# My leaf cutter ant set up NOW WITH ANTS



## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

finaly after nearly a year of waiting to get hold of some laef cutters they finaly arrive, some people might have seen my other thread with some pic of the set up, sine then i have made a few change with the set up with putting a bigger heater in and changing the nest tank a bit and different branches in, the colony only came today and the ants are busy re-building there fungas garden, they are amazing to watch all working away doing there jobs in the new nest

some pics for you all, hope you enjoy them and i will be up dating this thread with there progress


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## Kamike (Aug 3, 2009)

Very very jealous

Looks stunning buddy, hope they thrive :2thumb:


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## hermit crab kid (Jul 5, 2009)

looks fab!


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## Hedgewitch (Feb 12, 2008)

Cool! Probably rather high maintenance though.


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## Kamike (Aug 3, 2009)

Ok I can't resist any longer, can you answer some questions Shep?

Is it true you have to use different leaves each day?
How many ants are there now?
How many ants will the enclosure support or how big will the colony get?
Do they eat anything else besides the fungus?


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## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

Kamike said:


> Ok I can't resist any longer, can you answer some questions Shep?
> 
> Is it true you have to use different leaves each day? yes you do they will also take orange peel and grapes
> How many ants are there now? there is about 300-400 at the moment
> ...


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## Kamike (Aug 3, 2009)

Nice one :2thumb:


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## yaroslav (Sep 10, 2009)

Shep that's one good lookin' set up. And one you will do for yours shop counter will be great display and eye catching.


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## Dykie (Sep 4, 2009)

Thats wicked, im so jealous. i wish i had the cash and space to get something like that.

How labour intensive are they now they are set up?

How much leaves do they have per day and what kind can you use?


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## Demonsnapper (Dec 18, 2009)

woow.

may i ask why they in a tank inside a tank? looks really good. i was reading about these on a forum the other day looked very intresting. love your setup.


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## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

Demonsnapper said:


> woow.
> 
> may i ask why they in a tank inside a tank? looks really good. i was reading about these on a forum the other day looked very intresting. love your setup.


they are in a tank with water as it is a moat to stop them escaping, the glass cube inside it all is there nest and the other end is a feeding table, they have the be at a spot on level of humidty and temp for them to live 
and be able to grow there fungas


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

Coooool! I could spend all day watching the ants at the zoo, they are fascinating creatures, i'm very gealous :2thumb:


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## coolcroc (Jul 8, 2008)

Nice one Simon, they look great :2thumb:


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## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

coolcroc said:


> Nice one Simon, they look great :2thumb:


pop down and see them then mate


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## Ebola (Mar 26, 2010)

Looking good Simon might pop along on tuesday take a look see at the little fellas


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i hope that the colony does well... they have this huge colony at my local zoo... it's amazing...

Leaf-cutting Ant

the guy is thane maynard.. i knew him back in school...


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

Wow, that's really impressive. : victory:


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## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

Ebola said:


> Looking good Simon might pop along on tuesday take a look see at the little fellas


yeh mate pop down i will bne at the shop, and u can see the big changes in the shop


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

samurai said:


> Coooool! I could spend all day watching the ants at the zoo, they are fascinating creatures, i'm very gealous :2thumb:


I do that when I go to the zoo, I end up getting dragged away.


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## Demonsnapper (Dec 18, 2009)

I thought that what the water was for. Lovly set up.


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## quizicalkat (Jul 7, 2007)

Love it!

I would be so tempted to put a few fish in that water though lol


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## empirecook (Sep 1, 2009)

Truly Amazing!

Any chance of getting a picture of the fungus please? :2thumb:


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## Higgt4 (Apr 25, 2009)

Brilliant, I would love a setup like that.
Now, how about a live webcam?
:2thumb:


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## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

quizicalkat said:


> Love it!
> 
> I would be so tempted to put a few fish in that water though lol


i have thought of that and i will be putting a few in just got to find a small sp that will put up with high water temps, im also going to be doing a bit more to the tank so watch this space........



empirecook said:


> Truly Amazing!
> 
> Any chance of getting a picture of the fungus please? :2thumb:


no sorry as it is at the bottom of the nest tank as thats were the ants decided to move it to out of view, but as it grows i will be able to get pics of it



Higgt4 said:


> Brilliant, I would love a setup like that.
> Now, how about a live webcam?
> :2thumb:


 webcam has been on the cards just need to find one that is water proof and will be sorted one way or another


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## coolcroc (Jul 8, 2008)

shep1979 said:


> pop down and see them then mate


I will do.


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## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

coolcroc said:


> I will do.


no prob mate, you still got them mantids for me?


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## hermit crab kid (Jul 5, 2009)

How is the colony doing?


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## CPT BJ (Oct 30, 2010)

The setup looks fantastic!


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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

looks great!

like i said in fishy section, siamese fighter/s or endlers guppies would be good candidates; only thing i'd suggest is a bit more cover for them : victory:


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## Barnacle (Sep 16, 2010)

Im so jealous!!:mf_dribble: Id love to see some fish in there, also them tubes to other places sounds complicated but cool  Please keep it updated :mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble:


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## Baldpoodle (Apr 18, 2007)

I likey alot good luck with them and post a update when you get into the thousands.:no1:


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## roch7121 (Apr 8, 2010)

Marvellous!


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## Ebola (Mar 26, 2010)

Baldpoodle said:


> I likey alot good luck with them and post a update when you get into the thousands.:no1:


 or as his unit/shop is in cleveleys you are only 5 mins away in fleetwood pop down and have a look, i spend 10-20 mins watching them each time i visit


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## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

Ebola said:


> or as his unit/shop is in cleveleys you are only 5 mins away in fleetwood pop down and have a look, i spend 10-20 mins watching them each time i visit


u want to see them now jason, the fungas is huge, i did another thread with some pics showing it, they have realy done well


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## Ebola (Mar 26, 2010)

Sweet i keep meaning to pop down but been real busy with other shenanigans, will try to get up soon could do with some fresh fruit fly cultures and a few other bits n pieces.


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## darradar (Jan 21, 2010)

as a fellow ant keeper, i am fascinated with all your work, leaf cutters seem to be but a dream for me, maybe one day, i curraantly have a Camponotus cruentatus colony which are hibernating in my loft until the spring (i check on them once a week)....

congratulations, sterling work here

Darr

http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?f=194&t=5334&st=0&sk=t&sd=a l ink to my years with my colony begening with one queen and a few workers


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## mayock69 (Sep 22, 2009)

wow very nice mate


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## DavieB (Mar 15, 2011)

You say the life span of the colony is 15-20 years is there no chance of another queen being produced during taht time period?


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

If the colony does really well they could produce queens (lots of them) but not usually in captivity as the colony usually needs to be huge. It won't take long before that fungus tank is full. When it is get a new Fungus tank and place it across the old one so they are crisscrossed, the Ants will take it over. Remember to keep the water clean as the ants will dump earth, leaves and stick in it. I'm sure you'll have escapes at times! 
Have fun and watch out for the soldiers, they bite hard! Lol


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## JJO (Mar 29, 2011)

This is really cool. I'd love to see the pics with the fish in too...I'll have a look for related threads as this seems to be a pretty old one.

I'm fascinated by ants but a bit scared of them too (mainly because they get everywhere - there's not often just the one crawling on you!)


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## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

That's quite possibly the best thing I've seen as far as keeping invents are concerned, fantastic.


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

I think you may find it hard to keep the water clean enough for fish. The ants discard everything into the water they don't want. Therefore the water won't stay clean for long which could be an issue for fish unless your on top of it every day but even then it gets dirty very quickly. 
I forget what temp the fungus garden has to be at off the top of my head. It's the garden that has to be maintained correctly (humidity and temp) and not the ants as such as without the garden the whole colony dies.


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## TommyBurt (Dec 14, 2009)

It would be awesome if you could get those tubes going all around the room like some zoos do i would so do that if i could :lol2: were did you get the ants from?


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