From One Keeper To A Colony

Before there was Ants HQ, Cesar was already hatching quail eggs in a homemade incubator and caring for land hermit crabs and mantises. Animals were his whole world, with much of his time spent watching them, learning about them and making their homes.

Seeing flying ants take to the air for their mating flights gave him a new fascination. That Christmas, he asked for a pet ant. He still remembers asking the postie on Boxing Day: “DO YOU HAVE MY ANTS PLEASE?”
The enthusiasm hasn’t changed much. There are just considerably more ants now.

He was exploring ant research at Brackenridge Field Laboratory in Texas and filming with naturalist Mark W. Moffett. Friends, family, teachers and mentors encouraged an interest that eventually became a Biological Sciences degree and a fairly unusual answer to “What are you doing after graduation?” Selling ants.

Cesar began building the business in 2018. Making it work meant baking bagels before dawn, working with invertebrates at a reptile wholesaler, walking dogs and taking voice-over jobs. The commutes were long, and whatever he could spare went back into the ants.

A tip from his dear friend Colette, led to a small, affordable office in London Bridge. It gave the growing collection a home and Cesar somewhere to turn his hobby into a business. Ants HQ became a limited company in 2020.

Now based in London, ANTSHQ is building better ways to keep ants, introducing new species and formicariums, educating more people and helping bridge science with everyday access. There were colonies to feed, orders to pack and plenty to figure out. Getting this far took the support of a lot of people. Growing beyond it took a team.