How to Buy Live Ants

Ants can make excellent pets for people of all ages, and are easy to care for. There are a variety of places to purchase them, and with a little research, you can have happy, healthy ants in a very short time.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Ant habitat (or tank and soil if you want to make your own)
• Ant food
• Water source
• Cotton balls or pads
• Shovel and container (if necessary)

1. Determine what type of ants you'd like to keep, and prepare your ant habitat. You can either use a pre-purchased ant farm, or set up your own. Make your habitat as close to what would be natural for the type of ants you choose. If you want to set up your own, get a tank or bowl with high sides and fill it about 3/4 of the way full of soil. Place cardboard tubes and other natural products in your habitat to make it appear more like a natural setting.
2. Purchase your ants. Local pet stores often have good leads on ants for your tank, as do online retailers. Be sure that you get a queen, along with your other ants. Without a queen, your colony will quickly die off, as there would be no way for the ants to reproduce. Queens are easy to spot, as they are larger than other ants and have a very large abdomen and thorax.
3. Place the ants in the tank and let them begin their colony. It will take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, but you will begin to notice that the worker ants will build a complex tunnel system, and then queen will burrow down and hide out in the soil. A colony is a very complex system, and is very interesting and entertaining to watch.
4. Feed and care for your ants. This is especially important in the first few days after introducing your ants to their new home. Soak a cotton ball or cotton pad with water, and place it with the ants. Ants are scavengers, and enjoy a wide variety of foods. A sugar and water mixture makes for happy ants, although they need meat and protein to feed the queen and the newly hatched ants, so be sure to include some form of meat once a week. Other insects such as caterpillars make great meals, although bits of other meats work well, too.
5. Watch and enjoy. Your colony should be fully set up and established within a couple of weeks. Maintaining the ants is a simple process. With plenty of food, water and time, their life cycles will complete, new ants will be born, and your colony will thrive.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to keep water for your ants at all times. Ants can go for a while without food, but will dehydrate and die quickly without water.
• Keep an eye on how your ants are eating. If you notice there is still food in there after a day or so, remove it to avoid mold growth.
• Keep your enclosure covered at all times, or escaping ants may venture into your home.
• If you cannot find a queen to purchase, you can check your neighborhood for an established colony. Dig a few inches into the mound and see if you can find her. Be careful though, as this subjects you to ant bites.
• Don't try and dig up or disturb your queen. It can disrupt the life cycle of the colony, and the other ants will bite you while trying to protect her.
• Don't handle your ants. They do not like to be disturbed and will bite if provoked.