> 
> Feel free to post pics


I've got four Formica colonies, one of the F. podzolica just about to get nanitics in a test tube, and one Myrmica obscura colony. I use Tarheel mini hearths with them.

Formiculture.com is a great antkeeping forum if you haven't joined it, it's pretty friendly too. If you join the forum I'm sure you'd be able to sell it off, a lot of people are looking for some well started colonies.

If you have pics of yours you should definitely share them! I'd love to see


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## cam1941

Yet another step forward…


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