How to Keep Ants
Over the following three pages I show you everything you need, including what you need to first consider and how to set it up. In conclusion, I finish by telling you about my own captive colonies
Keeping Ants as Pets - First Considerations
So, you, or perhaps your child, wishes to keep ants. You’ve seen them aplenty outside (and maybe inside!), but how do you keep them as pets? Are they a safe pet? How do you feed them? What do you feed them? How do you stop them from escaping? These are some of the questions I often get asked by prospective keepers.
Therefore, I will try to answer these questions, and others, to give you a good chance of successfully raising a colony of your own. In particular, the information I provide here will assume you are completely new to ant keeping.
Setting up an Ant Farm
What should I keep my ants in? What equipment do I need? Do I need a queen? Where do I get everything from? In other words, how much does it cost in money, time and effort?
Here is everything needed to create a new home for your ants. To bgin with, I discuss the essential equipment, and the non-essential additional equipment. I use the “Starter Kit” available from various sources online. In addition, I will explain what each item is as I use it.
Furthermore, you can also download the instructions as a pdf file.
Myrm's Captive Ant Colonies
I have kept a variety of British ant colonies in captivity for over 20 years. Here you can read about my current and past colonies. You can also read regular updates on all my current colonies on the blog page, as well as watching videos of my colonies of YouTube.
Ask questions about ants
If you wish to ask me a question about ants (and no, I won’t tell you how to destroy them or their nests!) then please contact me on my**@an*****.uk or you can ask on the contact thread
I aim to respond to your questions as quickly as I can, normally within 24 hours.