Keeping Leaf Cutter Ants Tutorial - Part 1: The Setup

[@explode4025]

This guy deserves more subscribers.

[@NovoAnts]

Explode I agree, I’m subbing 👍🏼

[@comradeanthony4120]

Love the video, just wanted to make a quick comment about the humidity levels of the leaf container. Research your particular type of leaf cutter ants. I live in SoCal where I have easy access to Acromyrmex Versicolor ants. These are desert leaf cutters. Because of their desert life style they have adapted to collecting more dry plant matter than wet. They will accept wet and sometimes want wet plant matter but they will also take and even prefer dry plant matter. Last year I had two small colonies going in a test tube set up and I would give the queens a mix of wet rose leaf and dry cornflakes. They far often preferred the dry cornflakes.

[@HiddenEmpires]

Thanks for your input. My leafcutters love dry food too (especially oat flakes). I'm going to talk more about food and humidity in the next two videos ;)

[@imperiumderameisen8179]

In my Atta cephalotes setup I use clay balls instead of plaster. They're too large/heavy for the ants to move. The colony grows like crazy too, they went from Queen and 50 workers to around 400 workers and 3 soldiers in like 2 and a half months.

[@HiddenEmpires]

Yes, I've seen quite a few ant keepers using those clay balls successfully. I used them too at the start, but somehow my colony eventually figured out that they can still carry them out of the nest if three or four ants work together, so I decided to go with the plaster variation.

[@robertbakerii5469]

Thank you so much for your tutorials. I don’t have a leaf cutter colony but watching yours is the next best thing.

[@HiddenEmpires]

Thanks ;)

[@riot_baby2296]

I wish but I can’t own ants and they are illegal were I live so I just watch other people’s colonies

[@AnimalguyFrankie]

Sad

[@AnimalguyFrankie]

@@riot_baby2296 can you own native ants

[@kjiggy059]

Thank you for the video! As someone who is just starting leaf cutters, this is very helpful.

[@HiddenEmpires]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@NovoAnts]

Great video. This is one of my favourite species. Enjoyed watching and look forward to the next one. Time to check out your channel, I haven’t come across it before. 🐜👍🏼

[@HiddenEmpires]

Thanks ;) I just checked your channel. Great work!

[@antkid521]

This series was SUPER helpful when it came basic care for my colony of leaf cutter ants. Keep making awesome videos! :D

[@HiddenEmpires]

If you have questions about keeping Leaf Cutter Ants feel free to write it down here in the comment section. I will react to every comment and try to answer questions.

[@RSFrROAS]

Hidden Empires 1. how much would ist cost To hold a leafcutter Colony total? ( including costs of living room and food) 2. Can I go on holidays for almost 2 months without to worry about the colony 3. Do I need a lot of space for the colonie and does it take a lot to keep a colony clean? Pleas answer

[@HiddenEmpires]

Ok, I try to answer the question as best as I can: 1. Creating a habitat for the colony might cost a little. You're going to need at least three containers and tubing and so on. It depends if you're more of a DIY person or you want to buy a finished setup. But it usually costs more then a setup for other ant species, maybe somewhere in the range of $60-$100, depending on the prices in your country. And keep in mind that such a colony might grow rather quickly and might need extensions in the future. Food is mostly free because you can just get out there and get some leafs. Maybe you want to add things like oat flakes or honey, but this doesn't cost much. But it will cost you time, since you will have to get leafs quite regularly. What might be the most expensive part might be the colony itself. If you don't have a chance to collect a queen yourself, a colony can cost quite a lot. 2. Only if you have somebody who will take over. There are more complicated to keep then other ants, because you will have to make sure the conditions for the fungus are right regularly. And depending on the size of the colony you will have to gather quite an amount of leafs on a regular basis. When I go on vacation I have a good friend who takes over, but he has to check in daily and I have to give him quite a list of things to check. So, I have to say no, they are not the best species if you're on vacation often. 3. Those colonies have the potential to grow to really large sizes. So, yes, they will eventually need quite some space. Cleaning doesn't take much time. They help you by storing all their garbage in one spot and you don't have to feed them any insects, which usually is one of the main source of cleaning for other ant species. I usually just have to empty the garbage container every two months or so. But as said before, gathering leafs will take some time, unless you have a big garden and can just get all the leafs you'll need right outside. Now I know, all this answers may sounds like they would not be a good species to keep as a pet. And they certainly are more difficult to keep then all other ant species I've ever had. But they are also the most fascinating ones. There are so many things to observe and discover by keeping them, that in my oppinion it is worth the additional effort.

[@Tina-if1ku]

Are they easy for people getting started with ant keeping

[@HiddenEmpires]

@@Tina-if1ku Not really. Atta belongs to one of the most challenging ants to keep and are therefore more suited for experienced ant keepers. If you're just getting into the hobby, I recommend to try an easier species first. A species that is native to your country, so you don't have to worry about creating special conditions. And also a species that doesn't get as large as Atta does.

[@randomg700]

Does this apply to acromyrmex octospinosus

[@FizzleFX]

"Mistakes were made but not by me" ;) great book. idk why i thought about it just now

[@FizzleFX]

The big tubing stands out: so they can pull big leaves through them^^

[@BrendaColvin]

They are so cute!!

[@manuelabalo8903]

Hello! I was wondering what is the proper care for a leafcutter queen? I've had other queens before and grew the colonies successfully but never a leafcutter, is there anything I should be careful about?

[@hjoffenberg]

Great tutorials! Thanks, for sharing your experience. I have two questions: How do you move a fungus garden to a new chamber if this is needed? Secondly, how do the ants colonize a new chamber? Do they bring part of the old fungus themselves or do you need to inoculate the chamber with part of the existing fungus?

[@HiddenEmpires]

For the first question: I only had to do it once and back then I just used rubber gloves and a spoon and I just took the fungus and placed it into the new chamber. The fungus crumbled a bit but that is no problem, since the ants will just rebuild it. For the second question, if you give them a chamber with the right conditions, the ants will do it by themself. They will just take a little bit of fungus from the existing chamber and use it to start a new fungus structure in the new chamber.

[@antsexodus9245]

How did you make the outworld, and how do you ants not get out of it? Did you add Fluon cause it looks pretty cool and I really want to try it!

[@HiddenEmpires]

No, I use paraffin oil as escape barrier.

[@kasskaitysgaidys]

talcum works quite well as a barrier

[@JC-jy9lm]

I have made a large 3 pot set up. I will.use a smaller tub upside down with a door cut into it for my middle chamber. My hygrometers are reading 93 humidity in my fungus chamber which has shit loads of condensation on the walls and yet my two end pots don't have condensation on the walls and read 95% 🤷🏻‍♂️ obviously those 2 pots aren't heated and middle is. Middle I have set to 25c and the end pots are naturally getting 21c. Is the heat I have in the middle chamber going to be enough that they know that is fungus chamber as its warmer ? As all 3 seem to be humid on the reader

[@zantezaint2348]

I live in California, Vista in San Diego county and the nearest Acromyrmex Versicolor is about 3 hrs drive from my place. Generally, the area I live in is dry with palm trees, succulents, and little rain. How can I keep a good even temperature when I deal with a founding colony? Do you recommend a grow tent, something that would keep temperature stable? I've bought 2 queens with 5 workers each with a half an inch diameter fungus before, but both failed to survive, both fungus only got smaller and smaller even though I thought the humidity was high and temperature was on point. I've also tried the moat setup but the queens and workers tend to drop into the water and drown. This year, around August, I am attempting to head down to where the Acromyrmex Versicolors are to get a few queens. In regards to your setup, doesn't temperature drastically change, affecting the fungus, since there is only a plastic wall around the fungus? Any tips, setup ideas, techniques, and warnings are appreciated. Thank you.

[@HiddenEmpires]

Sorry for my late response, I try to answer your questions as good as possible, but since all this is just from my personal experience with one colony, take it with a grain of salt. Now, the founding stage with leafcutters is always difficult. I usually recommend to only buy colonies, that have at least 100 workers, because even professional sellers tend to loose quite a few colonies in the founding stage. I bought my colony with 100 workers and a fungus the size of a ping pong ball but my seller told me, that I will only be more or less in the save zone once I reached 2000 workers. But back to your questions, yes in my setup the temperatures can fluctuate quite a bit and I was worried about it until I read about some studies, that have meassured temperatures in the fungus chambers of wild ants and realized, that temperatures can vary quite a bit, depending on day and night cycles. From what I've read so far, the fungus will no longer grow when temperatures are below 20° Celsius (68° Fahrenheit) but not die either unless its cooler than 15° Celsius (59° F) for a longer period of time. Upper limit is supposed to be 27° C (80°F) and from my experience, temperatures that are too high can harm your fungus far more then temperatures that are too low. But changing temperatures within that range doesn't seem to be too much of a problem in my experience, of course it shouldn't drop like 5°C within a couple of minutes, rapid changes are never good. In my experience humidity plays a far bigger role. From what I've read in the internet about the necessary humidity levels, you always find the number 80%-90%. But in my experience my fungus always shrunk when it was around 80%. Plus I've realized that a lot of hygrometers show very different results when it comes to high humidity levels, so I don't trust them anymore. I just try to keep humidity as high as possible at all times and since I do that, the fungus always seem to grow, even if I'm probably above the recommended 90%. So, in my experience I would say, don't worry too much about temperatures as long as it stays within 20° and 27°C (68° and 80°F) but make sure humidity is always as high as possible. I hope this helps.

[@zantezaint2348]

@@HiddenEmpires Definitely helps. I will take everything with a grain of salt, but every number you gave me will definitely come to use because the numbers you got from your experience don't lie. I am glad you told me that most colonies that are purchased by professionals dont survive unless they are well over 2000 workers. At least I can put that to rest knowing I couldn't do anything about it. I probably won't purchase any more of them as a result, because I lost a little over 300 dollars from the 2 queens, but everything in life has to be got a learning lesson. I will stick to the 68 and 80 F range and keep humidity as high as possible like you said. How do you deal with condensation on the formicarium walls while at the same time have high humidity? I know having droplets of water fall onto the fungus isn't good either. Thank you for the long, detailed response!

[@Rob-el8ti]

you havent posted a video in a long time on here :( question what was the size of your outworld/cabinet hope to see more vidoes soon tho

[@fredsnava]

Hello! I loved your channel, thanks for sharing! I live in Brazil and I have just captures an queen ant (leave cuttet). I put it in a small terrarium (25cm x 25cm, 5cm of dirt). It started digging a hole. Do tou know if I could transfer it to a setup like yours tomorrow or should I live it alone? I’m affraid to bother the ant... thanks!

[@download4042]

Thanks! very informative. tell me, is the acromyrmex mushroom suitable for atta? if the fungus died at Atta

[@oisinmarshall]

Where did you buy your ants?

[@sleeppy_D]

Great video!

[@HiddenEmpires]

thanks ;)

[@eddiegallagher1360]

Hi am setting up a similar set up what can I use for substrate in the main nest box for humidity can't find much about it on the Internet

[@ZiggyGameDev]

How did you cut a hole in the brittle plastic containers? And what are the sizes of the containers? Or capacity in litres? Thanks for the video :).

[@ZiggyGameDev]

Figured it out: Boxes are called: Mepal Storage Box, White, 2750 ml - Amazon UK. You can use a step drill bit to drill the holes.

[@isaiaskunz2017]

Hey hi! I know it's been a lot of time since you made this videos but I just wanted to ask some things now that I 've found someone who actually seems to know about keeping these ants. I am from Argentina and I 've just found my first 2 Atta queens like a week ago. I am pretty experienced keeping ants but never tried leafcutters, so I would really appreciate if you could give me some advise. Firstly, I 've put my ants in smaller containers than you show (i suppose they must have like 150ml). Now watching you video i realise they will be too small for the fast growing fungi. Do you think I can pick the fungi up and put it in a bigger one without having consequences? How big should I wait for it to be to do it? Secondly, the other of my two Atta queens is laying eggs but she does not seem to have a fungi over there. Do you think it will work for her if I try to get her a piece of the first mentioned queen's fungi? Thanks a lot for these videos, even if you dont answer you 've helped me a lot!

[@HiddenEmpires]

Hey, thanks for watching the videos. About your questions: 1. One can move a colony and it's fungus to a larger container without much problem, however, since it's quite a challenge to successfully get through the founding stage with Atta, I would really wait until the colony is quite stable (at least around 60-100 workers) before moving them, since moving always means stress for a colony. 2. Yes, you can give a small amount of fungus from one colony to another to help the second queen. Since it's the same fungus species it shouldn't be much of a problem.

[@isaiaskunz2017]

@@HiddenEmpires Thank you!!!

[@CarlosGonzalez-qq6kk]

Hi! Thanks for the video. I have a question, what are the dimensions of each container?

[@HiddenEmpires]

They are 20cm (around 8 inches) in height and around 17cm (close to 7 inches) in width. I would prefer to have boxes that are a little larger, but couldn't find any.

[@CarlosGonzalez-qq6kk]

@@HiddenEmpires Thanks !!!!! 👍🏻

[@luismanuelpereaespinosa3629]

Hello! I have Atta ants living in my backyard, what would be the first steps to start the colony from scratch. Im in México and nuptial flights start in april. I think i could catch a queen without even going outside from my property hehe

[@HiddenEmpires]

The founding stage is a bit tricky, you'd have to offer your queen a container with constantly high humidity. Theoretically Atta Ants are claustral when founding their colony, which means, they don’t need additional resources during the founding stage. But giving the queen a piece of leaf now and again probably won’t harm her. The rest is basically hoping that the queen will succeed. I would take more then one queen to increase the chance to have a successful colony.

[@luismanuelpereaespinosa3629]

@@HiddenEmpires Thanks alot! So, no test tube set up, directly to a small container with humid soil? I just got a couple of Solenopsis but im trully excited on getting some atta haha they are the ants from my childhood, I checked and I have at least 4 colonies in my backyard haha and around here the queens usually cover it all June 23, CLOCKWISE. They are awesome, thanks for uploading this incredible videos!

[@otter7097]

Luis Manuel Perea Espinosa yup, directly into a small humid setup. Be on the lookout for atta queens in the next few days too. my friend in southern mexico finds Atta mexicana usually around june 7th, or after the closest rain to june 7th.

[@riot_baby2296]

I want to get into ant keeping but I can’t because I’m a 13 year old with parents who don’t like dirt in their house I respect their wishes however so I must be patient

[@randy-x]

What is the structure that the ants live in called? Is that the fungus itself? Or is it chewed up plant material? I can't seem to find a name for it.

How and what do you feed the queen with before she has any worker?

[@faekalkardinal]

"founding: claustral with a piece of fungus from the mothercolony which is first fertilized with droppings of the Queen"

[@HiddenEmpires]

Atta queens are claustral, which means they don't need any additional food to start with. In the wild the queen will tend to the fungus using her own fat reserves and the fungus will provide the food for the first brood. But I have seen other ant keepers offering her some pre-cut leafs, but usually it is not necessary. I believe Acromyrmex Species are semi claustral which means you would have to offer her leafs, but since I never kept Acromyrmex I can't tell for sure.

[@terroytgames8565]

Where could I buy a queen mushroom Atta cephalotes with workers? Could you give me some example where with a good price I could buy these ants?

[@HiddenEmpires]

I don't know. I got mine from a seller that just sells them in this country.

[@terroytgames8565]

@@HiddenEmpires Ok that's a shame

[@alomelinv]

Hey man, great video and awesome setup! congrats. Nuptial flights just started where I live in Mexico, and I already caught 15 queens which I have stored in some smaller containers than yours, with a layer of plaster in the bottom and a tube with more plaster like you suggested. My question is; do I need to connect another container in this phase for garbage? or should I wait until the first gardener ants hatch? Maybe just a couple small holes on each side for a bit of ventilation will do? I have them all stored in a box to help keep the temperatura and darkness. Thanks for any advice

[@HiddenEmpires]

You don't need more than one chamber for the founding stage, too much space might even make the queen feel less comfortable.

[@alomelinv]

@@HiddenEmpires Thanks, I will try a couple different setups with varying sizes of chamber and water supply for moisture. Is there a blog or somewhere to share the progress?

[@antsonarock]

Great video really enjoyed this can we chat some point

[@ishartedalloverkids6516]

How and where do I get a leaf cutter or fire and colony I’ve been having trouble finding that!!!🥲

[@emilklink9440]

How did you make the hydration system?

[@HiddenEmpires]

I filled a small plastic cup with plaster and put the pipe in it (not all the way to the bottom, I made sure there was some plaster left at the bottom). Once the plaster dried, I removed the cup (had to break it) and then placed the whole thing into the box before creating the plaster flooring. This way the pipe is directly attached to the plaster. Then all that was left to do is to drill a hole into the cover that has the same size as the tube and put the tube through it.

[@jensaukema732]

@@HiddenEmpires txx 👍🏻

[@ryanuy2136]

What types of leaves do you feed them? Can i feed them leaves you can find in the grocery store like lettuce?

[@HiddenEmpires]

I wouldn't recommend that, because almost everything you can find in the grocery store has at one time be treated either with fungicides or pesticides. If you still want to try, make absolutly sure you only buy organic stuff. A lot of things you can buy are either harmful to the ants or the fungus. I don't know where you live, so I don't really know what kind of leafs are available to you. But here in Switzerland we don't have to many leafs at this time of the year, so I mostly feed them leafs of blackberry bushes and privet leafs, because they are green in winter. And I try to avoid all kind of leafs that I know have a high level of cyanide in them, like for example cherry laurel.

[@marcoszamudio9319]

Question - If the seramis is not available, which other product would you recommend? I have been looking for it without success. I am from Mexico my friend.

[@HiddenEmpires]

One can use most sorts of clay granules/pebbles that are used for plants. I would just recommend some that are smaller in size, so the ants can move them around and use them. If you manage to find some that look differently when they are wet as when they are dry, that certainly helps too. It's a huge help if you can see immidiatly if you need more moisture.

[@xbananax123]

How often and how much water do you add to the plaster?

[@HiddenEmpires]

Hardly ever these days. When the colony was small I added water every time I felt that the plaster was no longer wet enough. But now that the colony has reached a decent size, the leafs carried into the nest are more then enough to keep humidity up.

[@kingmonk44]

He ciao, danke für's teile vo dine Erfahrigä. Ich han au scho Atta Cepholates gha und jetzt bechum ich bald ä Atta sexdens Queen und bin uf de sueche nach Inspiration für es Set-Up. Greets Simon

[@Carlos-hl6ug]

hello i was also looking to getting some atta but in my country they are all 250€ or more. plus the formicarium its about 500€ lol so yeah do you know where i can get them like really cheap`?

[@randomg700]

All atta are a minimum of 200 euros

[@themakerrk1154]

im planning on getting a colony how likely is it for them to escape through the holes or is there something your using to stop them

[@HiddenEmpires]

I use paraffin oil as an escape barrier. They will try to escape if you don't try to stop them ;)

[@oskigamer2836]

I plan to keep Leaf Cutter ants in the future, but first I want to learn as much as possible about them and get ready to keep them. I know that the genus Acromyrmex is much smaller than Atta and also produces smaller colonies. I expect they will grow a lot, but can you recommend me any specific species that are relatively slow growing? Is it possible to control the pace of development of these ants? Thank you for anwser Planuję założyć hodowlę mrówek grzybiarek w przyszłości, jednak najpierw chcę się jak najwięcej o nich dowiedzieć i przygotować się do ich trzymania. Wiem, że rodzaj Acromyrmex jest znacznie mniejszy od Atta i zarazem tworzy mniejsze kolonie. Licze się z tym, że będą się bardzo rozrastać, ale czy jesteś w stanie polecić mi jakieś konkretne gatunki, które stosunkowo wolno się rozwijają ? Czy można kontrolować tępo rozwoju tych mrówek ? Dziękuję za odpowiedź

[@HiddenEmpires]

You can control the growth of Atta to a certain extend by controlling the amount of leafs you offer them. Of course they will still grow to a colony that is larger then many other species but it's not ture that it can't be controlled. Of course acromyrmex are easier to keep in check, so if your space is limited they might be a better choice.

[@jaimojepasje5749]

I co oski kupileś w końcu te mrówki?

[@Axolotl234]

How do you keep them inside

[@enochkim4066]

Where can i buy these ants

[@marcosaetta798]

What is the connectors hose diameter (internal size) ? And approximately the dimension of the boxes ?

[@HiddenEmpires]

Around 30mm I guess and the boxes are 16cm wide and 17cm high. They are the largest I could find, but I would have prefered them to be a little larger.

[@marcosaetta798]

@@HiddenEmpires Yes, at the beginning I only used a container of 15x15, until the fungus became about the size of a lemon. Then I added the two containers for dirt and food. I did not find the rubber hoses that big, I had to put rigid pipe. So I have confirmation that they are as big as I had guessed from the video.

[@peytonharbin9183]

What plaster brand did you use

[@FizzleFX]

I recommend you *take notes* next time and then go through them as you go.

[@adrianstegemann5009]

If i just catched a leaf cutter ant queen, do i have to feed her and her first workers with leaves so they can create the fungus ( in the test tube) or can i feed them with honey

[@HiddenEmpires]

If it's Atta, then no, her fat reserves are enough to build the fungus until the first generation arrives. If it's Acromyrmex you will need to feed her some leaf material.

[@adrianstegemann5009]

@@HiddenEmpires Thanks so much!

[@nicolasimoncelli2230]

How do you put water in the plaster?

[@HiddenEmpires]

I have installed a tube that leads directly into the plaster.

[@animalfunnyclips1828]

@@HiddenEmpires how often do you hydrate the nests?

[@stayfreestrongtv]

This is pest in my trees dont get me wrong. Please help me how to get rid of them. That's why I'm here in your channel tnx..

[@HiddenEmpires]

They don't like strong smells. I'm not really an expert on how to fight them, but maybe spraying lemon juice, mixed with water or a peppermint solution at the trunks of the trees that are under attack might help. If that doesn't help you can alos try pepper or vinegar.

[@petarraseta646]

Where is the best place to buy a leaf cutter ant queen with few workers

[@HiddenEmpires]

I don't know what the best seller is at your place. I bought them from a seller here in my country, but he doesn't sell outside of Switzerland.

[@mikeaandewiel]

It looks not that difficult to keep them, what is the thing that does make it difficult?

[@HiddenEmpires]

It depends what you consider difficult. They are certainly more of a challenge then other ants, since you always need to make sure temperature and humidity in the nest is right and also having to make sure you control population size and so on. But that doesn't mean it's extremly difficult. But since leafcutter ants usually are quite expensive the stakes are also a bit higher and the chances of something going wrong is just higher then with other ants. I know of quite a few people who lost their colonies during this summers heatwave for example.

[@Aiden-dp7mj]

Cheers for this series, really useful stuff! I know this is quite an old video now, but I'm just doing a bit of preliminary research with a view to getting my own leafcutters (probably Acromyrmex) at some point in the distant future, not least because they seem to be out of stock everywhere at the moment presumably due to COVID... Anywho, I have in my mind an idea for a hydration system whereby i use an acrylic cylinder that acts as a water reservoir, and is heated with a submerged aquarium heater to ~30c. This reservoir would be filled up by siliconing a PVC tube to this and out of the lid similar to your setup. I would cut out a section of this tube and replace it with a fine mesh, thus allowing the heated water to evaporate and provide the humidity (and warmth) to the fungus chamber. I'll also have a small vent (with fine mesh) that I can close off to better regulate the humidity if condensation becomes an issue, and have some perlite/clay balls on the floor to help keep things stable. In theory this would be a solution that avoids the need to continuously provide new water as the reservoir should last a long time before needing to be refilled. Would this be viable? Secondly, RE the supply issue (UK), I'm assuming leafcutters aren't normally this hard to get a hold of? Or is it more due to the time of year (I'm not sure when they would have their nuptial flights)? Thanks!

[@HiddenEmpires]

Ok, here are my thoughts about it: this system could certainly work, however there are some things I would consider. First, the temperature: I usually have more of a problem to keep the temperatures low enough rather than high enough, especially on hot summer days. I’m not sure if an additional heating source would be helpful. The temperatures inside the fungus chamber should never reach 30°C and even temperatures above 27°C can harm the fungus in the long turn, so I would make sure that you don’t overdo it with the aquarium heater. During winter months my house is heated to 23-24°C, which is still enough for the fungus. Secondly and maybe more importantly I would ask the question if it is worth the effort to build such a complex system. In my experience the ants don’t need too much help to regulate humidity. I usually only add water to a system if the fungus fills less then a third of the fungus chamber. Once the fungus gets larger, humidity will stay high enough by itself, if there is not too much airflow through the chamber. Keep in mind that the ants will carry a lot of fresh leaves into the chamber and since the water content of those leaves is high, this is usually more then enough to keep humidity above 90%. So, does your setup need such a complex system that needs quite some effort and resources to build and uses additional space to store it, and then a couple of weeks later it becomes redundant? Don't get me wrong, I’m pretty sure it would do the job. And it sounds like a great system. I'm just not sure if it's worth the effort. About the shortage of Atta for sale, yes this might be Covid related. I just checked a couple of ant stores I know and they where all out of stock with Atta Sexdens and Cephalotes, which usually are the most common ones.

[@Aiden-dp7mj]

@@HiddenEmpires Hi there! Firstly, thank you so much for your reply, it's really appreciated :) RE temperature: here in the UK we can have some pretty unpredictable temperature fluctuations from day to day (or indeed hour to hour haha) and I wouldn't be able to guarantee that the temperatures would be kept stable enough for what I understand to be quite a sensitive species - my thinking is that a water reservoir would help lessen the impact of any weather extremes? Good shout with the temperature though, perhaps 25c or so would be a safer bet. I just use a heat mat for my messor barbarus colony, but they don't seem to mind too much when the room temperature changes a fair bit. RE humidity: Thanks for the advice, sounds like I have been trying to "reinvent the wheel" so to speak - when the time comes I shall try to keep things a bit more straightforward and perhaps go for the tube/plaster option. RE supply: Booo! If this revelation doesn't get the world to pull together and beat this virus, I don't know what will...! Fingers crossed the supply issues get resolved at some point and I can get in on the action - your colony looks amazing! Hope you and your colony are still doing well, keep safe and thanks again :)

[@ants2.3one52]

Hey if the colonies small should I have a plastic thing to cover the colony? And how should I heat the colony...

[@HiddenEmpires]

Giving them an additinal cover in order to help them regulate humidity is certainly helpful. And I don't think they need heating as long as you keep them at room temperature.

[@TheAfricanantkeeper]

Hi can atta sexdens eat mulberry leafs

[@guesswho6297]

Why don't you give them a place to nest underground???????????

[@otter7097]

they have no reason to nest underground. they are captive ants, pets.