subject: How To Feed Ants In An Ant Farm [print this page] If you are thinking about getting an ant farm, there are several things that you need to learn about keeping ants before you set up or at least populate your farm. In fact, even before you purchase your ant farm, you should look around for which types of ants you can get hold of and then read up on what kind of colonies those ants build.
Do they build nests above and below ground or only below ground? Most regular ant farms are not designed to handle anthills, although some, shaped like a flat-bottomed egg are constructed to deal with a small anthill.
Once you know what kinds of ants you can have, you can select the variety and acquire the appropriate shaped ant farm. Most novices begin with harvester ants, which will live very happily in a normal ant farm. Your colony may grow to a few thousand members, so the next thing to think about is food for them.
Harvester ants will feed on a range of different kinds of food, but it is easier and more hygienic if you give them sweet, crunchy vegetables and fruit. For example, pieces of carrot, celery and apple are very good. They are readily cut up and carried by the ants, they are nutritious and they will not decay or start to smell bad rapidly.
You will have to judge for yourself how much fodder to put down, but it is much better to put out fresh food every day, than leave a big lump of something lying in the farm for days on end. If you notice that food is being left, cut back a bit.
On the other hand, if the colony is increasing in number and the food is disappearing put a little more down. Working this amount of food out is part of your job. Mould is a health hazard to ants so be on the look out for it on the food at all times.
Ants will get a lot of the moisture that they need from the food that you provide them, but they do require water as well. Not much to be sure, but you ought to drip two or three drops - literally only two or three drops of water - onto the ground every day. Whatever you do do not tip so much water that a puddle forms, even a very small one.
If you want to give your ants a real delicacy, put a few granules of sugar into half a teaspoon of water and tip that onto the soil. They will love it and it will also give them a shot of energy, just as if you were to eat a chocolate bar.
Owning an ant farm should be educational and enjoyable. Watching the ants work together to make a nest and rear their young will teach adults and children alike a lot about how insects live. It will also help remove some of the illogical fear that many people have for insects in general, including ants.
