Top 10 Biggest Mistakes in Ant Keeping
Summary
TLDRIn this engaging video, ant enthusiast Mikey Bustos discusses the top 10 mistakes to avoid in ant keeping, emphasizing the importance of respecting native species and not importing exotic ants. He highlights issues like complicated outer world setups, improper formicarium conditions, and the necessity of hibernation for temperate ants. Bustos also stresses the significance of proper diet, minimal disturbance during the queen's critical founding period, and the value of research for new ant keepers. The video also features insights from a biologist and ant farmer, advocating for local ant keeping through the Game Project to promote responsible hobby practices.
Takeaways
- 🌏 The speaker, Mikey Bustos, emphasizes the importance of not keeping exotic ant species, as it can be harmful to the environment and often results in the ants not thriving in non-native conditions.
- 🐜 Mikey discusses the common mistakes in ant keeping, including the complexity of the out world setup, which can lead to ants hiding and creating inaccessible garbage disposal areas.
- 📏 He highlights the need for a good formicarium setup that allows for temperature and moisture gradients, proper hydration, and good ventilation to prevent mold and bacteria growth.
- ❄️ Mikey suggests that hibernation is beneficial for temperate region ants, as it can prolong the queen's life and aligns with their natural cycles.
- 🏠 He advises against moving ant colonies to a formicarium too early, recommending to wait until there are at least 20 workers to support the queen.
- 🍲 The importance of a balanced diet for ants is stressed, including sugars, proteins, and water, which are essential for their growth and health.
- 🌡️ Keeping ants in air-conditioned rooms can slow their growth, so Mikey recommends maintaining a warm environment for optimal ant colony development.
- 👀 Overly handling or disturbing the queen ant, especially during the critical founding period, can lead to complications like the queen eating her eggs or not laying them at all.
- 👑 Catching too many queen ants can be overwhelming for beginners, and Mikey advises catching only a few to start with.
- 🔍 Not doing proper research before starting ant keeping is identified as the top mistake, as it's crucial to understand the needs and behaviors of the ants being kept.
- 📚 The Game Project is introduced as a community for ant keepers to buy, sell, and share knowledge about ant colonies, promoting responsible keeping practices.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video by Mikey Bustos?
-The main topic of the video is the top 10 biggest mistakes in ant keeping, as experienced and observed by Mikey Bustos.
Why does Mikey Bustos discourage keeping exotic ant species?
-Mikey Bustos discourages keeping exotic ant species because they are often imported illegally, can be harmful to the environment, and frequently fail to thrive in conditions outside their native habitat.
What does Mikey suggest as an alternative to keeping exotic ant species?
-Mikey suggests appreciating and keeping native ant species, as it makes the ant-keeping experience easier and more successful.
What is the issue with having a very complicated and intricate out-world setup for ants?
-A complicated out-world setup can lead to ants hiding in inaccessible areas, making it difficult to clean and potentially leading to health issues within the colony due to garbage accumulation and lack of visibility.
What are the key aspects of a good formicarium setup according to the video?
-A good formicarium setup should have a temperature and moisture gradient, an effective hydration system that doesn't dry out too quickly or stay too wet, and good ventilation to prevent mold and stagnant air.
Why is hibernation important for ant colonies in temperate regions?
-Hibernation is important as it gives the queen a break from constant egg-laying, potentially prolonging her life and aligning with the natural cycles that ants have evolved to follow.
What is the recommended minimum number of workers before moving an ant colony into a formicarium?
-Mikey recommends waiting until there are at least about 20 workers before moving the colony into a formicarium to ensure the queen has enough support during the transition.
What dietary components do ants require and why is the ratio important?
-Ants require sugars, protein, and water. The dietary ratio is important because an imbalance can lead to issues with colony growth or die-offs.
How does keeping ants in an air-conditioned room affect their growth?
-Keeping ants in an air-conditioned room can slow down the colony's growth because ants are cold-blooded and require warmth to thrive, which is disrupted by cool temperatures.
What is the main reason Mikey advises against disturbing a queen ant during the critical founding period?
-Disturbing a queen during the founding period can cause her stress, which may lead to her eating her eggs or not laying them, causing complications for the colony's establishment.
Why is it not recommended to catch too many queen ants, especially for beginners?
-Catching too many queens can lead to having more colonies than one can manage, especially if most of them are fertilized. It's better for beginners to catch a few queens and focus on properly caring for them.
What is the number one mistake in ant keeping according to the video?
-The number one mistake in ant keeping is not doing proper research beforehand, which is crucial for understanding the needs and care of the ant species one intends to keep.
What is the game project mentioned in the video and how does it benefit ant keepers?
-The game project is a community initiative that connects local ant keepers, allowing them to sell or acquire colonies. It promotes responsible ant keeping by ensuring ants do not escape and by providing a platform for sharing knowledge and resources.
What does Hafez IKEA, a biologist and game farmer, recommend for beginners interested in ant keeping?
-Hafez IKEA recommends that beginners catch a few queens of different species to start their colonies, and to get in touch with local ant keepers for knowledge sharing and to avoid legal or biological issues.
Outlines
🐜 Introduction to Top Mistakes in Ant Keeping
In this introductory paragraph, Mikey Bustos, the host of the 'Ants Canada and Channel', welcomes viewers and expresses gratitude for their support. He mentions his long-standing commitment to answering ant-related queries and introduces the theme of the video: the top 10 mistakes made by ant keepers. The host hints at a controversial point regarding the keeping of exotic ant species, which he considers a significant mistake due to its environmental risks and the difficulty of replicating natural conditions for these ants.
🌳 The Pitfalls of Exotic Ant Species and Outworld Setup
This paragraph delves into the first two mistakes in ant keeping: keeping exotic ant species and designing overly complex outworld enclosures. Mikey explains the environmental and legal issues with exotic ants and the challenges of maintaining their health in foreign climates. He stresses the importance of appreciating native species and the Game Project's role in connecting local ant keepers. Additionally, he criticizes the design of intricate outworld setups, which can complicate cleaning and lead to ants hiding or leaving the main nest, thus affecting the colony's health and management.
🛠️ Common Setup Errors and the Importance of Hibernation
Mikey discusses common setup errors that lead to ant keeping problems, emphasizing the necessity of a proper formicarium with a temperature and moisture gradient, good hydration, and ventilation. He also addresses the importance of hibernation for temperate region ants, suggesting it prolongs the queen's life and aligns with natural cycles. The paragraph highlights the need for a balance between human control and respecting the ants' natural behaviors and rhythms.
🚫 Avoiding Premature Moves and Diet Imbalances
The speaker identifies moving ant colonies to a formicarium too early and not maintaining the correct diet ratio as significant mistakes. He advises waiting until a colony has at least 20 workers before moving it to a larger nest to ensure a successful transition. Moreover, he underscores the importance of a balanced diet consisting of sugars, proteins, and water for the health and growth of the ant colony.
🌡️ Environmental Stress and Over-Excitement in Ant Keeping
In this paragraph, Mikey warns about the negative impacts of keeping ants in air-conditioned rooms, which can slow down their growth, and the potential harm caused by disturbing the queen, especially during the critical founding period. He also reflects on his early enthusiasm for catching queens and the subsequent challenges of managing too many colonies, advising beginners to catch only a few queens to avoid overwhelming themselves.
🔍 The Crucial Role of Research in Ant Keeping
The final paragraph stresses the paramount importance of research before starting ant keeping. The host recommends various resources, including the AntsCanada website, YouTube channel, and forums, as well as the 'Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook' for comprehensive information. He also introduces Hafez IKEA, a biologist and game farmer from Brazil, who shares his positive experience with the Game Project and encourages ant keeping as a hobby, emphasizing the project's role in connecting keepers and promoting responsible practices.
🌐 Promoting Ant Keeping as a Hobby and Connecting with Local Keepers
In the closing paragraph, the focus is on the community aspect of ant keeping, with testimonials from enthusiasts who appreciate the Game Project's initiative to connect local keepers and share knowledge. The paragraph also touches on the challenges of promoting ant keeping in Brazil, where there is a smaller community of insect pet owners. The host encourages viewers to reach out to local keepers for advice and to purchase ant colonies, fostering a network of support and education for new ant keepers.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Ant Keeping
💡Exotic Ant Species
💡Out World Setup
💡Formicarium
💡Hibernation
💡Colony Establishment
💡Ant Diet
💡Thermoregulation
💡Queen Disturbance
💡Research
💡Game Project
Highlights
Introduction to the video by Mikey Bustos, discussing common mistakes in ant keeping.
The 10th mistake: Keeping and buying exotic ant species can be harmful to the environment and often fails to flourish.
Advocacy for appreciating native ant species for easier ant keeping experiences.
The Game Project's role in connecting local ant keepers for colony sales.
The 9th mistake: Overcomplicated out-world setups can lead to hiding spots and cleaning issues.
Importance of a good formicarium setup with temperature and moisture gradients.
The 7th mistake: Not hibernating colonies in temperate regions can disrupt natural cycles.
The 6th mistake: Moving ant colonies to formicarium too early can lead to failure in adaptation.
The 5th mistake: Finding the best diet ratio for ants is crucial for a healthy colony.
The 4th mistake: Keeping ants in air-conditioned rooms can slow down colony growth.
The 3rd mistake: Disturbing the queen during the critical founding period can cause complications.
The 2nd mistake: Catching too many queens can lead to difficulties in managing colonies.
The number one mistake: Not doing proper research before starting ant keeping.
Promoting the Game Project as a responsible way to keep ants and prevent legal or biological issues.
Testimonial from Hafez IKEA, a biologist and game farmer, on the benefits of the Game Project for ant keeping.
Encouragement for Brazilian ant keepers to join the Game Project and promote the hobby.
Closing remarks by Mikey Bustos, thanking viewers for their support.
Transcripts
What's up guys welcome to the ads, Canada and Channel, I'm your ant guy Mikey Bustos
Thanks for watching this video really means a lot to me. I've been wanting to release this video for a while
Sorry, there's my Pig don't mind her walking around in the background here
Over the years that as Canada has been open and I believe going on to six years now Wow
I've been answering all of your amazing questions on ants when you guys write to us at contact - us at ncaa.com
But I do find that there are some common
I don't say mistakes
But yeah perhaps errors that might be setting back a lot of them keepers from really
Enjoying the experience of a fruitful and colony and so this video is about the top 10 biggest mistakes
in ant keeping
All right so the tenth biggest mistake in and keeping I find is
Now I know this is gonna cause a lot of controversy
So I just want to get it out of the way it really has been the center for a lot of heated debate
But in my opinion the tenth biggest mistake is
Keeping and buying exotic ant species in other words expiry of ants that are not from your area
they're imported often illegally I
Myself and a lot of scientists out there are really against the practice of keeping
Exotic ends in the home as pets and why do I feel like this is a big mistake?
Well other than being very dangerous for the environment and also fueling an illegal pet trade
It's a mistake because the ants often don't make it. You know a lot of people dream of having that amazing
fungus
Growing you know a de or a chrome or mechs colony at home, and they live in like a temperate region
And they completely just ordered these exotic species from the web or wherever
Illegally to and the colony doesn't flourish moving here to the tropics from Canada
I can now appreciate why it doesn't work often because just the conditions are really hard to duplicate
I'm especially for the really sensitive
Tropical species like my Asian Weaver ants here for example
they really flourish here in Philippines in the wild and
It's kind of easy to keep them here indoors in my place
Because the temperatures right the humidity's right all of that all those aspects are right
But even then it's hard to duplicate the conditions outside now
I imagine bringing Asian Weaver ants to say I don't know Canada
It would be no surprise to me that they wouldn't survive them, so if you guys can learn to appreciate the native species
It will really make your and keeping experience so much easier
oh
and also if you're looking for ends be sure to check our game project on our website more about that later at the end of
This video as well. We hook up and keepers who want to sell their colonies to local and keepers who are looking for colonies
And that number nine one of the biggest mistakes in and keeping I find is
The out world set up now what's another world the old world is that enclosure that you attach to your for?
Material which acts as the outer world where your ends kind of go out in the forage
And they bring food back into their nest but also the garbage out there
and it starts quite a few functional actually the biggest mistake I find that a lot of and keepers are doing is they're
Designing a very very complicated and intricate out world now. This is okay
If you have a natural nest because you can get as intricate as you want if you have a natural mess
That's fine, but if it's just a nut world with out the form aquarium attached into the out world
you can run into some problems if you have too many plants and
Decorations and all of that sort of thing because the ants have more opportunity to hide in effect
What happens is a lot of the ants move out of the for material and?
Into the out world whether it be under rocks in
pieces of wood and little looks and crannies that you can't really see or get to and also an
Overcomplicated up world can lead to problems with cleaning as you all may know the ants use the out world as a place to
dispose of their garbage and
Create a graveyard so you want all places of the out world to be accessible, so you can clean up all of that junk
And at number eight in our biggest mistakes in and keeping we have the problem of a bad setup a
Lot of you guys write to me saying are you having problems with your ants and I find that most of it is
Attributed to the setup now
I wanted to briefly go over the
Aspects of a very good for material the ideal for material allows you to have a temperature and moisture gradient
So you have warm spots and cool spots, you've got moist spots
and you have less moist spots this allows your ant colony to kind of choose and thermo regulate and
Hydro, regulate depending on what they prefer an effective nest also has a good hydration system
you don't want a nest that dries out too quickly because it's quite the hassle to have to always add water and
Let's say you forget to add water one day your ants will dry out
But at the same time you don't want a for material that you just water say
Once a week or once someone because if that's the case it means that water is just pulling there
And it's just a breeding ground for bacteria
And harmful microbes that can harm your colony for me a formic areum that you water about two to four times a week
Is pretty good oh yeah, and I should mention that?
Your hydration routine depends on the species because if you have a dry loving species like say messer or Pocono, Miramax
You don't want to be watering too often
But if you have a say America rubra company that requires water constantly
Well you have the water more often
Finally you want a form aquarium with good ventilation if there's a lot of stagnant air in a for material
You're gonna get mold
So one way to get rid of that is a nest with good ventilation
Bad ventilation can happen when you don't have enough exits for the size of form aquarium that you're using
So as a general rule the bigger the form aquarium the more exits
You should have unless of course you have a form aquarium that kind of has ventilation
spaces like our Omni nests are made of layers and believe it or not air does go through there and
the little micro spaces at the top
Number seven is a big one. It's not hibernating your colony if you live in a temperate region now again
There are a lot of people who say that it's not necessary to hibernate your ants, but it has been said that
Hibernating your colony helps prolong the life of the Queen because it gives her a break from egg-laying every year
But it's also kind of been my philosophy, and I'm keeping to as much as possible
Give temperate and the opportunity to hibernate now. I've said this in previous videos of mine
And I've gone over the reasons why it's important to hibernate, but the general reason for me is that?
Well, you know all animals run on
Cycles for example we humans we wake up in the morning. We eat at specific times
You know we go to the bathroom often at specific times
And then we get sleepy in the night this of course is the circadian cycle, which is monitored by our pineal gland in our brain
Based on light and there are always all of these sort of cycles and animals that
control nearly everything like hormones and
Just really everything for me if you don't hibernate you're ants I feel like kind of like interrupts that cycle
You know as for millions of years in
Wherever say canada or USA or europe they've evolved to hibernate year after year
And if you remove that from their environment and living condition it
kind of can screw up in my opinion their cycle and most of the time ants
Will go into a hibernation state anyways even if you try to keep them warm and indoors so might as well give them
What they want right I always say to learn to appreciate
The amazing break that you guys are given from the ant keeping because especially if you're keeping a lot of ants
I remember back in Canada
I used to love when hibernation came because it meant that I could
just kind of sit back and take a break and store my ant colonies away for a good three months and
Not have to worry, and it kept and keeping very very fresh
Number six is also a big one that I often see in emails and that is moving an ant colony into your form aquarium
Too early now if you're gonna move a queen into a for material
It's always best
That she has a big full army of workers to help her in this critical time when she's moving from her
Founding chamber to a larger nest for me
I like to wait till there are at least about 20 workers the more workers
You can kind of
culture the better when you're moving the colony from test-tube
Set up to there for material
I find some people try moving their ants too early and the small colony fails to adapt to the large space and
It often leads to the Queen dying and all the workers die
what you can do to make things easier is you can take your test tube set up place it into a
world or like a small container or an aquarium and
directly inside remove the coffee
And then feed the colony inside this container put your barrier at the top or what have you and yeah?
Just place the food inside there, and they can survive in there until the colony gets larger
And then when you have enough workers you can then proceed to move them into your forma carry on by attaching that
Container or a world to your form aquarium, and then eventually
Moving on with our countdown for top 10 biggest mistakes and keeping is
another big one that I find a lot of people might have trouble with and that is finding the
best ratio for diet now if you've watched our previous videos you know that hence require
Sugars they require protein and they require your water your ants depend on you to provide them those three so when a lot of people
Write to me saying they're having a problem with their colony their colonies having issues with
Growing or they're having some die offs as well
And if they're setup seems right the next question I ask is what's their diet like are you providing them water?
Are you providing them sugars?
are you providing them enough sex for booty if you guys haven't seen it yet be sure to check out our and
Nutrition tutorial here on this channel and it can help you out with ideas on how to feed your ants properly
The number four mistake is keeping ants in an air-conditioned room now
This is a big one for those of you who have seen our ant video on
Thermoregulation and ants being cold-blooded you know that they can't produce their own heat
And so if they're kept in a cool air-conditioned room the colony is gonna grow a lot slower
then say if they were kept warm so if you're gonna keep them indoors what I like to do is I like to have an
ant room
And if you have herps you know herb tiles or snakes lizards any other cold-blooded animals you can keep them in that room
because that room tends to be warm and
The humidity tends to be higher if you can keep all the ants in a single room and heat that room
that would be amazing the way I used to achieve this when I lived in Toronto was I would kind of put tape on the
central air-conditioning ducts and let the Sun stream in during the day so
My room was boiling
But the ants loved it now if there's no way to do that and your ants
Absolutely have to be in an air-conditioned room of course it helps to have a heating cable
They sell them at pet stores for heating reptiles
And run it alone one end of the for material
And you can even put a spotlight in your out world as well to kind of simulate
The sun's heat and the ants will really really appreciate that
Now number three is kind of a funny one because you know it's really really easy to get excited
especially if it's your first time keeping ants
and
When you catch your Queen
there's nothing like the thrill of you know setting up her test tube setup and just kind of putting her away and
Watching her create her colony really is fun and amazing and I totally get that but the problem with that is
Sometimes it disturbs the queen now a queen that's disturbed or overly stressed
During this critical time when she's founding her colony will often not do well
Sometimes she'll eat her eggs
Sometimes she won't lay eggs
It just causes a lot of undue complications
So as much as possible if you can
Put your queen away in the dark under some towels in the depths of your closet somewhere and just forget about her
Maybe I don't know check her once a week once every two weeks if you can
Your test tube setup
If it's done properly should be enough to be a good home for her
During this period when she's raising her Nana ticks her first generation of workers
Number two is kind of related to number three because
It involves the excitement of catching Queens now
I remember when I first started and
keeping
and I discovered how thrilling it was and how easy it was to catch a queen I would catch like I
Don't know what like 34 Queens in a single week, and it was just a little too much
I've discovered because by the end of it you have about
85 to 90% of them being fertilized and
You don't know what to do with all of these companies now
This is excluding all of you people who are part of our game project you gain farmers out there
Who are selling and colonies to people in your city this this is not UK?
But for the beginners who just want to keep ends as pets I do recommend that you catch a few Queens just in case
One of the Queen's you've caught is
Unfertilized but not to catch too much. I say in a summer if you can try to catch. I don't know
two or three of each species
And
Finally our number one in the countdown for top biggest mistakes and keeping it is not doing your research
This is really a big key here because you know like with keeping any pet
It really really is important to do your research beforehand now
This doesn't include you guys who all of a sudden discover a queen and it's like a product. I wonder how to keep it
Let's go online and search that doesn't include you guys
But if you are wanting to get into and keeping of course researching is the best vvv. Best first step
And for those looking for information. There is a plethora of information online
Of course you can start with our website and scandal com be sure to click on our getting started
Tab on our website and then ant care tab as well
and of course this YouTube channel guys, I've got a
Long list of videos in our video tutorial playlist and they can help you out
And there are a lot of great forums on the internet that can help you as well finally if you guys want an all-inclusive
source for information
We do sell a book. It's called the ultimate and keeping handbook
It's very affordable
And it's a digital ebook so you?
Purchase the book and a link is sent to you and a link pops up where you can download the PDF file and it's got
Literally everything you need to know it's got all the basics in there
there's even an ant glossary a very lengthy and dictionary for those of you who want to look up certain terms and
I've also included a long list of the most commonly kept species
And it's got you know their
temperature preference their hydration preference for vesper material details about their nuptials light when you can expect to find queens
Their distribution or habitat all of that sort of some good stuff is in there in the end care section
By species at the end of the book all right, so this video has been pretty long now
Thank you so much for subscribing guys and for watching my videos and for supporting me and Canada and Store
This is Mikey Bustos signing out. Thank you. Bye
Hello guys my name is Hafez IKEA, I'm from Brasilia Brazil
I'm a biologist and game farmer for the game project pants, Canada
This here is one of my personal column is a fatal colony
It is for most old with over 100 workers with some newborns here on the left as you guys can see that just hatched yesterday
And as a biologist and keeper. I believe that the game project is a really good way to connect people in your area that
Know about ants that keep ants you know actually learn more
to
Share your experience with people and also a really good way to start new and keepers to the Hobby
because you have a
lot of gang farmers out there with very good prices and
Almost any kind of species
so you can easily find again farmer in your new your area and
Get in touch with him start with your own colony
Well, I've been studying it for almost eight years already here guys can see my queen. I don't know if I
Can get a good catch, but there it is I?
think ups for almost a year, and I believe that the game projects are really a
collage the right way to
to promote this hobby, you know they have a lot of
caring about not letting the ends escape and
You know getting dance for people who actually care about that
not
extra to avoid any pro with law or
Biological problems is that a really good way and very wise way to keep ants
well, I do have a lot of species and when I started I didn't have a
favorite species so I raised almost everything that I find here in Brazil I
Have many poner in the ants like I don't for Marcus, but now I have nel
Panera versa I have eight automa
And I
Really like the project. I really like the the
initiative that my key boosters have I've been keeping ants because of his videos on YouTube and
not like to to let the message that I
Hear guys can see they're eating one of my water boy that I just fetch done
Rather guys can see you guys can also see some
Soldiers wandering around here the entrance
Well what I'd like to say is that again purge is a really good way to
Get in touch with and keepers and get more knowledge about the ends
And I really think it's a good way to promote the Haab especially in Brazil. We have few people who actually raise insects as pets
like
spiders
some have like
scorpions, but few people resent here in Brazil I
Hope the project keeps growing, and if you any of you guys from Brazil has any
We should raise a call me get in contact with my key bozos he can send all deformation
To talk to me and get your own and colony. I also have fade also knobs for sale
and I if you guys have any doubt about
Raise your hands or how to get your Queens
Go true and Canada calm, and you can learn
Much more about that, and I guess this is it. Thank you guys
Good luck
you
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