Ant Colony Starter Kit
Ant Colony Starter Kit For Sale!
The Young Colony Starter Kit is the perfect kit if you have a very small colony, which doesn't yet need to be moved out of the test tube. Generally, any colony of large ants less than 100 workers and small ants less than 300 workers is ideal for this kit! All the equipment you need to begin your ant colony is right here, making it less clicks and less complication for you.
Buy this kit with your new ant colony! Ready to ship in November.
Included in this kit:
Test Tube Outworld: A simple, small outworld that you can directly attach your test tube colony to. It has a ventilation hole on the lid which can be useful for dropping food into the colony conveniently. When applying your barrier (detailed just below), apply a band around the lid as well as the walls of the side of the container. Upside-down barriers are the strongest.
Stateside Ants Starter Cube: Our essential starter nest, meant for a colony that is outgrowing their original test tube setup. This is the next logical step after a Test Tube outworld. It features a water tower which provides moisture to the colony, a floor made of an absorbant, rough material (comfortable for the ants), and excellent viewing from all sides due to the see-through walls and lid. The nest has two ports for 3/8in tubing which can be used to attach outworlds and add-on setups when ready.
Stateside Ants Outworld: A simple, absorbant-floored outworld perfect for your ants. It features a lid with a mesh screen for ventilation and a tubing port to be attached to any nest you could desire. It's a small-medium sized outworld, perfect for a young to intermediate colony.
PTFE (Fluon): Included is a 1oz bottle of PTFE, which is a liquid that can be applied to the walls of any open enclosure to prevent escape using a cotton ball. The liquid dries and then becomes slippery for the ants, so they're unable to climb past it. This bottle can last years, depending on the number of colonies it's used for. It's an extremely valuable investment.
Forceps: We include small featherweight forceps for grabbing waste from the outworld, and placing food items into the outworld for the ants to eat. They're super convenient to have! They're featherweight, so they can be used to pick up the ants gently without harming them.
Syringe/Pipette: A syringe is very useful for watering your ant colony (when they eventually need to be upgraded to a larger nest). The pipette is useful for feeding ants sugary liquids.
Test tubes/cotton/PVA sponges: Included are two extra test tubes and some cotton balls, in case you need to make extra test tube setups for your existing colony or other colonies. We also include PVA sponges, used as the water reservoir blocker for the test tubes.
Heat Cable: A source of heat is ESSENTIAL to growing an ant colony - most ant colonies cannot function at room temperature! This heat cable has a cold lead and then stays hot at a consistent temperature. As long as the cable is intact and used correctly, it is not hot enough to start a fire. Simply run a bit of the cable along the front of the test tube, but not toward the water reservoir/blocker. There needs to be a gradient, with part of the tube being warm, and another part being cooler. The ants will choose which area they prefer. Heating near the water reservoir may cause a flood!
Sunburst Ant Nectar (60ml bottle): Ant nectar (a sugary liquid) to keep your colony fueled. This feeds the adult ants of the colony. This can be used with Liquid Feeders or fed via pipette, or by simply squeezing a drop out onto a piece of tinfoil.
Liquid Feeder: Liquid feeder for sugary liquids. It holds liquids and allows the ants to drink directly from it without the liquid going bad quite as quick. Very convenient!
Vinyl tubing: You will receive vinyl tubing for connecting the setups to one another, allowing the ants to run between each habitat.