How To Make an Ant Nest

In this Episode I built an ant nest out of wood (walnut). This ant nest is thought for carpenter ants (camponotus) as they like to live in wooden ant nests. Its ready to be attached to a formicariums out world.
The most important tool used to make this ant nest is a router. I also used a sander, a jigsaw a cordless drill and some common hand tools.
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[@nukethat4997]

Giving me many ideas

[@nukethat4997]

Very cool might try

[@mytarantulas1644]

So how are you gonna moisture it?

[@jensaukema732]

Not. Only for dry nest ants.

[@hsjqkahfbejabvse1659]

THATS WHAT IM saying

[@hsjqkahfbejabvse1659]

@@jensaukema732 how do we

[@twurtle5908]

This is a great video really interesting looking forward to the next upload. Also i just started my channel!!

[@berkdiscioglu]

how do you provide moisture for wooden nests ? By the way this nest is looks AMAZİNG!

[@Fr33zeBurn]

Wood has capillaries (tiny veins) that draw in moisture, which were used to carry food and water when the tree was alive. These capillaries can still channel water when it is dead so you can utilise this by drilling a hydration point and soaking it either by just pouring water in or inserting a wet sponge or cotton wool etc

[@skyinreal1642]

@@Fr33zeBurnwon’t it rot?

[@Fr33zeBurn]

@@skyinreal1642 if you keep the same bit wet for days yes, having two points and alternating them might be a good idea. I don't think a wooden nest is a very good long-term living medium for ants unless they are a dry-loving species.

[@hsjqkahfbejabvse1659]

How would you put water

[@polarbear9772]

wont a wood nest grow mold faster then one made from stone?

[@MKalavera111]

exactly my question. What would happen if you wet it constantly. Anyways, great idea.

[@Fr33zeBurn]

it's more likely to warp/rot than mold, as wood has antifungal properties in the resin. best practice is to make two hydration points and use them alternately, letting each one dry out completely before using it again :)

[@Fr33zeBurn]

@@MKalavera111 If you're still interested ^

[@bigfoxki]

Or used for low humidity species like some messor.

[@riverrat3101]

i carved one of these myself, but when i hydrated it the wood warped, and the formicarium became useless.

[@MrBaron]

Ants that live in wooden nests (as an example carpenter ants) dont need much hydration. So just water a little bit. It also matters what kind of wood you used... My ant colony lives in this wooden nest since 5 weeks.

[@AntsScandinavia]

@@MrBaron How do you hydrate a nest without hydration chambers? Or did I miss something? 🤔

[@dominykasstankevicius90]

​@@AntsScandinavia Well, there are few methods - 1. Hydration chamber, but that's a bad idea since wood will rot... 2. Small drilled hole - water will distribute through the wood, however it will still rot, but much slower... 3. As Mr Baron said - carpenter ants don't need much hydration, ants will simply collect water from outworld and bring it in the nest. Ants won't store water in it, they'll just use it to moisten the larvae and to give it to the queen. This way wood will rot at rates that are not worth to consider.

[@rp101aquatics6]

@@AntsScandinavia connect the nest to a test tube with water

[@MrBaron]

@@rp101aquatics6 exactly

[@dodgersfnshepard8673]

That's what I did but using a log from a neighbor's fallen apple tree. What kind of plex do you use? Watched 2 videos before, knew you had to have made a wood nest somewhere. 2 questions, what's you hydration method with wood & 2, have you ever had/heard of camponotus eating through it?

[@MrBaron]

I don't hydrate the wooden nest. The ants have a nearby access to water in a testtube. If a camponotus colony grows big they can eat through wood. They also can destroy wooden buildings. But as long as your colony stays small they wont eat through wood. The harder the wood the longer it would take them.

[@zakikazi]

Gr8 video. Need some advice, How do the ants get oxygen? Do we have to keep breathing holes in the setup. Thanks in advance.

[@MrBaron]

As the lid isn't 100% airthight they get enough oxygen.

[@joeydr1497]

Zaki Kazi as long as the out world has breathing holes

[@ReySantana_]

Nice wooden nest bro, BTW what type of wood is that?

[@MrBaron]

walnut :)

[@tclaunchpad8813]

Hey umm would this work with solonopsis invicta

[@mrlol3363]

Where is watering area?

[@groundscore1202]

he mentioned its for carpenter ants they dont require water in their nest

[@Caesar.X]

you dont want to house a camponotus sp. in there

[@MrBaron]

why?

[@Caesar.X]

@@MrBaron carpenter ants are known for chewing through wood if they got a grip on it, wood is way too weak in front of their majors

[@Jay-wn9cy]

Someone that you don’t know actually, this is very good for a small camponotus colony. Most of them can only chew through rotting wood

[@Caesar.X]

@@Jay-wn9cy yeah maybe only in the founding stage, but i think when the big headed majors arrive you might want to rehouse them, preferably in an acrylic nest, stay away from ytong

[@Jay-wn9cy]

Someone that you don’t know ye true, i found ytong good for camponotus as they didnt chew through it. But to be safe use acrylic

[@kee1111]

Put ants inside

[@egbertsaquatics7004]

Ants will chew right through that nest

[@polarbear9772]

they wont

[@slv3ster1]

wood ants can stupid

[@egbertsaquatics7004]

Itsjusta Hemi hey man, I made that comment when I was still inexperienced with ant keeping. It’s a good product for sure. Thank you for being so respectful to the noob trolls tho lol